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The Republic

Peter Zumpano 6/5/10 Moseman

Moseman 2 Written around 380 BC, Platos The Republic serves as a testament for political and social life in ancient Greece. Plato delineates to concept of justice and why men choose to act just. Also, Plato underlines his arguments in criticism of sophist beliefs. Among the concepts of justice, Plato discusses education, women and the family, the theory of art, and imperfect societies. A person may consider The Republic as a wonderful argument for an idea or great philosophy, nevertheless, The Republic is placed into the broad category of literature. Today and in history, literature serves to educate and unite ideas of one person with those of the whole world. Over time, literature may be reviewed, challenged or created where each benefit the reader of literature. Three people present their varying ideas of literature that relate to The Republic as literature. Those include C.S Lewis, Barbara W. Tuchman, and G.K. Chesterton where C.S. Lewis states, Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become, Barbara W. Tuchman states Books are humanity in print, and G.K. Chesterton states Every great literature has always been allegorical-allegorical of some view of the whole universe. The three scholars of literatures quotation propose different views on literature. These diverse outlooks can be applied to Platos literature The Republic. C.S. Lewis Quotation Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become describes The Republic in great detail. It

Moseman 3 does not simply describe it relates to Platos precision in expressing his ideas on paper and how complex his arguments become. What about someone who believes in beautiful things but doesnt believe in the beautiful itself and isnt able to follow anyone who could lead him to the knowledge of it? Dont you think he is living in a dream rather than a wakened state? Isnt this dreaming: whether asleep or awake, to think that a likeness is not a likeness but rather the thing itself that it is like? (Plato 476) Platos words describe a person who cannot discover true beauty because he refuses to follow someone to beauty and still believes in beauty even though he does not know what beauty is. C.S. Lewis also describes literature giving humanity competency. Writing intricate thoughts to paper organizes and separates the discrepancies in human thought. Barbara W. Tuchmans Quotation Books are humanity in print. Platos criticism of the Greece government and his definition of justice in men are a microcosm to humanity in itself. Throughout the work, Plato presents issues he finds with tyrannous rulers, the Greek democracy, happiness, and the ultimate object of knowledge. Basically, Plato takes what be believes humanity is and inscribes it on paper. They dont understand that a true captain must pay attention to the seasons of the year, the sky, the stars, the winds, and all that pertains to his craft, if hes really to be the ruler of a ship. And they dont believe that there is any craft that would enable him to determine how he should steer the ship, whether the others want him to or not, or any possibility of mastering this

Moseman 4 alleged craft or of practicing it at the same time as the craft of navigation. Dont you think that the true captain will be called a real stargazer, a babbler, and a good-for-nothing by those who sail in ships governed in that way? (Plato 162) Here, Plato describes a true leader. G.K. Chestertons Quotation Every great literature has always been allegorical-allegorical of some view of the whole universe has truth and is realized in The Republic. A literal statement seems small and insignificant, but on a larger allegorical level, the statement may be profound and of the greatest importance. By defining a friend as one who both seems and is an honest man: while the man who seems, but is not, an honest man seems a friend, but really is not. And similarly for an enemy. (Plato 13) The literal meaning is a man needs to be honest to be a friend, however, allegorically on a larger scale, the intrinsic qualities of a true friend separate a mans friend from his enemy by the friends honesty and the enemys seeming honesty. The Republic is literature that is defined by three different scholars; G.K Chesterton, Barbara W. Tuchman, and C.S. Lewis. All of these scholars various ideas of literature apply to The Republic as well as Platos beliefs.

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Works Cited

Barlett, John. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1980. Lewis, C. S. "C.S. Lewis quotes." Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. 07 June 2010 <http://thinkexist.com/quotation/literature_adds_to_realityit_does_not_simply/201465.html>. Plato, G. M. A. Grube, and C. Reeve. Republic. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1992. Tuchman, Barbara W. "Barbara W. Tuchman quotes." Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. 07 June 2010 <http://thinkexist.com/quotation/books_are_humanity_in_print/200461.html>.

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