Reason & Persuasion Book Site: Republic

About the Book

Reason and Persuasion contains three Plato dialogues - Euthyphro, Meno, Republic Book I - translated by Belle Waring; with extensive commentary and illustrations by John Holbo. It is suitable as an introductory textbook but we hope more advanced students of philosophy and Plato will get something out of it as well. The 4th edition is substantially revised and improved.

"There is no dearth of textbooks offering an introduction to Plato's thought, but Holbo's stands apart in the scope of its introductory material and its user-friendly style ... The colloquial yet accurate translation by Belle Waring serves to reduce the distance between the student and the world of the dialogues still further ...Holbo's commentaries on these three dialogues serve to situate them both as individual works and also as parts of Plato's overall project of showing the problems of persuasion divorced from reason. Rather than taking a strictly scholarly approach the author has made clear the relevance of these texts for questions even non-philosophers should find worth asking. For instructors seeking an introductory text for first time readers of Plato, Holbo's book is worthy of consideration."
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, review of the 3rd edition

About This Site

John Holbo is your webmaster and host. This site will be a clearinghouse for links, resources and things to do with the book. And some discussion! Not sure yet how much time I will be able to devote to upkeep after the initial publication burst. But I do hope I am a good person about that.

Reason and Persuasion, 4th Edition, the Free PDF Version

On the other hand, you could buy it.

Or get it on Kobo. Or at the GooglePlay Store.

But I know YOU! YOU want to eat up the new 4th edition of Reason and Persuasion for free. Just like Kronos ate up his kids. Nothing wrong with that. Here you go. Help Yourself.