WHAT YOU'LL LEARN


Understand some of the most important questions of our time.

How can we define justice?

Is there a soul?

What education is best?

Is violence ever consensual?

Can censorship be justified?

Is there a best regime?

Can war be abolished?

Why do good governments become corrupt?

Can we reconcile loyalty to our own people with love of all?

Even if you’ve never studied philosophy before, over the course of ten lectures, we’ll take you from no experience to the very depths of philosophical understanding. The course covers all ten books (i.e. chapters) of the most famous work of philosophy ever: Plato’s Republic.

THE BOOK

The Republic of Plato, Translated by Allan Bloom


The Republic may be the best book about politics ever written. Despite the fact that it is thousands of years old, you’ll find that it raises topical questions, treats them seriously, and resonates with our contemporary concerns. We use the Allan Bloom translation, and the course is guided by Leo Strauss’s approach to the study of political philosophy.

THE COURSES


Plato’s Republic covered in 10 sessions, plus a bonus lecture.