Author: M. J. Knight

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-17

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 9781330133965

Excerpt from A Selection of Passages From Plato, Vol. 2: For English Readers The principal object of the Republic is the construction of an ideal state, in which, to use Plato's own significant language, 'philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the power and spirit of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one' (v. 473); but there is, moreover, a secondary thread of connexion running through the whole - the enquiry into the nature of Justice and the happiness of the just man. Plato must have had at least one predecessor in his task; for Aristotle has given us (Pol. ii. 8) an interesting account of Hippo-damus of Miletus (c. 444 B.C.), who was, he says, 'the first person, not a statesman, to make enquiries about the Perfect State.' Hippo-damus is called by some authorities a Pythagorean; and probably the impulse to such studies came from that school, both to him and to Plato. Pythagoras and his disciples, we are told, held the government in Crotona and other cities of Magna Graecia during a considerable time; and even after they were driven from power, it is natural to think that the later philosophers of the Pythagorean school continued to include political science among the subjects with which they occupied themselves. We can scarcely doubt, however, that Plato's thoughts were also drawn in the same direction by the events of the period in which his life was cast. He was born about the time of Pericles' death (B.C. 429), and lived to see the rise of the Macedonian power under Philip, dying in the year of the capture of Olynthus (B.C. 348). About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.