Abstract

This book is not an in-depth commentary on the Republic and so should not be read as such. Rather, it is by its author’s own account a short “interpretive guide” and “a general introduction to philosophy and political theory”. The Republic, as is known, consists of ten books. Book 1 serves as an introduction, as the character Socrates indicates later in book 2. There the problem of justice in all its complexity is outlined. The remaining nine books break up into three triads: books 2–4, books 5–7, and books 8–10. The five chapters of Rice’s book closely follow this fourfold division with two minor adjustments: Rice groups book 5 with books 2–4 and revisits book 8 in his concluding chapter.