HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hodges, D. C. Articles by Pynes, C. A. Search for Related Content

Plato's Republic: A Tale of Two Cities

London and Paris were the two cities in Charles Dickens' novel. Unlike Dickens, Plato presents two nameless cities that are rough facsimiles of real ones. To give names to each, the first will be called Walden, after Thoreau's experiment in simple and healthy living in harmony with nature and his fellow-man, and the second Vanity Fair, after Thackeray's novel about the corrupting influence of luxury.

The first city is what might be called self-ordering. It has no need of government, because it is naturally well-ordered. The second city evolves out of the first, but is disorderly and therefore requires a...