Republic

I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing

Plato's Republic asks what makes a perfect community - and how we can all strive to be the 'ideal individual' within it.

Written in around 375 BC, it uses an assumed imagined dialogue to discuss the meaning of justice; whether the just man is happier than the unjust man; the role of philosophy and poetry within society; and the natures of existing regimes, and how they could be improved.

Based on Socratic principles, Plato's Republic is a classic, regarded as one of the most influential works in the history of philosophy.