Read The Classics: Plato's Republic September 14, 2008

The Multnomah County Library invites you to take part in a new book series, where you can read some of the best all-time classics and discuss them under the leadership of Paul Hovda, Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Reed College. Participation is free, but registration is required. You can register online at http://www.multcolib.org/events/classics/philosophy.html
A limited number of books will be available free of charge for those who pre-register.

The 20th century philosopher A.N. Whitehead famously said that "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato," and among Plato's works, the Republic (ca. 380 BCE) stands out as the most all–encompassing: within its 10 books, Plato addresses just about every area of philosophy. It's all here: justice, poetry and art, education, religion, the soul, pleasure, desire, love, sex, marriage, death, mathematics, truth, knowledge, appearance vs. reality, political and social systems, and more. Plato's discussion not only represents the fundamentals of major competing philosophical ideas on these topics, it evaluates these ideas, suggesting a brilliant and challenging and all–encompassing philosophical view. The work is in the literary form of a dialog, leaving room for controversy over exactly how Plato might have intended it to be interpreted. Even if Whitehead's quip is an exaggeration, it is certainly true that countless philosophers have read, struggled with, and written about the Republic.

Official Website: http://www.multcolib.org/events/classics/philosophy.html