Ivor Ludlam Plato's Republic as a Philosophical Drama on Doing Well

Annotation

Transcending dominant debates of whether Platos Republic is about the ideal state, the soul, art, or education, Ivor Ludlams analysis treats the dialogue as pure conversation. Returning to the original Greek, Ludlam examines the dialogue both in its details and in its entirety. The result is a holistic interpretation wherein Ludlam reveals how each character becomes a paradigm for an aspect of the Republics central themethe apparent good. Ultimately, it is the individual aspects of apparent good that the characters represent that determines the final course of the dialogue.Revisioning the central theme of the Republic through the motivations and interactions of its characters, Ludlam provides an innovative, holistic, and dramatic analysis of this foundational work.