"Can be warmly recommended to teachers of the Republic....Annas' book, with its candor and skillful treatment
of the issues, will add freshness and excitement to the study of the Republic; it will also provide students with
an excellent model of philosophical scholarship."
--Teaching Philosophy
"It is obvious that many years of study and teaching of Plato's treatise lie behind her account. Only a first-rate
philosopher can bring difficult passages in the Republic to life; Annas us equal to the task."
--Choice
"This book is likely to be of value to readers of the Republic regardless of the degree of familiarity with
the text. On the one hand, it provides an accessible introduction. With a minimum of technical language, Annas
systematically takes the reader through the Republic, showing how the various problems with which Plato is concerned
frequently run deeper than first appearances suggest. And she is careful to tie the array of issues taken up to
Plato's basic objectives, thereby revealing the remarkable coherence of the text itself. But this book is more
than just an introduction. Those interested in the more technical aspects of the text will find a fountain of fresh
ideas in Annas's discussions. Drawing on (and frequently taking issue with) many of the recent contributions to
this area of Platonic studies, Annas develops novel and intriguing approaches to those aspects of the Republic
often found so vexing."
--The Philosophical Review
"Reading this is as exhilarating for the mind as rock climbing is for the body."
--Dennis Lamb, Professor of English, Edmonds Community College
Oxford University Press Web Site, March, 2000
Summary
This interpretive introduction provides unique insight into Plato's Republic. Stressing Plato's desire to stimulate
philosophical thinking in his readers, Julia Annas here demonstrates the coherence of his main moral argument on
the nature of justice, and expounds related concepts of education, human motivation, knowledge and understanding.
In a clear systematic fashion, this book shows that modern moral philosophy still has much to learn from Plato's
attempt to move the focus from questions of what acts the just person ought to perform to the more profound questions
of what sort of person the just person ought to be.
