Plato Republic – Book V
1) Why do Polemarcus and Adeimantas oblige Socrates to return to the consideration of the
private life of the guardians?
2) What argument does Socrates give for the equality of men and women?
3) Would Plato agree with the practice of Eugenics (creating better humans through genetic
breeding) and genetic engineering?
4) What happens to the concept of love in a State where weddings are arranged by the ruler
and children are communal?
5) In discussing the role of women in the city and the place of the family, Plato organizes
much of Book 5 around three waves of criticism (each corresponding to an innovation
Plato is proposing). What are the three waves of criticism?
6) Socrates discusses two possible objections to the holding of wives and children in
common. What are they?
7) One question which is often raised about the Republic is whether Plato intends the city he
describes as a practical proposal. In other words, is Plato suggesting that people try to
transform Athens into a city ruled by philosophers? Alternatively, is Plato merely describing a
city in order to answer the question what is justice (without supposing that it would be wise to
try to institute the city he describes)? Warning: there's no simple answer to this one, but it is
obviously very important to our assessment of the Republic as a whole.