Republic

⚖The case for it

The Cave in Book 7 is what converts people, “one of the most famous metaphors ever devised,” and readers say it pays for everything around it. The Ring of Gyges gets there first: would you stay just if nobody could catch you. Socrates argues women should serve as guardians on the same terms as men, which readers flag as “very progressive for nearly 2,400 years ago.” The argument keeps correcting itself rather than landing, so “he wants you to think, and to think deeply.” The Myth of Er closes it. “Even when he’s wrong, he’s right.”

— the honest librarian

✕The case against

Glaucon and Adeimantus mount the real challenge at the top of Book 2 and then subside, and “side characters agree repeatedly instead of contributing anything useful.” The city Socrates builds runs on “state control of everything, land, schools, homes, children,” selective breeding of guardians, and a programme that would ban most poetry. The gender argument curdles later when acting like a woman becomes the insult. Which translation you happen to grab decides whether you finish, since “the language is dated and the logic moves very quickly.” In the middle books, “the book fell from my hands.”

— the honest librarian

6h

honest hours

9

sittings