The Republic
The Republic by Platoby Plato
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 30 philosophy books by recommenders
Recommended as an approachable, lively dialogue that raises questions without settling them, and a sharp read on democracy and political decline. Translations vary a lot in readability, and one critic calls its recommendations fascist-like.
Recommended as an approachable, lively dialogue that raises questions without settling them, and a sharp read on democracy and political decline. Translations vary a lot in readability, and one critic calls its recommendations fascist-like.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Lively dialogue, entertaining to read
“It is written like a play where characters with real personalities have fierce and witty debates.”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “Three Theses on the Literacy Crisis” “surprisingly entertaining to modern tastes”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Non-Zero-Sum Games” “learn a very invigorating strategy to keep conversations entertaining”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Loneliness at 19, How to Cope?” Insightful on democracy and political decline
“Give Plato's "Republic" a read and you might find it concerning how closely we exemplify the last stages of political and social decline.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Molotov Cocktail Is Hurled at Home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman” “Both he and Socrates talked about the flaws of direct/pure democracy that would usually make it degenerate into mob rule.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “GUIs should be fully keyboard-driven” “In general I think Plato's views are highly insightful”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Ukraine claims first drone evacuation of wounded soldier”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Translations vary; cheap ones are opaque
“the cheapest translations available of e.g. The Republic was a bit too opaque for me”
Comment from 7 Jan 2026 in “Texas A&M bans part of Plato's Symposium” Recommendations seen as fascist-like
“Its recommendations are kind of fascist-like tho.”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Amodei Re. Regulation” Called among worst books for impact
“Republic is easily one of the worst books written in human history in terms of its impact.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Non-Zero-Sum Games”
Other philosophy books people recommend
The four most recommended other philosophy books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Chingby Laozi | 32 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert Pirsig | 24 | 3 | 89% | 9 | 44 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius | 17 | 4 | 81% | 8 | — | Approved |
| I Am a Strange Loopby Douglas Hofstadter | 16 | 1 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Republicby PlatoThis page | 11 | 3 | 79% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“In general I think Plato's views are highly insightful”
“Both he and Socrates talked about the flaws of direct/pure democracy that would usually make it degenerate into mob rule.”
“Its recommendations are kind of fascist-like tho.”
“the greatest philosophical text about it, freely available online at project Gutenberg”
“It is written like a play where characters with real personalities have fierce and witty debates.”
“This was a known problem 2,400 years ago.”
“Give Plato's "Republic" a read and you might find it concerning how closely we exemplify the last stages of political and social decline.”
“Plato is a master (surely one of the greatest of all time) of creating a dynamic space to think in without settling the questions raised.”
“Plato's "The Republic" is amazing, and borderline prophetic.”
“the cheapest translations available of e.g. The Republic was a bit too opaque for me”
“Republic is easily one of the worst books written in human history in terms of its impact.”
“surprisingly entertaining to modern tastes”
“learn a very invigorating strategy to keep conversations entertaining”
“It's a must read for 0.001% of the population.”
“I've always found The Republic the most approachable of the major works of philosophy.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.