The Republic by Plato

Translated by Benjamin Jowett, Oxford University Press, 1871.

Plato’s Republic was formative for me largely because it changed how I assess ideas. Through Socrates’ questioning, I learned to examine a worldview by identifying what it fails to explain, testing the definitions on which it hinges, and strengthening my own position by responding to those gaps. While I read the text two years prior, I later used this method while writing my 2026 Think Prize essay on whether free will can exist in a physically deterministic world. Rather than beginning with a fixed definition of freedom, I compared competing definitions, focused on their shortcomings, and asked what each view implied for moral responsibility. This led me to argue that even if free will is ultimately an illusion, the experience of choosing is still meaningful and allows an individual to be held accountable. Because people consider reasons, respond to them, and understand actions as their own, they can still be held responsible for what they do. I now use the same habit when trying to understand the current political climate in the United States. The Republic gave me a method for questioning assumptions, navigating competing worldviews, and developing conclusions that address what other arguments leave unresolved.