Plato's 'Laws'
A Critical Guide

This volume provides essays on the Laws, Plato's last dialogue and major work of political philosophy besides the Republic.

Christopher Bobonich (Edited by)

9781107658684, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 May 2013

254 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.35 kg

"...a good paper on Plato’s moral psychology.... articulate and carefully reasoned work on the Timaeus is attributed to the Laws..."
--Philosophy in Review, John Mouracade, University of Alaska Anchorage

Long understudied, Plato's Laws has been the object of renewed attention in the past decade and is now considered to be his major work of political philosophy besides the Republic. In his last dialogue, Plato returns to the project of describing the foundation of a just city and sketches in considerable detail its constitution, laws and other social institutions. Written by leading Platonists, the essays in this volume cover a wide range of topics central for understanding the Laws, such as the aim of the Laws as a whole, the ethical psychology of the Laws, especially its views of pleasure and non-rational motivations, and whether and, if so, how the strict law code of the Laws can encourage genuine virtue. They make an important contribution to ongoing debates and will open up fresh lines of inquiry for further research.

Introduction Christopher Bobonich
1. The Laws' two projects Malcolm Schofield
2. The relationship of the Laws to other dialogues: a proposal Christopher Rowe
3. Ordinary virtue from the Phaedo to the Laws Richard Kraut
4. Virtue and law in Plato Julia Annas
5. Morality as law and morality in the Laws Terence Irwin
6. Puppets on strings: moral psychology in Laws I and II Dorothea Frede
7. Psychology and the inculcation of virtue in Plato's Laws Rachana Kamtekar
8. Images of irrationality Christopher Bobonich
9. Family and the question of women in the Laws Thanassis Samaras
10. The theology of the Laws Robert Mayhew
11. Plato's 'truest tragedy' (Laws VII, 817a-d) André Laks
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]