Plato's Republic
Alain Badiou
- Plato's
- Republic
- is
- one
- of
- the
- most
- well-known
- and
- widely
- discussed
- texts
- in
- the
- history
- of
- philosophy,
- but
- how
- might
- we
- get
- to
- the
- heart
- of
- this
- work
- today,
- 2500
- years
- after
- it
- was
- originally
- composed?
- Alain
- Badiou
- invents
- a
- new
- genre
- in
- order
- to
- breathe
- fresh
- life
- into
- Plato's
- text
- and
- restore
- its
- universality.
- Rather
- than
- producing
- yet
- another
- critical
- commentary,
- he
- has
- retranslated
- the
- work
- from
- the
- original
- Greek
- and,
- by
- making
- various
- changes,
- adapted
- it
- for
- our
- times.In
- this
- innovative
- reimagining
- of
- a
- classic
- text,
- Badiou
- has
- removed
- all
- references
- specific
- to
- ancient
- Greek
- society,
- from
- the
- endless
- exchanges
- about
- the
- moral
- courage
- of
- poets
- to
- those
- political
- considerations
- that
- were
- only
- of
- interest
- to
- the
- aristocratic
- elite.
- On
- the
- other
- hand,
- Badiou
- has
- expanded
- the
- range
- of
- cultural
- references:
- here
- philosophy
- is
- firing
- on
- all
- cylinders,
- and
- Socrates
- and
- his
- companions
- are
- joined
- by
- Beckett,
- Pessoa,
- Freud
- and
- Hegel.
- They
- demonstrate
- the
- enduring
- nature
- of
- true
- philosophy,
- always
- ready
- to
- move
- with
- the
- times.Moreover,
- Badiou
- the
- dramatist
- has
- made
- the
- Socratic
- dialogue
- a
- true
- oratorial
- contest:
- in
- his
- version
- of
- the
- Republic,
- the
- interlocutors
- have
- more
- in
- mind
- than
- merely
- agreeing
- with
- the
- Master.
- They
- stand
- up
- to
- him,
- put
- him
- on
- the
- spot
- and
- thereby
- show
- thought
- in
- motion.
- Through
- this
- work
- of
- writing,
- scholarship
- and
- philosophy,
- we
- are
- able,
- for
- the
- first
- time,
- to
- read
- a
- version
- of
- Plato's
- text
- which
- is
- alive,
- stimulating
- and
- directly
- relevant
- to
- our
- world today.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
