What Platos Republic Has to Say About Being a Man

Published: June 1, 2021, 1:49 a.m.

b'Editor\\u2019s Note: This is a re-broadcast. This episode originally aired in April 2019.\\xa0\\n\\nPlato\\u2019s\\xa0Republic\\xa0is a seminal treatise in Western political philosophy and thought. It hits on ideas that we\\u2019re still grappling with in our own time, including the nature of justice and what the ideal political system looks like. But my guest today argues that\\xa0The Republic\\xa0also has\\xa0a lot to say about manliness, character development, and education in our current climate of safe spaces and trigger warnings.\\xa0\\n\\nHis name is Jacob Howland. He\\u2019s a professor of philosophy at the University of Tulsa and the author of the recent book\\xa0Glaucon\\u2019s Fate: History, Myth, and Character in\\xa0Plato\\u2019s Republic.\\xa0We begin our conversation with an outline of\\xa0Plato\\u2019s\\xa0Republic and how it combines literature and philosophy. Jacob then makes the case that in The Republic, Socrates was attempting to save the soul of Plato\\u2019s politically ambitious brother, Glaucon, and why he thinks Socrates failed. Along the way we discuss what Socrates\\u2019 attempt to save Glaucon can teach us about andreia or manliness and what it means to seek the Good in life. We end our conversation discussing the way The Republic teaches us of the need to possess not only physical courage, but the courage to think for oneself and stand up for one\\u2019s beliefs \\u2014 a courage that is tested in a time like our own, where it can feel difficult to ask hard questions and wrestle with thorny issues.\\xa0\\n\\nGet the show notes at aom.is/republic.'