Plato: The Republic (Penguin Books for Philosophy)

Plato's "Republic" is widely acknowledged as the cornerstone of Western philosophy. Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, it is an enquiry into the notion of a perfect community and the ideal individual within it. During the conversation other questions are raised: what is goodness; what is reality; what is knowledge? "The Republic" also addresses the purpose of education and the role of both women and men as 'guardians' of the people. With remarkable lucidity and deft use of allegory, Plato arrives at a depiction of a state bound by harmony and ruled by 'philosopher kings'.

• Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo (Hackett Classics)
• The Basic Works of Aristotle (Modern Library Classics)
• Nicomachean Ethics
• The Prince (Dover Thrift Editions)
• Politics (Oxford World's Classics)
• Aristotle's "Politics": Second Edition
• Leviathan: With selected variants from the Latin edition of 1668 (Hackett Classics)
• Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics)
• The Communist Manifesto: A Modern Edition
• The Nicomachean Ethics (Penguin Classics)