Klowey’s Reviews > The Republic of Plato > Status Update
Klowey
is 50% done
Finished commentary on Book V
Fabulous explanation by Bloom of how the key discussion is about:
- Socrates' and all citizens' private lives vs. the ideal city and the elimination of the private
- poetry vs philosophy
- ideal forms vs. individual examples
- justice as natural vs perfect city as art, thus art winning over nature and man
Starting Book VI
— 6 hours, 58 min ago
Fabulous explanation by Bloom of how the key discussion is about:
- Socrates' and all citizens' private lives vs. the ideal city and the elimination of the private
- poetry vs philosophy
- ideal forms vs. individual examples
- justice as natural vs perfect city as art, thus art winning over nature and man
Starting Book VI
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Klowey’s Previous Updates
Klowey
is 40% done
Book 5 has a sudden turn into epistemology and metaphysics: Socrates is trying to define the philosopher and explain why only philosophers can rule, and the language gets very abstract, with talk about “being vs. becoming,” “knowledge vs. opinion,” and the “love of the Forms”. In Bloom’s translation, this shift can feel especially abrupt, because he preserves Plato’s literal, dense phrasing without smoothing it out.
— 23 hours, 42 min ago
Klowey
is 40% done
Finished Book 4 commentary (419c-427c), (427c-445e)
Seems to question the city vs the individual, the start of Socrates' trial.
This is the most intriguing book so far. Need to reread.
— Jan 23, 2026 01:20AM
Seems to question the city vs the individual, the start of Socrates' trial.
This is the most intriguing book so far. Need to reread.
Klowey
is 35% done
Finished Book 4
Starting Book 4 commentary by Bloom (419c-427c), (427c-445e)
— Jan 23, 2026 12:14AM
Starting Book 4 commentary by Bloom (419c-427c), (427c-445e)
Klowey
is 30% done
Finished Book 3 and commentary.
Noble lie, poetry, Homer, education of military class, souls=metals, leaders have no wealth or privacy.
Starting Book 4.
— Jan 21, 2026 12:03AM
Noble lie, poetry, Homer, education of military class, souls=metals, leaders have no wealth or privacy.
Starting Book 4.
Klowey
is 20% done
Finished commentary on Book 2: discussion about the gods and the military class
Starting Book 3.
— Jan 19, 2026 08:21PM
Starting Book 3.
Klowey
is 15% done
Commentary on (372e-376c) about giving up on the simple city and requiring war.
— Jan 19, 2026 07:50PM
Klowey
is 15% done
Finished commentary on Book 1: They have succeeded in defining the problem of Justice. Justice is either what makes a city prosper or it is a virtue of the soul and hence necessary to the happiness of the individual. The question is whether the two possibilities are identical? It is left to Glaucon and Adeimantus to pose this question
which is the distiHation of the arguments of Book I.
— Jan 19, 2026 07:00PM
which is the distiHation of the arguments of Book I.
Klowey
is 12% done
Book 1, defines justice. Cephalus=justice as truthfulness/repaying debts. Soc counters w/ex of not returning weapons to madmen. Polemarchus =help friends/harm enemies. Soc rejects, harm worsens people. Thrasymachus claims justice is advantage of stronger where rulers make laws for own benefit, unjust thrive more than the just. Soc refutes, true rulers seek subjects' good, leaving the question unresolved
— Jan 19, 2026 05:44PM
Klowey
is 12% done
In Bloom's commentary section on Book 1:
Starting 336b-354b
P. cannot let go of the idea that Justice must encompass protection of property
— Jan 08, 2026 06:44PM
Starting 336b-354b
P. cannot let go of the idea that Justice must encompass protection of property
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Cynda
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5 hours, 18 min ago
Klowey, I had major surgery that I did realize was so major, so I struggling to catch up with all my reading. I am so sorry. I hope we will catch up again another time. . . . .Such good progress in your part. Keep on!
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Cynda wrote: "Klowey, I had major surgery that I did realize was so major, so I struggling to catch up with all my reading. I am so sorry. I hope we will catch up again another time. . . . .Such good progress in..."Take your time, rest and heal. I completely understand. I've had health issues hit me several times in the middle of buddy reads and felt like I let people down. I expect to be participating in the discussion for months, if not all year. I have The Republic on my reading task list for read Jan through Dec 2026.
This is an intense read with sometimes overwhelming ideas to sit and ponder. As I mentioned, I listen to the Sugrue lectures on youtube first (they aren't long but give an insightful summary), then read a "Book," then read the Allan Bloom commentary at the end of the book for that "Book," then comment on discuss. For me, Bloom is indispensable for my understanding. Some of the challenge is the time and place when it was written, so long ago. The language via Bloom's translation is meant to retain much of the original, which can sometimes be hard to decipher. And while the questions we have may be the same, the context differs, so the comments on the discussion about history, etc. have been helpful.
