Used book: *Republic* [80% new]

Plato's "Republic" covers various aspects of his philosophical system, including philosophy, ethics, education, literature and art, and politics, mainly discussing the issue of the ideal state.

"The Republic" is an important dialogue by Plato, in which he, through the mouth of Socrates and in conversation with others, designed a political system that unified truth, goodness, and beauty, thus achieving a just ideal state. Plato's ideal state is the earliest utopia in human history. In his ideal state, rulers must be philosophers. He believed that all existing politics were corrupt, and humanity's true path lay in philosophers holding power, as only true philosophers could save the city-states from the crises they faced. This belief forms the core of Plato's mature political philosophy. In his eyes, "philosopher" had a special connotation. He believed that philosophers were the noblest and most learned people, and that a government ruled by such wise individuals was the best form of government. Therefore, only a state established with philosophers as kings was the most ideal state. This state was a model state existing in heaven.

In his view, the essence of a philosopher is to possess knowledge, wisdom, justice, and the virtue of goodness. Only philosophers can achieve an understanding of the highest ideals of the state, that is, an grasp of "goodness," while others can only grasp "opinions." As governance is a form of knowledge, only philosophers can master it and thus be qualified to govern. In other words, only philosophers can achieve an understanding of the concept of the state, knowing how the "ideal state" should be organized and governed. Thus, Plato understood philosopher-rulership as a combination of superior wisdom, true knowledge, perfect virtue, and absolute supreme power. He firmly believed that only philosophers could save the city-state and its people, and that philosophers were the inevitable rulers of the ideal state.

The justice and goodness pursued by humanity are the themes of Plato's ideal state. He believed that the state, politics, and laws are meaningful only when they are directed toward true existence and are related to the human soul. In "The Republic," Socrates' initial topic of discussion was the issue of "justice," from which we can see how strongly Plato yearned for and aspired to justice! He believed that absolute justice resided with the gods, which perfectly corroborated the declaration at the end of the dialogue, "Let us always go the upward way, and pursue justice and wisdom." Justice and wisdom are not only the themes of the state but also, arguably, the essence of the entire universe, because the starting point of the state "is endless time and the changes that time brings."

Plato's justice, when applied to love, manifests as temperance. To many of us, Platonic love seems synonymous with spiritual love, referring to a love that transcends time and space, does not aim at possessing the other's body, and exists only between souls. In reality, the true meaning of Platonic love refers to an admiration for temperance and a pursuit of goodness and beauty.