The Republic

1. What happens when Socrates tries to define justice with different people, and why does each definition fall apart?

2. Why does each person define justice in a way that benefits their own situation? What does this reveal about how we create our beliefs?

3. What is the Ring of Gyges, and what does Glaucon think would happen if someone found it?

4. Why do the brothers argue that even 'good' people might just be too weak or scared to do bad things?

5. What does Socrates say is wrong with the traditional stories about gods and heroes, and what kind of stories does he want instead?

6. Why does Plato think both music and gymnastics train the soul rather than the body? What happens when someone gets too much of one without the other?

7. What are the three parts of the soul that Socrates identifies, and what does each part want?

8. Why does Leontius both want to look at the corpses and hate himself for wanting to? What does this reveal about internal conflict?

9. What were Socrates' three radical proposals for the guardian class, and which one did he think would be most shocking?

10. Why does Socrates use the example of guard dogs to argue for women guardians? How does this strategy help him make his point?

11. In the ship allegory, why do the sailors drug the captain and fight over the wheel instead of learning navigation?

12. Why does Plato say brilliant people often become the worst corrupted? What makes them more vulnerable than average minds?

13. In the cave allegory, what happens when the freed prisoner tries to tell others about the real world?

14. Why do the other prisoners mock and reject the one who's seen the truth instead of being curious?

15. What are the five types of government Plato describes, and what causes each one to fail?