The Importance Of Plato's Republic

Young people should not be permitted to read Plato’s Republic. In fact, the general population should not be allowed to read it either. This is arguably what most frustrated university students tend to think when they are asked to read this text. Although, it might please them to know that Plato feels exactly the same way as they do. Republic is a work that contains an abundance of lies, allegories and theories, all of which can be classified as falsehoods by Plato. Supposing Republic were to be evaluated by Plato as a story for young people, the presence of these falsehoods makes this dialogue one that children should not be allowed to read. This paper aims to evaluate Plato’s position by identifying excerpts from Republic which contain examples

However, falsehoods are otherwise known as exaggerations, or allegories and lies meant for the good of society. These are concepts that Plato himself looks upon with a great deal of favour. In fact, in Book 5 of Republic, Plato, through Socrates, expresses that the “rulers [of kallipolis] will have to employ a great many lies and deceptions for the benefit of those they rule” (Plato 149). Plato, through Socrates, also notes that “in establishing [kallipolis], we are not looking to make any one group in it outstandingly happy, but to make the whole so as far as possible” (Plato 103). However, kallipolis has to be led by someone and in Plato’s perspective, that someone is the philosopher-king. Moreover, by introducing the Myth of the Medals to the reader through a conversation between Glaucon and Socrates, Plato implies that there are some things only rulers who tell the story must know while the rest of society lingers in the darkness of ignorance. This ignorance is later referred to as the cave in Book 7. The intentional clash that Republic has with Plato’s criteria for an acceptable children’s story here is that Plato, through Socrates, indicates his perspective on the minds of children in Book 2. Indeed, he maintains that “the young cannot distinguish what is allegorical from what is not” (Plato 59).

This is shown through the presence of several falsehoods, as well as allegories which may be too difficult for young people to comprehend. The text also contains a myriad lies that Plato may not want the average citizen to be aware of. It is additionally argued that Plato intends for this flaw to be present in his work in order to make Republic a text that is reserved for philosopher-kings. This leads readers to question whether or not kallipolis is indeed as perfect as Plato claims it to be. After all, in this supposedly just city, almost no one is permitted to read Republic and ordinary children are taught to believe the stories that the text recognizes as