Republic is reminder that we need ancient insights

Published 11/15/05

When I drive down the streets of this town on trash pickup day, which come to think of it, is most days, I’m struck by this community’s interest in that ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. Everywhere I look, I see blue curbside bins on wheels with the title of his most popular bestseller, “Republic.”

I don’t see garbage bins imprinted with “Apology,” “Symposium” or “Crito”—titles of his other texts—but I do see a lot of Republics.

Rolling our Republics out of the garage and to the end of the driveway is a worthy exercise because it makes us think—at least once a week—about justice, wisdom, courage and the beauty of residential solid waste management in an ideal society.

Which is, more or less, what Plato’s Republic is all about. Poet that he was, Plato knew better than to address such topics in a boorish manner. In fact, he uses drama, a dialogue actually, in which his characters burrow through topics like metaphysics, mythology, religion, art, morality, parenthood, psychology, education, arts and entertainment, feminism and private property on their way to the perfect republic. As in several of his dialogue-based books, Plato’s central character is his hero and mentor, Socrates.

A little historical interlude here: Plato was indeed a published poet in Athens around 400 B.C. until he met Socrates at which point he had a philosophical-religious experience and became a full time student of Professor Socrates. Plato then devoted his life to putting Socrates’ ideas down on paper, something his teacher never bothered to do before his teaching career was cut short with a fatal cup of hemlock. When Plato wasn’t writing dialogues, he was launching his Academy, a prestigious school in Athens that would eventually serve as the model for the modern, western university. Of course, at the Academy, Plato taught…philosophy.

Although the conversations in the Republic cover everything but global warming, the book ultimately draws up a blueprint for an ideal city-state, asking the question, “Must we not acknowledge that in each of us there are the same principles and habits which there are in the State; and that from the individual they pass into the State?”

Plato looks at the soul of the republic by looking at the souls within the republic. In one recurring theme, Plato seems to ask: “Is there a connection between being good and being happy?”
It’s tough to distinguish between the opinions of Plato and Socrates. But this much is apparent: Plato has written a masterpiece in which Socrates is his mouthpiece. Another of their favorite themes is how the ruler of the ideal republic should be a…philosopher. Okay, so it has its spin.
Despite its bias, the Republic is probably the single most influential book in the history of philosophy. As one scholar put it, the Republic’s influence on 2000 years of Western thought is eclipsed only by the Bible.

Of course, now I’m thinking not just of Plato but of Mark Twain who said that a classic is a book that everyone praises but no one reads.

I, too, have only read parts of the Republic, like the cave part. Remember the cave analogy? That’s where Plato suggests that we are like prisoners in a cave watching shadows on the wall until we can get out into the enlightenment and escape the limitations of our everyday senses. He also differentiates between the “dumpster” and “dumpsterness.” Say what?

Anyway…seeing how there are daily reminders of the Republic everywhere, I propose that this community choose the Republic for its next town-wide read-off. Peter Kreeft of Boston College says of the book, “Plato sings philosophy.” This is a song we could sing.

Author Will Durant wrote, “These dialogues…were written by Plato for the general reading public of the day: by their conversational method, their lively war of pros and cons…they were explicitly adapted to the understanding of the man who must taste philosophy as an occasional luxury, and who is compelled by the brevity of life to read as he who runs may read.”

Philosophy as just an occasional luxury, the brevity of life, the frustration of having to read while on the run, and our collective need for Republic instruction is what I’m thinking about every Thursday evening when I drag my dumpster to the road.