Research Paper On Strengths and Weaknesses in Plato's Republic

In evaluating Plato's Republic, there are certainly strengths and weaknesses in the work. First, the book in its entirety is a wonderfully orchestrated model of society. While there are problems within the text in terms of Plato's proposal, the primary strength of this piece is that is provides a good model on which a moral society may run. Another strength is that it to some extent points out the pitfalls of democracy. Rice explains: "Plato, it seems, understood this weakness of democracy more than we might like to admit" (128). This is an important point. It seems that democracy is seen as the end all and be all of political life today, but there are many problems with democracy and this becomes relevant. Finally, a third strength of this work is Plato's brilliant use of the cave allegory.
The cave allegory is quite famous and has been used by many to interpret Plato's philosophy. Plato writes: " If this man went down into the cave again and sat down in his same seat, wouldn't his eyes-coming suddenly out of the sun like that-be filled with darkness?" (189) The work goes on to present an example so that Plato could make a point...