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Plato's Republic: Lecture on Books III-V (Patreon)

Published:
2022-06-13 17:54:37
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Today we're continuing to build our community from scratch with Socrates.

We're discussing the noble lie, censorship, rewriting Homer, the stories we tell ourselves, and the education of the guardians of the Republic.

Feel free to utilise the timestamps below, and let us know your impressions of Plato's Republic thus far.

Lecture Timestamps:

  • 0:00 how to know you’re reading Plato correctly
  • 3:00 creating an ideal community from scratch
  • 3:40 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
  • 5:00 is there a “socialist” strain to the Republic?
  • 6:15 the rise of the sovereign individual
  • 8:30 how to self-actualise/fulfil your potential
  • 10:00 Emerson on self-reliance
  • 11:00 the importance of knowing oneself
  • 12:00 the pain of self-growth
  • 13:30 on peak experiences
  • 14:00 depression, anxiety, past & future
  • 15:20 a thought experiment assignment
  • 16:10 the guardians of the Republic
  • 17:00 the stories we tell ourselves
  • 18:45 beliefs that fortify us
  • 19:00 do violent stories make us violent?
  • 20:00 Bandura’s bobo the doll experiment
  • 21:00 learning through initiation & role-modelling
  • 22:20 how to get our children reading
  • 23:50 Socrates’ censorship endeavour
  • 24:00 the art-morality spectrum
  • 25:30 Tolstoy, Hugo, Richardson vs Wilde & Baudelaire
  • 27:50 why books are more than books
  • 29:00 censoring analogies and metaphors
  • 30:00 the opium of the people
  • 33:00 what stories are banned from the Republic?
  • 35:00 the benefit of vicarious experience
  • 36:50 censorship & book banning today
  • 38:50 the challenge of allegory & symbolism
  • 41:00 being conditioned for fear vs love
  • 42:00 controlling our mental diets
  • 43:00 Plato as writer of satire
  • 44:20 how Plato destroys his literary influences
  • 45:00 censorship & Milton’s Aereopagitica
  • 46:00 how to raise a community of warriors
  • 47:00 culling Homer from the canon
  • 50:30 overcoming grief when loved ones die
  • 53:45 removing the colour from life
  • 55:00 the philosophy of binaries
  • 56:00 why do we read Homer?
  • 58:00 Aristotle’s virtues and vices
  • 58:50 Plato’s “poetics” & content vs form
  • 59:14 who would be cut from the canon?
  • 1:00:00 Plato’s pure rewrite of Homer
  • 1:02:00 the inadvertent irony of Plato
  • 1:03:00 when representation becomes reality
  • 1:04:00 a body language experiment
  • 1:06:00 wiping out practically all poetry
  • 1:08:00 mental and physical training
  • 1:10:30 the three metals (gold, silver, copper)
  • 1:12:00 the single noble lie
  • 1:15:00 materialism, happiness & purpose
  • 1:19:30 women, children & warfare
  • 1:21:00 dialectic vs eristic & the folly of debates
  • 1:23:00 eugenics & sexual control in the Republic
  • 1:24:00 where do you agree/disagree with Plato?
  • 1:26:00 preparing for our next video

Questions for You:

1) Should any books ever be censored?

2) Which works of literature would survive the censors of Plato’s Republic?

3) Where do you agree with Socrates? Where do you disagree?

Happy philosophising, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Plato's Republic: Lecture on Books III-V

0:00 how to know you’re reading Plato correctly 3:00 creating an ideal community from scratch 3:40 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 5:00 is there a “socialist” strain to the Republic? 6:15 the rise of the sovereign individual 8:30 how to self-actualise/fulfil your potential 10:00 Emerson on self-reliance 11:00 the importance of knowing oneself 12:00 the pain of self-growth 13:30 on peak experiences 14:00 depression, anxiety, past & future 15:20 a thought experiment assignment 16:10 the guardians of the Republic 17:00 the stories we tell ourselves 18:45 beliefs that fortify us 19:00 do violent stories make us violent? 20:00 Bandura’s bobo the doll experiment 21:00 learning through initiation & role-modelling 22:20 how to get our children reading 23:50 Socrates’ censorship endeavour 24:00 the art-morality spectrum 25:30 Tolstoy, Hugo, Richardson vs Wilde & Baudelaire 27:50 why books are more than books 29:00 censoring analogies and metaphors 30:00 the opium of the people 33:00 what stories are banned from the Republic? 35:00 the benefit of vicarious experience 36:50 censorship & book banning today 38:50 the challenge of allegory & symbolism 41:00 being conditioned for fear vs love 42:00 controlling our mental diets 43:00 Plato as writer of satire 44:20 how Plato destroys his literary influences 45:00 censorship & Milton’s Aereopagitica 46:00 how to raise a community of warriors 47:00 culling Homer from the canon 50:30 overcoming grief when loved ones die 53:45 removing the colour from life 55:00 the philosophy of binaries 56:00 why do we read Homer? 58:00 Aristotle’s virtues and vices 58:50 Plato’s “poetics” & content vs form 59:14 who would be cut from the canon? 1:00:00 Plato’s pure rewrite of Homer 1:02:00 the inadvertent irony of Plato 1:03:00 when representation becomes reality 1:04:00 a body language experiment 1:06:00 wiping out practically all poetry 1:08:00 mental and physical training 1:10:30 the three metals (gold, silver, copper) 1:12:00 the single noble lie 1:15:00 materialism, happiness & purpose 1:19:30 women, children & warfare 1:21:00 dialectic vs eristic & the folly of debates 1:23:00 eugenics & sexual control in the Republic 1:24:00 where do you agree/disagree with Plato? 1:26:00 preparing for our next video

Comments

Mark

Is this the last lecture on the Republic? I assume the final two are posted somewhere else.

Emma Yap

Late to the party, but I have to say, I think I'm becoming a bit addicted to Plato's Republic! I disagree with a lot he says, but I find myself constantly thinking over the ideas that are discussed, and talking them over with my husband. I do think that reading this book has shifted my understanding of what it means to be a moral person. 1) Should any books ever be censored? If I'd been asked this question a decade ago, I would have come out strongly against censorship and freedom of speech. But in recent years, I've come to the belief that there is no such thing as freedom of speech. Censorship is applied in our society, although in a more subtle way than in totalitarian societies, and much of the content that we consume is created by corporations with the aim of encouraging us to behave i.e. consume in a way that will boost their profit margins. And, as in Scott's comment above, seeing how readily children absorb media makes me think that the complete absence of censorship wouldn't be something that I'd want to see. So I do think there does need to be a degree of censorship, although as Ben points out in his video, the question then becomes, "who watches the watchers?" 2) Which works of literature would survive the censors of Plato’s Republic? Not many, and certainly nothing very interesting! Not many works of imaginative literature 3) Where do you agree with Socrates? Where do you disagree? I do agree that we are imitative creatures and so we are shaped by the literature, music, architecture that surround us. I also like Socrates' argument that the individual mind consists of three different components, which often conflict with each other, and his definition of justice as being the harmonious functioning of these three different components, under the guidance of reason. Most modern day understandings of goodness or morality are rooted in how we treat other people i.e. the external, but I much prefer the conception of justice as being something internal - Ii like the idea that we can't really do any good for others until we sort ourselves out. I don't agree with Socrates' stance on eugenics - he thinks that separating children from their parents, and replacing the traditional family unit with an extended 'family' is a way to encourage unity within a community, but don't studies show that depriving children of parental affection from an early age is damaging to their emotional development? I'm not sure that doing this would result in morally healthy individuals. I really like Socrates' description of the noble lie, and I recognise in it so many of the nationalistic myths which exist today to bind people in a nation together. Nationalism is an ideology which relies on such lies to convince people that they belong in a shared community, and to encourage them to sacrifice their own well-being for the good of the nation as a whole