Why people recommend it
The Republic by Plato is a foundational philosophical and political treatise that explores the nature of justice, the ideal society, the human mind, and political structures. The work was referenced across several prominent podcasts, including Interesting Times, The Diary Of A CEO, Modern Wisdom, The Ezra Klein Show, Timcast IRL, and the Lex Fridman Podcast. Ross Douthat discussed the value of engaging with Plato's text with Jennifer Frey, while Ray Dalio referenced its analysis of democracy and cyclical political decline. Professor Dieng used Plato's allegory of the cave from the book to explain the nature of reality on The Diary Of A CEO, and Alex O'Connor examined the evolution of Plato's political philosophy on Modern Wisdom. Agnes Callard cited the work on The Ezra Klein Show to analyze ideal societies, social mobility, and status games, Darren Beattie referenced its noble lie on Timcast IRL while debating information control, and Sean Kelly brought up the text on the Lex Fridman Podcast to discuss traditional views of the soul.
Who recommended it
- Agnes Callard Discussed
- Ross Douthat Discussed
- Ray Dalio Discussed
- Professor Dieng Discussed
- Alex O’Connor Discussed
- Darren Beattie Discussed
- Sean Kelly Discussed
- Bill Burr Discussed
Agnes Callard — 2 mentions
“if you think about Plato's Republic okay so in Plato's Republic he creates this ideal society”
“so Plato's Society is one that's rigidly socially immobile right and it does prevent a certain kind of strife”
Ross Douthat — 1 mention
“Would you say that there is a inherent value in being able to read and engage with Plato’s Republic, or being able to listen to and experience Handel or Bach or anyone else who’s considered a great composer?”
Ray Dalio — 1 mention
“Plato talked about this cycle. And no. In the Republic. And he talked about the democracy and the problems with the democracy, because the people don’t vote for what is good for them.”
Professor Dieng — 1 mention
“To explain the nature of reality, um I'm going to explain Plato's allegory of the cave, which he talked about in his book, The Republic.”
Alex O’Connor — 1 mention
“Even even someone like Plato who we quite often think of as having a a very strong stable consistent set of made out of marble well as he if you if you you know is one of his earlier works which is both a kind of political treatise but also a theory of the human mind is called the republic”
Darren Beattie — 1 mention
“I think um I think censorship and information control are necessary to any type of regime. I think the important issue is if the noble lie is necessary in in some degree as you know the famous thing from the Republic”
Sean Kelly — 1 mention
“plato plato says in the republic it's a kind of myth”
Bill Burr — 1 mention
“Plato wrote in his classic war the republic book 8 if you ever learn to read”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- The Dialogues of Plato
- Notes from Underground
- The Myth of Sisyphus
- A Time to Kill
- All Things Shining
- An Inquiry concerning human understanding;
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“well I think it's like you know Plato's Republic right the the ideal government is a philosopher-king”