Schedule for reading Plato’s Republic:

Monday, Feb 5 - pp.1-19 (327a-343)

Wednesday, Feb 7 - pp.20-43 (343a-369)

Friday Feb 9 - pp.110-121 (434d-445e)

Monday, Feb 12 - pp.149-146, 177-193 (474b-480a, 504a-521b)

Wednesday, Feb 14 - pp.213-240 (Book VIII)

Friday, February 16 - pp.241-264 (Book IX)

Study Questions for Republic Book 1 to 343

1. What definition of justice does Socrates draw from Cephalus’ explanation

of the chief advantage of wealth? (330d‑331c)

2. How does he show that this definition is no good? (331c‑d)

3. What definition does Polemarchus attribute to the poet Simonides? (331e)

4. What definition does Socrates then coax out of Polemarchus? (332a-d)

5. Socrates then proceeds to lead Polemarchus to some absurd conclusions (at 333e and 334b). What, if anything, do you think this shows about Polemarchus’ way of understanding justice?

6. How does Socrates’ argue for the conclusion that “it is never just to harm anyone”?(335e) Do you agree with this conclusion?

7. What is Thrasymachus’ complaint about the way Socrates has been conducting the discussion? (336b-337a) Does he have a valid point?

8. How does Thrasymachus define justice? (338c)

9. How does he then clarify what his definition means? (338d-339a)

10. How does Socrates show that this definition leads to an absurd result? (339b-340a)

11. How does Thrasymachus then defend his definition against this criticism? (340d-341a)

12. How does Socrates get Thrasymachus to agree that every craft seeks the good of its subjects and not of its practitioners? (341c-342b)

13. How does he then argue that Thrasymachus definition of justice must be wrong? (342c-343)