I have, not because I wanted to but because I had to study it.
I think the similie of the cave is the easiest to understand. The line and the divided line never caught much of my attention but I have a vague idea.
The similie of the sun can be compared to the belief of the Hindu religion, about growth, start off as something small then gradually get there, in Plato's case Knowledge.
I liked the ship similie as well when he talks politics.
The captain is us, i.e. citizens being manipulated by the crew, telling us what to do, the crew being politicians/soveriegns.
However the Philosopher is supposed to be the one who knows *everything* knows where to lead the ship but instead he's just playing the role of the ship's ****, the star gaeler.
If Philosopher's were to rule the state, its supposed to be the best ruling state ever - what i gathered from the political side of the Republic.
But by using the example of the ship, if the philosopher is not going to speak up about knowing the direction, how would s/he overcome the crew (politicians) to be listened to?
So if philosophers don't speak up, we'd not know about them being great leaders in society.
Check out what you can do with the title though, when you delete a few letters:
Plato = The Republic
At The Pub 😄 😄
I have and the Socratic Dialogues are my most favorite!! 😄 The hardest part of the Republic is the philosophy that is in it. I really enjoy the metaphors of the cave and the charioteer, but for some reason Plato makes it feel like if Socrates comes to life in his speeches. A great work of Western civilization indeed. 🙂