And this idea that the city is essentially analogous to the soul, that the city is like the soul, is the central metaphor around which the entire Republic is constructed.

而这种,将城市视为实质上可与灵魂比拟的概念，城市也有灵魂的概念，即是环绕整部《理想国》,构建的核心隐喻。

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选

The city and soul analogy could be seen then as an attempt to understand how societies reproduce themselves, and how they shape citizens who again in turn shape the societies in which they inhabit.

城市与灵魂的比拟,可以视为是尝试了解,社会如何自我复制，及形塑公民,后者相对地,也在形塑他们所居住的社会。

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选