Laws

Laws (Greek Νόμοι) is Plato's last and longest dialogue, arranged in twelve books. It belongs to the philosopher's old age and presents a view of politics that is more realistic and less utopian than that of earlier works such as the Republic. Some scholars link it to Plato's failed attempt to advise the tyrant Dionysius II of Syracuse, an episode alluded to in the Seventh Letter.

The conversation takes place during a walking pilgrimage from Knossos, on Crete, to the cave of Zeus on Mount Ida. Three elderly men take part: an unnamed Athenian who leads the discussion, Cleinias of Crete and Megillus of Sparta. It is the only Platonic dialogue in which Socrates does not appear. The opening question is not what law is, but who deserves credit for establishing laws. Over the course of the work, the speakers compare the legal systems of Athens, Sparta and Crete, and at the end Cleinias announces that he has been entrusted with drafting the laws for a new colony, Magnesia, which provides the framework for the discussion.

The text takes up questions such as the divine revelation of laws, the role of reason in legislation, the relation between philosophy, religion and politics, the place of music, exercise and dance in education, and the distinction between natural and positive law. Among its most debated passages is Book X, which argues for the ontological priority of soul over bodies, in opposition to the natural philosophers.

Compared with the Republic, the city of the Laws permits private property and the family and is governed by written laws, whereas the city of the Republic rests on communal property and shared wives and children. Plato calls it a "second-best" city, reserving the highest ideal for a city of the gods and their children.

The work has raised doubts about its authenticity and date. For a long time it was regarded as spurious, and Zeller treated it as an appendix. Aristotle, who criticised it, presents it as later than the Republic, and his commentary shaped parts of Books VII and VIII of his Politics. Philip of Opus, a disciple of Plato, continued it in the Epinomis. Its later influence was nonetheless considerable: Gemistus Pletho borrowed its title for a work of his own, and its detailed treatment of law and education has remained a subject of study.