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Republic's Radical Nature
- Plato's Republic is inherently radical and deals with challenging themes like infanticide and state censorship.
- It is the first political philosophy work that systematically questions how we should politically organize ourselves using human reason alone.
Characters as Human Types
- Plato uses real historical persons as character types embodying distinct human dispositions.
- This approach allows exploration of political psychology through dialogue and thematic character interplay.
Political Psychology in Dialogue
- Plato's characters in the Republic illustrate different, often conflicting, longings related to justice and politics.
- The dialogue dramatizes political psychology revealing why people have persistent political desires and how they react to proposals.