[BRIEF NOTE] Final Thoughts on Plato

[rfmcdonald]

It's worth noting that the interpretation of Plato's Republic as a political work is largely the work of Oxonian scholar Benjamin Jowett, who in his vernacular translations of Plato's work offered up the argument that Plato was an idealist. The fact that Republic was seized upon and eagerly consumed by an upper-class male elite in the 19th century should also be considered when one examines Republic's modern uses as a political text--19th century Britain wasn't very democratic, to say the least.