Introduction to Political Philosophy (PLSC 114)

Lecture 4 introduces Plato's Republic and its many meanings in the context of moral psychology, justice, the power of poetry and myth, and metaphysics. The Republic is also discussed as a utopia, presenting an extreme vision of a polisKallipolisPlato's ideal city.

00:00 Chapter 1. Introduction
03:04 Chapter 2. What Is Plato's "Republic" About?
17:38 Chapter 3. I Went Down to the Piraeus
22:05 Chapter 4. The Seventh Letter
30:00 Chapter 5. Analyzing the Beginning of "Republic" and the Hierarchy of Characters
38:13 Chapter 6. Cephalus

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Fall 2006.