SOURCE: Aune, Bruce. “The Unity of Plato's Republic.” Ancient Philosophy 17, no. 2 (fall 1997): 291-308.

In the following essay, Aune investigates charges of structural disunity between the two books of the Republic, maintaining that a close examination of the two parts reveals a style and method of inquiry in part II that are very similar to those of part I.

How well does Republic i fit together with the books that follow? Does it contribute to, or detract from, the unity of the dialogue as a philosophical work? There is still disagreement about this matter.¹ Irwin 1995, 169 speaks of book 1 as the first of two ‘long introductions’ to the dialogue, the other being book 2; and he offers the supposition that, even though it seems to have more in common with the Laches and Charmides than with the rest of the Republic, it sketches some of the conclusions Plato meant to defend...