What do you think of Plato's Republic?

Plato’s Republic was written about 375 BC. In the Republic, Plato envisages a utopia or perfect society. The central element of this society is that it is ruled by benevolent philosophers. He takes a view of democracy was unwise because politicians should be statesmen. A statesmen as one who is trained in a specialized skill, no less than the mechanic that fixes your car. I believe it was Aristotle believed that the masses were too ignorant to vote in democracy, and Plato believed the leader were selected by the ignorant majority. The search for the ideal leader would be the philosopher King, who possessed intellect, virtue, and most important a kind divine benevolence by which the individual can be entrusted with the power to rule over others.

It is really great.

He gave us the locus classicus of all discussion about the role of society and the individual. Yeah, some wrong answers there but the framework is invaluable for progress.

It is really great.

It's one of the most important books ever written. It gives methods for self betterment that work well. It gives methods for governing society that don't work well.

It gives yet another class society with a very important advancement from the world of its day - Any citizen could earn their way up or down one class rank in their life. Real social mobility was a radical idea at the time even though it actually happened.

The problem is people taking Plato's metaphysics as gospel. If you just think of it as science fiction, it's OK. If the scientists ever prove there's more than three dimensions, he'll be regarded as a pretty darn good sci fi writer.

He's often thought of as an enemy of empiricism, but he ended The Republic with what you would call a near-death experience story, so it wasn't just his logic.

I wouldn't want to live there.

Everything one reads about Plato's thought really comes from Aristotle. The Republic, whoever it comes from, is idealistic to the point of being nonsense.