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How to Read Plato's Republic (10 Tips) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-04-11 18:26:14
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Plato's Republic is one of the most important and influential books in any tradition.

It's canonical philosophy and insightful imaginative literature that endlessly gifts us riches in proportion to the work we invest. 

To mark the beginning of our lecture series, we're discussing why and how we should give this invigorating Socratic dialogue a rewarding deep-reading.

Video Timestamps:

  • 0:00 introduction to Plato's Republic 
  • 1:30 why read Plato's Republic? 
  • 2:00 the importance of deep-reading 
  • 3:00 recommended edition of the Republic 
  • 3:30 what is Plato's Republic about? 
  • 5:00 meeting Socrates  
  • 6:00 what is justice? 
  • 7:00 what is the Socratic Method? 
  • 9:00 democracy & the death of Socrates  
  • 10:00 should you agree with Plato? 
  • 11:00 Plato and totalitarianism  
  • 11:20 Pythagoras & Parmenides  
  • 14:00 who were Plato & Socrates? 
  • 15:00 Aristophanes on Socrates 
  • 16:00 the trial of Socrates 
  • 17:00 why was Socrates so important? 
  • 18:30 Sparta & the Republic  
  • 20:00 the constitution of Sparta 
  • 24:30 bringing the dialogues alive  
  • 25:30 disagreeing with Plato/Socrates 
  • 26:20 how to become a philosopher 
  • 27:30 two branches of philosophy 
  • 28:40 five types of philosophical exposition 
  • 32:00 two stages for approaching a philosopher 
  • 32:50 the importance of defining your terms 
  • 33:20 Plato's Republic as imaginative literature 
  • 34:20 learning to read metaphor 
  • 35:00 how to read Utopian Literature 
  • 37:00 learning persuasion from Socrates 
  • 37:30 pairing Socrates with Sherlock Holmes 
  • 38:00 the noble lie of the Republic 
  • 40:00 the banishment of Homer  
  • 41:20 reading the Republic with a group 
  • 42:00 on making your own mind up 
  • 42:30 the Plato lecture series  
  • 43:50 questions for you

Recommended Edition:

Questions for you:

1) What is your experience with Plato? If this is your first reading of the Republic, what are you expecting from the experience? What would you like to gain from your reading?

2) What is your experience with philosophy generally? If you're already a lover of philosophy, what was the first work you read? Who else are you interested to read? 

Happy philosophising, everybody!

Files

Previews only

How to Read Plato's Republic (10 Tips)

📚 Read the Great Books with Hardcore Literature: https://www.patreon.com/hardcoreliterature/about ———————————— 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/70IZA24... (Subscribe to the Hardcore Literature Podcast on iTunes & Spotify) 🏫 https://hardcore-university.teachable... (Hardcore University, Exam Preparation Courses) ✍🏼 https://benjaminmcevoy.com My Personal Website ———————————— Hardcore Literature Lecture Series ———————————— 📔Contents Page: https://cutt.ly/CmNhRY3 🎖️ War and Peace: https://cutt.ly/U3nzGma 🎭 Shakespeare Project: https://cutt.ly/B3nxHH7 🐳 Moby Dick: https://cutt.ly/K3nzVKf ☄️ Blood Meridian: https://cutt.ly/P3nz6Qp 🍂 Wuthering Heights: https://cutt.ly/N3nxxYt 🇮🇪 Ulysses: https://cutt.ly/x3nxQmN 🚂 Anna Karenina: https://cutt.ly/vmNhAWv 💀 Crime and Punishment: https://cutt.ly/rmNhFt5 ⚓ Persuasion: https://cutt.ly/amNhX7b ☕ In Search of Lost Time: https://cutt.ly/5mNh8oD ⚔️ The Hero’s Journey: https://cutt.ly/UmNjrE3 🌸 Siddharta: https://cutt.ly/YmNjuzi 🎠 Don Quixote: https://cutt.ly/cmNjoK4 ❤️Shakespeare’s Sonnets: https://cutt.ly/nmNlW7V 🇫🇷 Les Misérables: https://cutt.ly/J3YixoA 🕯️ The Turn of the Screw: https://cutt.ly/nToAQQ3 🖋️ Dickens Seasonal Read: https://cutt.ly/9ToAybt 📖 Middlemarch Serial Reading: https://tinyurl.com/45rv965c ———————————— 0:00 introduction to Plato's Republic 1:30 why read Plato's Republic? 2:00 the importance of deep-reading 3:00 recommended edition of the Republic 3:30 what is Plato's Republic about? 5:00 meeting Socrates 6:00 what is justice? 7:00 what is the Socratic Method? 9:00 democracy & the death of Socrates 10:00 should you agree with Plato? 11:00 Plato and totalitarianism 11:20 Pythagoras & Parmenides 14:00 who were Plato & Socrates? 15:00 Aristophanes on Socrates 16:00 the trial of Socrates 17:00 why was Socrates so important? 18:30 Sparta & the Republic 20:00 the constitution of Sparta 24:30 bringing the dialogues alive 25:30 disagreeing with Plato/Socrates 26:20 how to become a philosopher 27:30 two branches of philosophy 28:40 five types of philosophical exposition 32:00 two stages for approaching a philosopher 32:50 the importance of defining your terms 33:20 Plato's Republic as imaginative literature 34:20 learning to read metaphor 35:00 how to read Utopian Literature 37:00 learning persuasion from Socrates 37:30 pairing Socrates with Sherlock Holmes 38:00 the noble lie of the Republic 40:00 the banishment of Homer 41:20 reading the Republic with a group 42:00 on making your own mind up 42:30 the Plato lecture series 43:50 questions for you

Comments

Eric Harline

I tried to read Plato when I was 19 and I don’t think I had the proper tools at the time to grapple with it legitimately. I think also that I wish I hadn’t been deterred by not understanding because I feel like I would’ve grasped it eventually if I stuck with it. I’m excited to dive into it again now that I have more resources and compunction at my disposal

hardcoreliterature
>>81717719

I completely relate to that, Eric. My first reading of the Republic was as a teenager on work experience (at a publishing house, funnily enough). Plato kept me company on my commute into London. I loved it, but much went over my head - if I’d had the tools of attention and close analysis at that age, I’m sure I could have gotten a whole lot more out of it! Having said that, there’s great value in putting a work down and returning to it again after some time has passed. I’m glad you’re diving into it again :)

Pablo

I read it 24 years ago - I recollect because that's when my partner and I were just getting together. I have been a bit off my reading game for some reason recently but I shall look forwards to the lectures on this one with interest 🙂

Nbyrd

I recently read Pascal's Pensees and this one quote popped out at me. "We can only think of Plato and Aristotle in grand academic robes. They were honest men, like others, laughing with their friends, and when they diverted themselves with writing their Laws and the Politics, they did it as an amusement. That part of their life was the least philosophic and the least serious; the most philosophic was to live simply and quietly. If they wrote on politics, it was as if laying down rules for a lunatic asylum; and if they presented the appearance of speaking of a great matter, it was because they knew that the madmen, to whom they spoke, thought they were kings and emperors. They entered into their principles in order to make their madness as little harmful as possible." Lol. To be fair, Pascal had a lot of hot takes I don't agree with, so take it or leave it. He considered all intellectual/scientific pursuits of the secular world to be ultimately insignificant, so he's not the best guy to go to when you want advice on managing the world we live in.

Vicky

I’m feeling a bit intimidated by this series I must admit 😂 have zero experience of reading anything like this but picked up an old dog eared copy of Sophie’s World last week in a charity shop so maybe that’s a sign! I will certainly be giving it a go!!

Vicky
>>81768646

I like this, thank you ‘as if laying down rules for a lunatic asylum’ not wrong then or now 😂

Cultivar

I remember in college doing a reading assignment of The Republic and went from “why is he saying all these obvious things” to “oh the way he talks about these things is quite interesting and he makes very original arguments”. The passage that triggered my change-of-mind was where he talked about which is more important, being virtuous or the having the appearance of being virtuous. I think what had prevented me from immediately appreciating him was the antiquated language: circuitous and a bit vague. Edit: The Waterfield translation reads so much more smoothly! I wish I was aware of this translation before.

Ellen M

This will be my first read and my initial reaction is ‘wow first Shakespeare now Plato- I’m so impressed with myself!’ Kidding aside I’m thrilled to be approaching these works because I’ve always considered familiarity with them to be the mark of a well read person. I loved my philosophy classes in college but cannot for the life of me remember anything I was required to read, I’m so puzzled by this. Looking forward to proper instruction with Ben

hardcoreliterature
>>81753951

Two and half decades, Pablo! You’ll have become a whole new person several times over since then - it will be so interesting to see what you get out of it. I’m so excited to hear your thoughts. As for being off one’s reading game, it happens to us all! Ebbs and flows. I’ve found that the living and thinking that takes place in those down periods ends up informing my more prolific reading periods, so it could be a good thing :)

hardcoreliterature
>>81783375

No need to feel intimidated, Vicky! I know you are more than equipped to get a lot out of this one. With the right translation, Plato’s Republic is easier to digest than many of the works we’ve already enjoyed. I think, in many ways, Moby Dick is more difficult. And Sophie’s World! That brings me back :) I’ll have to give that a reread myself as I was very young when I first read it!

Michelle Marcoux

I have always enjoyed philosophical elements in books, but I am very new to strictly reading from the books of the philosophers. Currently I am still working my way through Pascal’s Pensees and this will be my first read of Plato. I hope to read more in this genre and this seems like the perfect way to jump in and do that, to have great instruction/guidance along the way and a great HLBC to read them with 😊

Heather Moore

This will be my first read too, and I'll admit to being a bit overwhelmed by just the video. There's so much work to do just for this book alone! I also did a short philosophy course in Norwegian, on Plato's Meno and the nature of virtue, which was very interesting. I was doing it because taking a course, that interests you, in another language is a great way to get to grips with it that language. I have listened to a lot of Marion Talbot's Oxford philosophy podcasts and also an avid listener of Philosophise This, but my knowledge is nothing more than rudimentary. I've read a bit of Alain de Botton and I'm halfway through reading Luc Ferry's Learning To Live, which is a fascinating picture of philosophy. I find the medieval and Enlightenment philosophers fascinating. Although, I've listened and read about philosophy, I've never actually read the original texts even though I have a good few philosophical works. I have Republic, so I'm going to give it a try but I fear that I won't grasp much of it. Edit: I think this is going to take a while. My brain is fried trying to keep up with the mental gymnastics! 😂 I constantly feel there’s a gotcha waiting to leap out at any second!

Jude

This will also be my first deep dive into a philosophical work - I picked up a few obligatory Nietzsche texts as a teenager but felt woefully out of my depth! I'm really looking forward to having a more structured guided reading; it sounds like a rather juicy one to start with.

Lisa Hamm

I'm really excited about the encouragement to really absorb this work and the other weighty works; I'm always feeling so frantically behind on the Great Books that I do focus too much on checking a book off my list. But could I discourse intelligently at a party about what I've just read? More importantly, could I explain to a close friend how a book had changed me or taught me about myself? I have bought a green Moleskine journal for Proust, pink for Middlemarch, and plan to buy red for Shakespeare (after the First Folio) and white or navy blue for Moby Dick. What color should I try to get for Plato/philosophy?

Scott W

I've just ordered by copy of The Republic and am looking forward to a slow, thoughtful read of it with some good discussion along the way. I read Plato's Apologia for my OU course and enjoyed it, but the rest of the 'taster' material put me off pursuing Philosophy in more detail; I found it very politicized. I think the tutors were trying to show how this seemingly 'ancient' discipline was relatable to our lives today, but I'd have preferred a different approach to that rather than linking it to all our current favourite topics to bicker about. I hope to better understand things like power and democracy, perhaps to see politics in a healthier light, perhaps as a constructive but necessarily noisy process rather than the endless negative cycle it so often seems to me to be. But perhaps it's nothing to do with politics.. I'm fine with it either way, I don't think I can help but learn something and enjoy the process of deep reading this one! I also generally love the idea of creating this 'thought experiment' city through dialogue. I'm looking forward to seeing how that works - and I'm secretly wondering if it's a technique I will be able to use to think through deep problems in both my private and work life.. :D

Rhys S

This is my first book on a long, jagged chronology of philosophy books. I am hoping to get an introduction here to philsophical conversations, of their importance, structure etc. I am looking for a grounding in western philosophy and thought and look forward to exploring Plato's imaginative world.. The list is as follows: 1. Plato's The Republic 2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra 3. Plato's Apology 4. Twilight of the Idols 5. The Nichomachean Ethics 6. The Ethics of Ambiguity 7. The Birth of Tragedy 8. Aristotle's Poetics 9. Meditations 10. On the genealogy of morals 11. Meditations of First Philosophy 12. Beyond Good and Evil 13. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 14. The Archaeology of Knowledge and The Discourse on Language 15. Philosophical Investigations 16. Being and Nothingness 17. Fear and Trembling 18. Either/Or 19. Aristotles Metaphysics 20. A treatise of human nature 21. Critque of Pure reason 22. Groundwork of the metaphysics of Moral 23. Being and time 22. Discipline and Punish 23. The social contract 24. The history of sexuality 25. Tatvabodha 26. Bhagvad gita 27. The second sex [might throw some more Nietzsche in there and do some deep dives along the way. Expecting this to take a few years including re-reads and lectures etc.]

Emma Yap

This is my first time reading Plato's Republic - I am torn between congratulating myself on reading Plato for the first time, and feeling nervous about tackling such a towering masterpiece of Western literature. I generally associate philosophy with difficulty - the only other piece of philosophy I've read is Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics which I loved though, so we'll see how Plato's Republic goes!