The pedagogical technique of the playful Plato, especially his ability to create living discourses that directly address the student, is the subject of Plato the Teacher. "The crisis of the Republic" refers to the decisive moment in his central dialogue when philosopher-readers realize that Plato's is challenging them to choose justice by going back down into the dangerous Cave of political life for the sake of the greater Good, as both Socrates and Cicero did.