Santas divides his attention between offering a text-based exegesis of Plato's arguments regarding justice and critically engaging in the text in a way that is highly informed by the works of other, more contemporary, thinkers. In his preface, Santas states that the Republic is "a book that is always contemporary," and this sentiment carries through in the focus and method of his book. He does this, though, through a particular methodological lens.
In his book, Gerasimos Santas aims to help the reader better understand the Republic by focusing on its central argument - that we are better off just than unjust. This is, to be sure, a daunting task, particularly for readers who are approaching the dialogue for the first time.
Readers must make sense not only of those issues in their own right but they must also understand them in relation to the larger themes and arguments of the work. There are any number of reasons for this, but one of them is the sheer breadth of topics and issues that Plato introduces over the course of the dialogue.
It is also devilishly difficult to truly understand. The Republic is undoubtedly one of Plato's masterworks and one of the most influential and widely read books in the history of philosophy.
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