unless you approach it with the proper questions and the proper frame of mind.

除非你带着合适的问题和心情去阅读它
So let's start by asking a simple question.

所以让我们以一个简单的问题开始
What is the Republic about?

《理想国》是关于什么的
What does this book deal with?

这本书想要涉及什么
This is a question

这是一个从一开始
that has perplexed and divided readers of Plato almost from the beginning.

就让柏拉图的读者困惑和产生分歧的问题
Is it a book about justice,

这是一本关于正义的书吗
as the subtitle of the book suggests?

就像副标题中所暗示的
Is it a book about what we today might call moral psychology

这是一本关于道德心理学
and the right ordering of the human soul,

以及人类灵魂的正确组织的书吗
which is a prominent theme addressed in this work?

正像书中所主要探讨的
Is it a book about the power of poetry and myth,

这是一本关于诗歌和神话的力量的书吗