Humanities & academic writing
The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic
Douglas Drabkin
Fort Hays State University, FHSU Scholars Repository · 25th anniversary edition (July 2026) · English · Published 2026
A guided reading of Plato's Republic, organized around its arguments, characters and philosophical questions.
- Learning stage
- College introduction
- Prerequisites
- College-level philosophy or independent study of Plato’s Republic. The guide expects separately reading the dialogue.
- PDF pages
- 174 in this file
- Editorial review
- 2026-10-29
Contents
Choose the section you need. Listening availability is shown for each section.
The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic
The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic
Recommended Citation
PREFACE
Book I
Book I
1 A Religious Festival in the Piraeus
2 Being Old
3 Treasure for Heaven
4 Giving What is Owed
5 The Craft of Justice
6 Benefiting Friends and Harming Enemies
7 The Advantage of the Stronger
8 The Good Shepherd
9 The Blushing Argument
10 Function, Virtue, and the Soul
Book II
Book II
11 The Division of Goods
12 The Social Contract Theory of Justice
13 The Magic Ring
14 The Challenge
15 The Teaching of Justice
16 Glaucon’s Lover
17 From Souls to Cities
18 Making the Most of Differences
19 Luxuries in the City
20 The Good Soldier
21 Censoring Homer
22 Gods Causing Bad Things
23 Gods in Disguise or Speaking Falsely
Book III
Book III
24 Fear and Grief
25 Laughter and Lying
26 Lust, Wrath, and Greed
27 Narrative Style and Personal Integrity
28 The Emotional Power of Tune and Rhythm
29 Love of the Fine and Beautiful
30 Physical Training
31 Doctors and Judges
32 Harmony in the Soul
33 Rulers
34 The Myth of the Metals
35 Private Property, Private Interests
Book IV
Book IV
36 The City as a Whole
37 Lawfulness Internalized, Legislation Minimized
38 Wisdom in the City
39 Courage in the City
40 Temperance in the City
41 Justice in the City
42 Parts of the Soul -- Appetitive and Rational
43 The Spirited Part of the Soul
44 The Virtues of the Soul
45 Injustice is Sick
Book V
Book V
46 A Desire to Listen
47 The Natures of Men and Women
48 Good Breeding
49 Families and the Saying of “Mine” and “Not Mine”
50 The Waging of War
51 Philosophers and Knowledge of the Forms
Book VI
Book VI
52 The Virtues of the Philosopher
53 Philosophical Perspective and the Fear of Death
54 The Uselessness of Philosophers
55 Gifted Students and the Sophists
56 Putting Knowledge of the Forms to Use
57 The Form of the Good
58 Every Soul Pursues the Good
59 The Sun
60 Degrees of Clarity (the Line)
Book VII
Book VII
61 The Cave
62 Two Kinds of Confusion
63 The Craft of Education
64 Compulsory Service for Philosophers
65 Numbers as Summoners
66 Further Mathematical Studies
67 Dialectic
68 Selecting Students for Philosophy
69 Abuses of Refutation
70 Completing the Education of the Rulers
71 Establishing Justice
Book VIII
Book VIII
72 The Fall of the Aristocratic City
73 The Timocratic City
74 The Timocratic Soul
75 The Oligarchic City
76 The Oligarchic Soul
77 The Democratic City
78 The Democratic Soul
79 The Tyrannical City
Book IX
Book IX
80 Lawless Desires
81 The Right Way to Fall Asleep
82 The Tyrannical Soul
83 The First Proof: Analogy of City and Soul
84 The Second Proof: Who’s to Say?
85 The Third Proof: True Pleasures
86 How Much More Unpleasant is the Tyrannical Life?
87 An Emblem of the Soul
88 Will the Just Person Take Part in Politics?
Book X
Book X
89 Return to Poetry
90 First Accusation: Imitation in Ignorance
91 Second Accusation: Injustice Promoted in the Soul
92 A Call to Poetry’s Defenders
93 An Argument for the Soul’s Immortality
94 The Soul Without Barnacles
95 Rewards from Gods and Human Beings
96 Suffering, Philosophy, and the Choice of a Lifetime
INDEX
Sources and permissions
The author and publisher remain the source of this textbook. Permission information applies to the specific files in this edition.
Author, publisher, and discovery sources
Authors: Douglas Drabkin
Publisher: Fort Hays State University, FHSU Scholars Repository
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-27
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-25
CC BY 4.0
Douglas Drabkin, The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic, 25th anniversary edition, July 2026, Fort Hays State University. DOI: 10.58809/NMWX1677. CC BY 4.0. Source https://scholars.fhsu.edu/philosophy_oer/1/ .
Changes: Original PDF bytes are unchanged. Catalog metadata and page viewing are supplied by iReadAll. No endorsement implied. Structured extraction, audio, translation and independent image redistribution are not approved.
Checked 2026-10-29