The Republic as Philosophical Drama

Abstract

The aftereffects of the Peloponnesian War were still spawning the pains and failures of the Greek cities making even more obvious the need for political decisions to prevent another yet destructive conflict. Plato was still in his early manhood when it became clear to him that the continuation of political decadence called for careful diagnosis if it was ever to be stopped or at least subjected to reasonable controls. One of Plato’s motives for turning to philosophy as well as writing the Republic was the search for such political wisdom, so that at least the execution of philosophers would not be repeated.

By writing the Phaedo, Plato made clear what conceivably transpired in the prison on the last day of Socrates’ life. At the same time, however, he was issuing a statement on his own principles concerning the best and just type of life available to all citizens and all human beings in general. The Phaedo defined a commitment as well as a credo to the highest attainments of the reflective life. As such these principles were defended as the foundations for a life truly worth living. In this regard, by writing the Phaedo as the last will and testimony of Socrates, Plato came to declare what he could not ignore in his later compositions or repudiate and perchance compromise.