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Category 20, Topic 29 Fri Jan 24, 1992 L.FLETCHER [LANCE] at 03:37 EST Sub: PLATOS REPUBLIC--a slow reading Can a slow reading of Platos Republic be an occasion for real philosophical thinking? This topic is for those who can tolerate living with more questions than answers. On slow reading, see msg.18. 149 message(s) total. ************ Category 20, Topic 29 Message 1 Fri Jan 24, 1992 L.FLETCHER [LANCE] at 03:37 EST This topic is to be something like a seminar on Platos Republic. I say something like because, although I have led college seminars on the Republic a number of times, I have never attempted a sustained discussion in this medium before, and, just as I want us all, including myself, to be open to being taught by Plato, I also want us to be open to being taught by this medium what novelties, what new possibilities it has to offer us. There is no prerequisite for this course. You do not have to have read Plato before. So far as I am concerned, the main purpose of this discussion is not to learn about Plato. It is to learn how to read. Committed participants in this discussion will be called slow readers. Text: I recommend that slow readers acquire and use Allan Blooms translation of the Republic. It is published by Basic Books and is available in paperback. In addition to being an extremely accurate translation, it has helpful notes, a useful commentary and a wonderful index. If you must read a translation other than Blooms, I strongly recommend avoiding the one by Cornford. Secondary literature: I recommend avoiding the secondary sources, at least until you have wrestled quite a bit with Platos text. The purpose of slow reading is to give ourselves the opportunity to be perplexed. If we substitute the reading of the commentaries for the reading of the text, we may be cheating ourselves of the opportunity to think. If you cannot live without secondary sources, I recommend the following as suppor