Kraut, Richard, ed., Plato's Republic: Critical Essays, New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997.

Excerpt:

Plato (427-347 B.C.) is the first Western philosopher who wrote systematically about the wide range of questions that make up the subject of philosophy, and it is in the Republic that he most fully expresses his conception of what philosophy is and what conclusions it can be expected to reach. Within this dialogue, we find an exploration of such diverse subjects as justice, education, politics, religion, gender, the family, reason, emotion, science, understanding, the role of art, the immortality of the soul, and the nature of reality.

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