福里斯特?E?贝尔德(Forrest E.
Baird),克莱蒙特研究大学哲学博士,现为惠特沃斯大学哲学系教授。同时在福乐神学院授课。除参与《哲学经典》历次版本的编纂工作外,编有《人的思想与行为:西方思想史选读》(Human
Thought and Action: Readings in Western Intellectual
History),与杰克?罗杰斯(Jack Rogers)合著有《哲学导论:以个案研究为方法》(Introduction to
Philosophy: A Case Study Approach)。
目錄:
Brief Contents 简目
1ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY 古希腊哲学 1
SOCRATES AND PLATO 苏格拉底和柏拉图 3
ARISTOTLE 亚里士多德 125
2HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHY 希腊化时期和罗马哲学 227
EPICURUS 伊壁鸠鲁 230
EPICTETUS 埃比克泰德 239
PYRRHO AND SEXTUS EMPIRICUS 皮浪和塞克斯都?恩披里科 252
PLOTINUS 普罗提诺 258
3CHRISTIANITY AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY 基督教与中世纪哲学 267
AUGUSTINE 奥古斯丁 272
BOETHIUS 波爱修斯 300
ANSELM AND GUANILO 安瑟伦(和高尼罗) 306
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN 宾根的希尔德加德 314
MOSES MAIMONIDES 摩西?迈蒙尼德 321
THOMAS AQUINAS 托马斯?阿奎那 327
WILLIAM OF OCKHAM 奥康的威廉 358
GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA 乔万尼?皮科?德拉?米兰多拉 366
4MODERN PHILOSOPHY 近代哲学 371
RENE DESCARTES 勒内?笛卡尔 373
THOMAS HOBBES 托马斯?霍布斯 421
BLAISE PASCAL 布莱兹?帕斯卡 461
BARUCH SPINOZA 巴鲁赫?斯宾诺莎 470
JOHN LOCKE 约翰?洛克 523
GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ 戈特弗里德?莱布尼茨 578
GEORGE BERKELEY 乔治?贝克莱 619
DAVID HUME 大卫?休谟 681
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU 让- 雅克?卢梭 762
IMMANUEL KANT 伊曼纽尔?康德 775
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT 玛丽?沃尔斯通克拉夫特 898
5NINETEENTH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 19 世纪哲学 905
G.W.F. HEGEL G. W. F. 黑格尔 907
JOHN STUART MILL 约翰?斯图亚特?穆勒 920
SE REN KIERKEGAARD 索伦?克尔凯郭尔 962
KARL MARX 卡尔?马克思 983
CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE 查尔斯?桑德斯?皮尔士 1007
WILLIAM JAMES 威廉?詹姆斯 1019
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE 弗里德里希?尼采 1033
6TWENTIETH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 20 世纪哲学 1061
EDMUND HUSSERL 埃德蒙德?胡塞尔 1065
W.E.B. DU BOIS W. E. B. 杜波依斯 1076
BERTRAND RUSSELL 伯特兰?罗素 1085
MARTIN HEIDEGGER 马丁?海德格尔 1096
LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN 路德维格?维特根斯坦 1127
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE 让- 保罗?萨特 1156
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 西蒙娜?德?波伏娃 1174
WILLARD VAN ORMAN QUINE 维拉德?凡?奥曼?奎因 1189
JACQUES DERRIDA 雅克?德里达 1207
Contents 目录
出版前言 1
前言 3
1 ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY 古希腊哲学 1
SOCRATES AND PLATO 苏格拉底和柏拉图 3
Euthyphro 《游叙弗伦》 8
Apology 《申辩篇》 21
Crito 《克力同》 38
Phaedo 72c-83c, 114e-118b 《斐多》(节选) 47
Republic Book I, 336b-342e, 347b-e; Book II, 357a-362c,
368a-376e;
Book III, 412b-417b; Book IV, 427c-445e; Book V, 449-462e, 473b-e;
and
Books V-VII, 502c-521b 《理想国》(节选) 59
ARISTOTLE 亚里士多德 125
Physics Book II, complete 《物理学》(节选) 129
Metaphysics Book I, 1-4, 6, 9; and Book XII,
6-9 《形而上学》(节选) 140
On the Soul Book II, Chapters 1-3; and Book III, 4-5
《灵魂论》(节选) 157
Nicomachean Ethics Books I-II; Book IV, 3; Books VI-VII; and Book
X, 6-8
《尼各马可伦理学》(节选) 164
2 HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHY 希腊化时期和罗马哲学 227
EPICURUS 伊壁鸠鲁 230
Letter to Menoeceus 《致美诺西斯的信》 232
Principal Doctrines 《主要原理》 236
EPICTETUS 埃比克泰德 239
Handbook Enchiridion 《手册》 241
PYRRHO AND SEXTUS EMPIRICUS 皮浪和塞克斯都?恩披里科 252
Outlines of Pyrrhonism Book I, 1-13 《皮浪主义纲要》(节选) 253
PLOTINUS 普罗提诺 258
Enneads Ennead I, Tractate 6 《九章集》(节选) 260
3 CHRISTIANITY AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY 基督教与中世纪哲学 267
AUGUSTINE 奥古斯丁 272
Confessions Book VIII, 5, 8-12; and Book XI, 14-28
《忏悔录》(节选) 275
City of God Book XI, Chapter 26; and Book XII, Chapters 1-9
《上帝之城》(节选) 290
BOETHIUS 波爱修斯 300
The Consolation of Philosophy Book V, Chapter 6
《哲学的慰藉》(节选) 302
ANSELM AND GUANILO 安瑟伦(和高尼罗) 306
Proslogion Preface; Chapters 1-4 《宣讲》(节选) 308
Gaunilo and Anselm: Debate selections《高尼罗和安瑟伦:辩论》(节选) 310
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN 宾根的希尔德加德 314
Scivias Book I, Vision 4, 16-26 《认识上帝之道》(节选) 316
MOSES MAIMONIDES 摩西?迈蒙尼德 321
The Guide for the Perplexed Part II, Introduction
《迷途指津》(节选) 323
THOMAS AQUINAS 托马斯?阿奎那 327
Summa Theologica selections 《神学大全》(摘录) 331
WILLIAM OF OCKHAM 奥康的威廉 358
Summa Logicae On Universals Part I, Chapters 14-16
《论普遍的东西》(节选) 361
GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA 乔万尼?皮科?德拉?米兰多拉 366
Oration on the Dignity of Man in part 《论人的尊严》(节选) 368
4 MODERN PHILOSOPHY 近代哲学 371
RENE DESCARTES 勒内?笛卡尔 373
Meditations on the First Philosophy 《第一哲学沉思录》 377
Correspondence with Princess Elizabeth selections
《与伊丽莎白女王的通信》(摘录) 417
THOMAS HOBBES 托马斯?霍布斯 421
Leviathan selections from Chapters 1-3, 6, 9, 12-15, 17-18,
21
《利维坦》(节选) 424
BLAISE PASCAL 布莱兹?帕斯卡 461
Pensées selections 《思想录》(摘录) 464
BARUCH SPINOZA 巴鲁赫?斯宾诺莎 470
Ethics Sections I and II 《伦理学》(节选) 472
JOHN LOCKE 约翰?洛克 523
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding abridged
《人类理解论》(节略) 526
GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ 戈特弗里德?莱布尼茨 578
Discourse on Metaphysics 《形而上学论》 582
The Monadology 《单子论》 610
GEORGE BERKELEY 乔治?贝克莱 619
Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous
《海拉斯和斐洛诺斯的三篇对话》 622
DAVID HUME 大卫?休谟 681
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 《人类理智研究》 684
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU 让- 雅克?卢梭 762
The Social Contract Book I 《社会契约论》(节选) 765
IMMANUEL KANT 伊曼纽尔?康德 775
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics 《未来形而上学导论》 779
Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals 《道德形而上学原理》 851
On a Supposed Right to Lie From Altruistic Motives
《论出于利他动机而撒谎的假设权利》 894
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT 玛丽?沃尔斯通克拉夫特 898
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Chapter 6 《女权辩护》(节选)
900
5 NINETEENTH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 19 世纪哲学 905
G.W.F. HEGEL G. W. F. 黑格尔 907
Phenomenology of Spirit B, IV, A: “Independence and Dependence of
Self-
Consciousness: Relations of Master and Servant”
《精神现象学》(节选) 910
Lectures on the History of Philosophy “The Final Result”
《哲学史讲演录》(节选) 916
JOHN STUART MILL 约翰?斯图亚特?穆勒 920
Utilitarianism 《功利主义》 923
SE REN KIERKEGAARD 索伦?克尔凯郭尔 962
Fear and Trembling Problema I: “Teleological Suspension of the
Ethical” 《恐惧与颤栗》(节选) 966
Concluding Unscientific Postscript Section II, Chapter 2,
“Subjective Truth,Inwardness; Truth Is
Subjectivity” 《非科学的最后附言》(节选) 974
KARL MARX 卡尔?马克思 983
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 “Alienated
Labor”
《1844 年经济学哲学手稿》(节选) 986
Manifesto of the Communist Party Chapters 1 and 2
《共产党宣言》(节选) 995
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy Preface
《〈政治经济学批判〉导言》(节选) 1004
Notes on Bakunin’s Statehood and Anarchy selections
《巴枯宁〈国家制度和无政府状态〉一书摘要》(摘录) 1005
CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE 查尔斯?桑德斯?皮尔士 1007
The Fixation of Belief 《信仰的确定》 1009
WILLIAM JAMES 威廉?詹姆斯 1019
Pragmatism Lecture II: What Pragmatism Means
《实用主义》(节选) 1021
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE 弗里德里希?尼采 1033
The Birth of Tragedy Chapters 1-3 《悲剧的诞生》(节选) 1037
The Gay Science selections 《快乐的科学》(摘录) 1043
Twilight of the Idols selections 《偶像的黄昏》(摘录) 1045
The Anti-Christ First Book, 2-7, 62 《敌基督》(摘录) 1057
6 TWENTIETH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 20 世纪哲学 1061
EDMUND HUSSERL 埃德蒙德?胡塞尔 1065
Phenomenology Encyclopaedia Brittanica article 《现象学》 1068
W.E.B. DU BOIS W. E. B. 杜波依斯 1076
The Souls of Black Folks Chapter 1 《黑人的灵魂》(节选) 1079
BERTRAND RUSSELL 伯特兰?罗素 1085
The Problems of Philosophy Chapters 1
15 《哲学问题》(摘录) 1088
MARTIN HEIDEGGER 马丁?海德格尔 1096
Introduction to Metaphysics Chapter 1: “The Fundamental Question
of
Metaphysics” 《形而上学导论》(节选) 1101
LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN 路德维格?维特根斯坦 1127
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Preface Sections 1-3.1431,4, 4.06,
4.1, 5,5.6, 6.4-7 《逻辑哲学论》(节选) 1131
Philosophical Investigations Paragraphs 1-47, 65-71, 241, 257-258,
305,
309 《哲学研究》(节选) 1139
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE 让- 保罗?萨特 1156
Existentialism Is a Humanism 《存在主义是一种人道主义》 1160
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 西蒙娜?德?波伏娃 1174
The Second Sex Introduction 《第二性》(节选) 1177
WILLARD VAN ORMAN QUINE 维拉德?凡?奥曼?奎因 1189
Two Dogmas of Empiricism 《经验论的两个教条》 1192
JACQUES DERRIDA 雅克?德里达 1207
Of Grammatology “The Written BeingThe Being Written”
《论文字学》(节选) 1210
內容試閱:
第一卷
ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY 古希腊哲学
Something unusual happened in Greece and in the Greek colonies of
the Aegean Sea some twenty-five hundred years ago. Whereas the
previous great cultures of the Mediterranean had used mythological
stories of the gods to explain the operations of the world and of
the self, some of the Greeks began to discover new ways of
explaining these phenomena. Instead of reading their ideas into, or
out of, ancient scriptures or poems, they began to use reason,
contemplation, and sensory observation to make sense of
reality.
The story as we know it began with the Greeks living on the coast
of Asia Minor present-day Turkey. Colonists there, such as
Thales, tried to find the one common element in the diversity of
nature. Subsequent thinkers, such as Anaximenes, sought not only to
find this one common element, but also to find the process by which
one form changes into another. Other thinkers, such as Pythagoras,
turned to the nature of form itself rather than the basic stuff
that takes on a particular form.
With Socrates, the pursuit of knowledge turned inward as he sought
not to understand the world, but himself. His call to “know
thyself,” together with his uncompromising search for truth,
inspired generations of thinkers. With the writings of Plato and
Aristotle, ancient Greek thought reached its zenith. These giants
of human thought developed all-embracing systems that explained
both the nature of the universe and the humans who inhabit
it.
All these lovers of wisdom, or philosophers, came to different
conclusions and often spoke disrespectfully of one another. Some
held the universe to be one single entity, whereas others insisted
that it must be made of many parts. Some believed that human
knowledge was capable of understanding virtually everything about
the world and the self, whereas others thought that it was not
possible to have any knowledge at all. But despite all their
differences, there is a thread of
continuity, a continuing focus among them: the human attempt to
understand the world and the self, using human reason. This fact
distinguishes these philosophers from the great minds that preceded
them.
The philosophers of ancient Greece have fascinated thinking persons
for centuries, and their writings have been one of the key
influences on the development of Western civilization. The works of
Plato and Aristotle, especially, have defined the questions and
suggested many of the answers for subsequent generations. As the
great Greek statesman Pericles sagely predicted, “Future ages will
wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now.”
* * *
For a comprehensive, yet readable, work on Greek philosophy, see
W.K.C. Guthrie’s authoritative The History of Greek Philosophy, six
volumes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962–1981. W.T.
Jones, The Classical Mind New York: Harcourt, Brace World,
1969; Frederick Copleston, A History of Philosophy: Volume I,
Greece Rome Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962; Friedo
Ricken, Philosophy of the Ancients, translated by Eric Watkins
Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991; J.V. Luce,
An Introduction to Greek Philosophy New York: Thames and Hudson,
1992; C.C.W. Taylor, ed., Routledge History of Philosophy, Volume
1: From the Beginning to Plato London: Routledge, 1997; David
Furley, ed., Routledge History of Philosophy, Volume 2: Aristotle
to Augustine London: Routledge, 1997; Julia Annas, Ancient
Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2000; James A. Arieti, Philosophy in the Ancient World
Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield, 2005; Anthony Kenny,
Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy Oxford
University Press, 2004; and Stephanie Lynn Budin, The Ancient
Greeks: An Introduction Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2009 provide basic introductions. Julie
K. Ward, ed., Feminism and Ancient Philosophy London: Routledge,
1996 provides a feminist critique while Robert S. Brumbaugh, The
Philosophers of Greece Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1981 is an
accessible introduction with pictures, charts, and maps.
SOCRATES 苏格拉底
470–399 B.C.
PLATO 柏拉图
4287–3487 B.C.
Socrates has fascinated and inspired men and women for over two
thousand years. All five of the major “schools” of ancient Greece
Academics, Peripatetics, Epicureans, Stoics, and Cynics were
influenced by his thought. Some of the early Christian thinkers,
such as Justin Martyr, considered him a “proto-Christian,” while
others, such as St. Augustine who rejected this view still
expressed deep admiration for Socrates’ ethical life. More
recently, existentialists have found in Socrates’ admonition “know
thyself” an encapsulation of their thought, and opponents of unjust
laws have seen in Socrates’ trial a blueprint for civil
disobedience. In short, Socrates is one of the most admired men who
ever lived.
The Athens into which Socrates was born in 470 B.C. was a city
still living in the flush of its epic victory over the Persians,
and it was bursting with new ideas. The playwrights Euripides and
Sophocles were young boys, and Pericles, the great Athenian
democrat, was still a young man. The Parthenon’s foundation was
laid when Socrates was twenty-two, and its construction was
completed fifteen years later.
Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor, and of
Phaenarete, a midwife. As a boy, Socrates received a classical
Greek education in music, gymnastics, and grammar or the study of
language, and he decided early on to become a sculptor like his
father. Tradition says he was a gifted artist who fashioned
impressively simple statues of the Graces. He married a woman
named
Xanthippe, and together they had three children. He took an early
interest in the developing science of the Milesians, and then he
served for a time in the army.
When he was a middle-aged man, Socrates’ friend, Chaerephon, asked
the oracle at Delphi “if there was anyone who was wiser than
Socrates.” For once the mysterious oracle gave an unambiguous
answer: “No one.” When Socrates heard of the incident, he was
confused. He knew that he was not a wise man. So he set out to find
a wiser man to prove the answer wrong. Socrates later described the
method and results of his mission:
So I examined the man—I need not tell you his name, he was a
politician—but this was the result. Athenians. When I conversed
with him I came to see that, though a great many persons, and most
of all he himself, thought that he was wise, yet he was not wise.
Then I tried to prove to him that he was not wise, though he
fancied that he was. By so doing I made him indignant, and many of
the bystanders. So when I went away, I thought to myself, “I am
wiser than this man: neither of us knows anything that is really
worth knowing, but he thinks that he has knowledge when he has not,
while I, having no knowledge, do not think that I have. I seem, at
any rate, to be a little wiser than he is on this point: I do not
think that I know what I do not know.” Next I went to another man
who was reputed to be still wiser than the last, with exactly the
same result. And there again I made him, and many other men,
indignant. Apology 21c
As Socrates continued his mission by interviewing the politicians,
poets, and artisans of Athens, young men followed along. They
enjoyed seeing the authority figures humiliated by Socrates’
intense questioning. Those in authority, however, were not amused.
Athens was no longer the powerful, self-confident city of 470 B.C.,
the year of Socrates’ birth. An exhausting succession of wars with
Sparta the Peloponnesian Wars and an enervating series of
political debacles had left the city narrow in vision and
suspicious of new ideas and of dissent. In 399 B.C., Meletus and
Anytus brought an indictment of impiety and corrupting the youth
against Socrates. As recorded in the Apology, the Athenian assembly
found him guilty by a vote of 281 to 220 and sentenced him to
death. His noble death is described incomparably in the closing
pages of the Phaedo by Plato.
Socrates wrote nothing, and our knowledge of his thought comes
exclusively from the report of others. The playwright Aristophanes
455–375 B.C. satirized Socrates in his comedy The Clouds. His
caricature of Socrates as a cheat and charlatan was apparently so
damaging that Socrates felt compelled to offer a rebuttal before
the Athenian assembly see the Apology, following. The military
general Xenophon ca. 430–350 B.C. honored his friend Socrates in
his Apology of Socrates, his Symposium, and, later, in his
Memorabilia “Recollections of Socrates”. In an effort to defend
his dead friend’s memory, Xenophon’s writings illumine Socrates’
life and character. Though born fifteen years after the death of
Socrates, Aristotle 384–322 B.C. left many fascinating allusions
to Socrates in his philosophic works, as did several later Greek
philosophers. But the primary source of our knowledge of Socrates
comes from one of those young men who
followed him: Plato.
* * *
Plato was probably born in 4287 B.C. He had two older brothers,
Adeimantus and Glaucon, who appear in Plato’s Republic, and a
sister, Potone. Though he may have known Socrates since childhood,
Plato was probably nearer twenty when he came under the
intellectual spell of Socrates. The death of Socrates made an
enormous impression on Plato and contributed to his call to bear
witness to posterity of “the best, …the wisest and most just”
person that he knew Phaedo, 118. Though Plato was from a
distinguished family and might have followed his relatives into
politics, he chose philosophy.
Following Socrates’ execution, the twenty-eight-year-old Plato left
Athens and traveled for a time. He is reported to have visited
Egypt and Cyrene—though some scholars doubt this. During this time
he wrote his early dialogues on Socrates’ life and teachings. He
also visited Italy and Sicily, where he became the friend of Dion,
a relative of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily.
On returning to Athens from Sicily, Plato founded a school, which
came to be called the Academy. One might say it was the world’s
first university, and it endured as a center of higher learning for
nearly one thousand years, until the Roman emperor Justinian closed
it in A.D. 529. Except for two later trips to Sicily, where he
unsuccessfully sought to institute his political theories, Plato
spent the rest of his life at the Athenian Academy. Among his
students was Aristotle. Plato died at eighty in 3487 B.C.
Plato’s influence was best described by the twentieth-century
philosopher Alfred North Whitehead when he said, “The safest
general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is
that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
* * *
It is difficult to separate the ideas of Plato from those of his
teacher, Socrates. In virtually all of Plato’s dialogues, Socrates
is the main character, and it is possible that in the early
dialogues Plato is recording his teacher’s actual words. But in the
later dialogues, “Socrates” gives Plato’s views—views that, in some
cases, in fact, the historical Socrates denied.
The first four dialogues presented in this text describe the trial
and death of Socrates and are arranged in narrative order. The
first, the Euthyphro, takes place as Socrates has just learned of
the indictment against him. He strikes up a conversation with a
“theologian” so sure of his piety that he is prosecuting his own
father for murder. The dialogue moves on, unsuccessfully, to define
piety. Along the way, Socrates asks a question that has vexed
philosophers and theologians for centuries: Is something good
because the gods say it is, or do the gods say it is good because
it is?
The next dialogue, the Apology, is generally regarded as one of
Plato’s first, and as eminently faithful to what Socrates said at
his trial on charges of impiety and corruption of youth. The speech
was delivered in public and heard by a large audience; Plato has
Socrates mention that Plato was present; and there is no need to
doubt the historical veracity of the speech, at least in
essentials. There are two breaks in the narrative: one after
Socrates’ defense during which the Athenians vote “guilty” and
one after Socrates proposes an alternative to the death penalty
during which the Athenians decide on death. This dialogue
includes Socrates’ famous characterization of his mission and
purpose in life.
In the Crito, Plato has Crito visit Socrates in prison to assure
him that his escape from Athens has been well prepared and to
persuade him to consent to leave. Socrates argues that one has an
obligation to obey the state even when it orders one to suffer
wrong. That Socrates, in fact, refused to leave is certain; that he
used the arguments Plato ascribes to him is less certain. In any
case, anyone who has read the Apology will agree that after his
speech Socrates could not well escape.
The moving account of Socrates’ death is given at the end of the
Phaedo, the last of our group of dialogues. There is common
agreement that this dialogue was written much later than the other
three and that the earlier part of the dialogue, with its Platonic
doctrine of Forms and immortality, uses “Socrates” as a vehicle for
Plato’s own ideas.These first four dialogues are given in the F.J.
Church translation.
There are few books in Western civilization that have had the
impact of Plato’s Republic—aside from the Bible, perhaps none. Like
the Bible, there are also few books whose interpretation and
evaluation have differed so widely. Apparently it is a description
of Plato’s ideal society: a utopian vision of the just state,
possible only if philosophers were kings. But some see the
following suggested readings claim that its purpose is not to give
a model of the ideal state, but to show the impossibility of such a
state and to convince aspiring philosophers to shun politics.
Evaluations of the Republic have also varied widely: from the
criticisms of Karl Popper, who denounced the Republic as
totalitarian, to the admiration of more traditional interpreters,
such as Francis MacDonald Cornford and Gregory Vlastos.
Given the importance of this work and the diversity of opinions
concerning its point and value, it was extremely difficult to
decide which sections of the Republic to include in this series. I
chose to include the discussion of justice from Books I and II, the
descriptions of the guardians and of the “noble lie” from Book III,
the discussions of the virtues and the soul in Book IV, the
presentations of the guardians’ qualities and lifestyles in Book V,
and the key sections on knowledge including the analogy of the
line and the myth of the cave from the end of Book VI and the
beginning of Book VII. I admit that space constraints have forced
me to exclude important sections. Ideally, the selections chosen
will whet the student’s appetite to read the rest of this classic.
I am pleased to offer the Republic in the outstanding new
translation by Joe Sachs.
The marginal page numbers are those of all scholarly editions,
Greek, English, German, or French.
* * *
For studies of Socrates, see the classic A.E. Taylor, Socrates: The
Man and His Thought London: Methuen, 1933; the second half of
Volume III of W.K.C. Guthrie, The History of Greek Philosophy
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969; Hugh H. Benson,
Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1992; Anthony Gottlieb, Socrates London: Routledge, 1999;
Christopher Taylor’s pair of introductions, Socrates and Socrates:
A Very Short Introduction both Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1999 and 2000; Nalin Ranasingle, The Soul of Socrates Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press, 2000; Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas
D. Smith, The Philosophy of Socrates Boulder, CO: Westview, 2000;
and James Colaiazo, Socrates Against Athens London: Routledge,
2001. For collections of essays, see Gregory Vlastos, ed., The
Philosophy of Socrates Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971; Hugh H.
Benson, ed., Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1992; Terence Irwin, ed., Socrates and His
Contemporaries Hamden, CT: Garland Publishing, 1995; and the
multivolume William J. Prior, ed., Socrates Oxford: Routledge,
1996; and Lindsay Judson and Vassilis Karasmanis, eds.,
Remembering Socrates: Philosophical Essays Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2006. For discussions of the similarities and
differences between the historical Socrates and the “Socrates” of
the Platonic dialogues, see Gregory Vlastos, Socrates: Ironist and
Moral Philosopher Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991,
especially Chapters 2 and 3.
Books about Plato are legion. Once again the work of W.K.C. Guthrie
is sensible, comprehensive, yet readable. See Volumes IV and V of
his The History of Greek Philosophy Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1975 and 1978. Paul Shorey, What Plato Said
Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1933; and G.M.A. Grube,
Plato’s Thought London: Methuen, 1935 are classic treatments of
Plato, while Robert Brumbaugh, Plato for a Modern Age New York:
Macmillan, 1964; I.M. Crombie, An Examination of Plato’s
Doctrines, two volumes New York: Humanities Press, 1963–1969,
R.M. Hare, Plato Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982; David J.
Melling, Understanding Plato Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1987; Bernard
Williams, Plato London: Routledge, 1999; Julius Moravcsik, Plato
and Platonism Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2000; and Gail Fine, The
Oxford Handbook of Plato Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008
are more recent studies. For collections of essays, see Gregory
Vlastos, ed., Plato: A Collection of Critical Essays, two volumes
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971; Richard Kraut, ed., The
Cambridge Companion to Plato Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1991; Nancy Tuana, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Plato
College Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994;
Terence Irwin, ed., Plato’s Ethics and Plato’s Metaphysics and
Epistemology both Hamden, CT: Garland Publishing, 1995; Gregory
Vlastos, ed., Studies in Greek Philosophy, Volume II: Socrates,
Plato, and Their Tradition Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1995; Nicholas D. Smith, ed., Plato: Critical Assessments
London: Routledge, 1998; Gail Fine, ed., Plato Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2000; and Gerald A. Press, ed., Who Speaks for
Plato? Lanham, MD: Rownan and Littlefield, 2000. C.D.C. Reeve,
Socrates in the Apology Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1989 provides
insights on this key dialogue. For further reading on the Republic,
see Nicholas P. White, A Companion to Plato’s Republic
Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1979; Julia Annas, An Introduction to
Plato’s Republic Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981; Nickolas Pappas,
Routledge Guidebook to Plato and the Republic Oxford: Routledge,
1995; Daryl Rice, A Guide to Plato’s Republic Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1997; Richard Kraut, ed., Plato’s Republic:
Critical Essays Lanham, MD: Rowan Littlefield, 1997; Sean
Sayers, Plato’s Republic: An Introduction Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 1999; Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Republic New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005; Luke Purshouse, Plato’s
Republic: A Reader’s Guide London: Continuum, 2006; and C.R.F.
Ferrari, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Plato’s Republic
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Terence Irwin,
Plato’s Ethics Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995 and Gabriela
Roxanna Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 examine several
dialogues while thoroughly exploring Plato’s ethical thought.
Finally, for unusual interpretations of Plato and his work, see
Werner Jaeger, Paideia, Vols. II and III, translated by Gilbert
Highet New York: Oxford University Press, 1939–1943; Karl R.
Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies; Volume I: The Spell of
Plato Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1962; and Allan
Bloom’s interpretive essay in Plato, Republic, translated by Allan
Bloom New York: Basic Books, 1968.