Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS THE SAME DUDE IN BILL AND TED!!!!!
Review: DUDE LIKE I SAW THIS THING AT LIKE THE MALL AND I KNEW IT WOULD BE TOTALLY AWESOME BECAUSE HE WAS COOLER THAN ALL THE REST(LIKE THE JOAN OF ARK CHICK, BABRAHAM LINCOLN(HAHA),THAT DUDE WHO ATE ALL THAT CHICKEN,BEETHOVEN,BUT BILLY WAS A CLOSE SECOND) IT WAS AWESOME. AND LIKE YOU KNOW THE WAY THAT LIKE PEOPLE SAY YOU LIKE A BOOK WHEN YOU READ IT FAST WELL I KNEW I LIKED IT WHEN IT ONLY TOOK ME THREE YEARS TO READ IT!!!!! P.S. CHECK OUT LED ZEPPELIN:IV(ZOSO) IF YOU LIKED IT.
LOVE DUDES,
THE JONES!
Rating: 
Summary: Readable, well-annotated, makes Plato approachable
Review: "If an ass peers into a book, do not expect a saint to peer out." (Augustine) If Lee had biased his choice of words, or his explanatory notes toward any one interpretation of this complex work, then he would have been as foolish as most of the reviewers posting polemics here.
The strength of this rendering is that Lee is sufficiently accurate and balanced in his approach to allow for reasonable debate even among first-time readers. He -- for the most part --makes Plato approachable, and opens the door to the many issues raised by this book.
Lee does a good job of presenting oft-misconstrued arguments, noting important shades of difference between the English words he has chosen and the original Greek, pointing out ambiguities of meaning, and important issues that may not be apparent to a modern reader. Lee also handles the poetic passages with sufficient grace that many of my own students have found them inspiring.
Whether or not you like Plato, Lee has done his job, and for the most part lets the work speak for itself.
Rating:
Summary: Not even a footnote to the footnotes
Review: According to Whitehead all of Western philosophy is a 'footnote to Plato' As the heart of Plato is in the Republic it might be said that all of Western Philosophy is a footnote to the Republic. And that being the case it seems ridiculous to try and do anything more here than make a minor footnote to a footnote. The point as I understand it though of Whitehead is that if you wish to understand the basic terms and questions upon which the debates of the philosophical tradition are carried out you should know this work.
I will make no attempt to summarize or to condense the many questions including the central one of the meaning of Justice and a Just Society which are at the heart of this work.
I will just write down a few impressions, a few memories from the reading which took place many years ago .The first is that the work is conducted by a method of dialogue, what is called the 'maieutic ' method in which the philosopher Socrates the main character of the dialogues and Plato's great teacher acts as a 'mid-wife' bringing out the ' inherent truths ' in the mind of man through talking to others. It is all there in us pre- existent according to this view and the Truth simply needs to be brought out.
This Truth however has a baffling meaning in the Central Myth of the Republic. This is the Myth of the Cave . The philosopher descends into the Cave and seeks in isolation to know the Ultimate Truth. But what he sees are the shadows of the shadows the fleeting images of sense which can hint at but not really convey ultimately the final truth. And the final truth in Plato's system and world is the Impersonal Abstract Idea which in turn is constructed of all other Ideas. It is as if we arrive finally at One but this one is not the personal G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but truly a God of the Philosophers somehow beyond and containing us all.
At another level this is the great Political guide book of the Western world, and in Karl Popper's accusation the real blueprint for Totalitarianism and dictatorship. The three- part society depicted here is ruled in the end by the Philosopher- King elite, the know-it- alls who keep order by keeping everyone else in order. Liberal democracy is not Plato's final station for the Evolution of the Idea.
All in all this is a too rich, too suggestive too meaningful work to write about seriously in a review like this. This work pervades the whole philosophical tradition that follows from Aristotle and through the neo- Platonists and on down to our own day.
As for the dialogues and the figure of Socrates and Plato's relation to his own teacher these also are large questions endlessly explored and to be explored.
Again who reads this work carefully has a real clue as to the nature of Western Philosophy. But who reads only this work knows Philosophy without the religious and ethical components the Biblical Literature will supply.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of philosophy and scholarship
Review: I've used this text for some time in my undergraduate courses, with great success. Waterfield's translation is accurate and scholarly, and the introduction and notes make this edition a perfect introduction to Plato's philosophy.As for the value of the text itself, little needs to be said. Plato's Republic is one of the most important works in the history of philosophy, and every well-educated person ought to have read it at least once. There is some controversy among scholars over whether the work is primarily one of political philosophy or of moral psychology, but Plato perhaps did not draw these distinctions the way we do: one can certainly learn a great deal about both areas from reading this one work.
Rating: 
Summary: The Excellent Society
Review: in the Republic, Plato. envisioned his ideology of what a free and fair society should look like. the book emphasises on the perfection of a perfect society, which will be free of corruption, discremination, race division, and partiality. the author was aware of the alarming rate of corruption gripping the world we are in. he sketched a plan for a state to be run and maintained. a state that will based on law and order. specifically, Plato was hitting the nail on justice and equity of law, he stressed that a society should not be making laws based on a portion of the jurisdiction rather order should be maintained on equality and fair justice. The book is a treaty on how a social society and a normal state is to be ressuracted from the clamouring segregation of the rich state and the poor society. in his work of art plato pulls the trigger of justice towards equity, unity and peace of justice. its such a great book, it is more than the wordings on it because it contains ancient landmarks of literary work of art, the work has been done long ago, and it grammer complex needs not be rushed but remember that the day a man stops reading, he stops growing intellectually. how i wished books were paste. i could have kept reading each day first thing as i woke up from the sleep. The Republic needs not be rush, just slow and steady because it is a treaty and not a mere thriller novel. but its a try from all intellectual aspirants. so dont let go. if you do, you missed a book from one great thinker.
Rating:
Summary: amazing. a must read for everyone
Review: Just read it. Plato's idea shaped so many other's after him. If you don't understand what Plato was trying to say then you're doing yourself a disservice. Just in readin this, the reader realyl begins to think. You'll get better at thinking by the time the book is done, for this book teaches the reader how to think. All the ideas are presented in dialog, but if you can just look at what is being said you'll begin to understand. If you only read one thing, make it be this.
Rating:
Summary: amazing. a must read for everyone
Review: Just read it. Plato's idea shaped so many other's after him. If you don't understand what Plato was trying to say then you're doing yourself a disservice. Just in readin this, the reader realyl begins to think. You'll get better at thinking by the time the book is done, for this book teaches the reader how to think. All the ideas are presented in dialog, but if you can just look at what is being said you'll begin to understand. If you only read one thing, make it be this.
Rating:
Summary: Plato's Ideal State
Review: My three-star rating aside, Plato's "The Republic" is a must read for anyone interested in political science. It will make you think about the subjects it covers in a very critical way. Plato is not shy about his opinions and does not couch them in mysterious language. He confronts the reader with them and forces you to consider them. Of course, part of this directness is attributable to the translator, Desmond Lee. One of the things that makes the Penguin's Classics series so useful is the excellent introductions they contain. In this particular work, Lee presents Plato's contemporary society and how it affected his world view. Lee also prefaces each section with anywhere from two sentences to as much as a page or two in order to assist the reader with understanding some of the finer points of Plato's philosophy. "The Republic" is primarily concerned with four questions: 1) what is justice?, 2) is it better to be a just man or to only appear to be just?, 3) given our answer to #2, what is the ideal state?, and 4) how are contemporary Greek states imperfect?. The answer to the first three questions are closely related to Plato's philosophy of the Forms. Plato's Form can be thought of as perfection or the ideal. For instance, a carpenter may build a house. The house may appear real to us but it is only a representation of the ideal house, or the Form of a house. Plato says to think of a Form as being created by god and that, when the carpenter builds his house, he may build it in any number of ways and styles, but it will never be as perfect as the Form of the house. The philosopher should only be interested in the Form and not in the inferior representations. Now, if that sounds a little bit odd to you, then most of "The Republic" must be understood as an outsider looking in. Given that the first three questions are intimately related to that concept, I did find Plato's arguments very unconvincing. However, Plato's discussion of the imperfection of contemporary Greek states is very interesting and pertinent to our time. For those of us living in the United States, Plato's description of democracy, which he lived under in Athens, and the democratic character should be chilling. Of course, Athenian democracy and American democracy are not the same. The Constitution was written to a great extent to avoid the imbalances of ancient Greek democracies. In fact, in a technical sense, our state is not a democracy at all but a representative democracy. Plato's main critique of democracy was that it necessarily lead to a reduction in respect for authority and elders. Plato also criticized democracy for its weak leaders. He felt that the democratic character of a man living in a democracy would cause him to promote only those people like himself to positions of power within the state. Given that the average man is, by definition, of average intelligence, skill, and talent, the ablest of a democracy's citizens would be unable to attain the highest positions of power within the state. Since the elected leaders would only be able to keep their positions by pleasing the great mass of citizenry, they would enact laws and regulations which benefited those people to the detriment of the wealthiest. In other words, politicians in a democracy are prone to overtaxing the rich so that they can transfer their wealth and land to the poor. Plato believed that policies like this would unavoidably lead to class warfare and the forcible transfer of political power to one man, a tyrant, who would be able to secure the masses against the wealthy. Of course, the tyrant would eventually provide himself with a personal army and attempt to enslave the entire populace to his will, thereby securing only himself against the general population. The American Constitution and the American character have successfully prevented this scenario from occurring here but it cannot prolong it forever. Certain barriers built into the Constitution have already been breached: the income tax, direct election of Senators, and various programs like social security, medicare, and agricultural subsidies are all cracks in the armor of American liberty. If we continue on the path we are headed, American liberty will cease to exist by the end of this century. As a final note, some readers may find it difficult to follow the format that "The Republic" uses. In Plato's day, philosophical prose was often written in a dialogue format. In this work, Plato uses Socrates as his primary questioner and speaker. This may seem odd to have another, real person speak for you in a political treatise but just know that, every time Socrates speaks, it's really Plato's sentiments being expressed.
Rating:
Summary: An average guy's take.
Review: Ok, I'm certainly not smart enough to give a "real" review of Plato's Republic, i.e., the kind that really sums up the book and then finds some tiny-but-oh-so-significant error in Grube's translation from the Greek. But, for what it is worth, here is my take:
First, if you expect to find really convincing arguments in Plato's republic, forget about it. Seriously, I'm not very smart, but even I was annoyed by all the holes in Socrates' reasoning. No wonder they offered him the cup.
Second, and likewise, if you expect to find some really cool "Socratic" method of reasoning, you better forget that too. Socrates' method is basically just to state his own opinions as a series of leading questions, and then have some yes-man say "yes." Real helpful, huh?
Third, if you want some really interesting insights, there are some to be found. However, when Plato would make a good point, I'd often experience de ja vu, like I'd already heard it somewhere else before. Example: One of Socrates' buddies suggests that the only reason people yelp against injustice is that they are too powerless to get away with being unjust themselves. Interesting, huh? But it sounds a lot like Nietsche's whole slave morality deal, doesn't it? Of course, I know that Nietsche lived long after Plato, and that any similarity of ideas is probably due to Plato's influence, and not vice versa. But that doesn't change the fact that, as a simple-minded reader, I prefer to hear things that I haven't heard before.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, don't come to Plato if you are just looking for "planks" to include in your modern, "liberal" worldview. The Republic is full of stuff that would tempt the ACLU to hold a book-burning. For example, at one point, Socrates is complaining about how his contemporaries misuse medicine. But when he talks about how things would work in HIS ideal city, he says that people "whose bodies are naturally unhealthy" should be left to "die of their own accord," meaning without any medicine at all. He also suggests that the lives of those who are "by nature sick and licentious" should not be considered "profitable either to themselves or to anyone else." "Medicine isn't intended for such people and they shouldn't be treated, not even if they're richer than Midas." That's awesome, Plato. Talk about the "final solution" for rising health care costs!
Finally, and notwithstanding any of that stuff, I guess I'd have to say I'm glad I read the Republic. It was actually a fairly easy read, and now I can say I did it. Also, the next time George Will or some other smarty-type makes a veiled reference to the Republic, I'll have at least a one-in-three chance of knowing what the hell they're saying. Finally, and most importantly, one of these days, the word "Plato" on my bookshelf is gonna fool somebody into thinking I'm smart! Woo hoo! If that's not reason for five stars, what is?!?
Rating:
Summary: The Foundation of Most Subsequent Western Though
Review: Plato's "Republic" is probably the most important work in the history of Western Philosophy, or atleast I believe it is. The reader can literally flip from page to page counting how many subsequent philosphies arose from interpretations of the words on each page. Of all Western Philosophers, Plato was one of the greatest writers. Even though some readers may find the dialogue style exhausting, I find it enjoyable because it turns the real-life participants in the arguments into literary characters who can, at times, be quite humorous. All literary merits aside, the overabundance of profound thoughts to be found in "The Republic" make it a must-read for anyone who likes to think.
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