[Simon & Schuster] Widely acknowledged as his most influential work, Republic presents Plato's philosophical views on the nature of justice and his vision for the ideal state. The Republic is widely regarded as Plato’s greatest work and the finest of the Socratic dialogues—it remains a cornerstone of Western philosophy. It sets out to define is "What is justice?" Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and his interlocutors, The Republic explores the idea of what consitutes a perfect community and the ideal individual who lives within it. It considers whether or not a concept of Justice may be determined by citizens in a given state and how Justice may be best accomplished. Plato establishes that the just individual can be defined in analogy with the just society, compares the ideal rule of philosopher kings to the unjust rule of tyrants, and concludes that justice is worthwhile for its own sake—it is the greatest good. This edition includes: -A concise introdu