Plato's second republic : an essay on the laws / André Laks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laks, André, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato.

Law--Philosophy.

Law.

Political science--Early works to 1800.

Political science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 296 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2022]

Summary:

An argument for why Plato’s Laws can be considered his most important political dialogueIn Beyond the Republic, André Laks argues that the Laws, Plato’s last and longest dialogue, is also his most important political work, surpassing the Republic in historical relevance. Laks offers a thorough reappraisal of this less renowned text, and examines how it provides a critical foundation for the principles of lawmaking. In doing so, he makes clear the tremendous impact the Laws had not only on political philosophy, but also on modern political history.Laks shows how the four central ideas in the Laws—the corruptibility of unchecked power, the rule of law, a “middle” constitution, and the political necessity of legislative preambles—are articulated within an intricate and masterful literary architecture. He reveals how the work develops a theological conception of law anchored in political ideas about a god, divine reason, that is the measure of political order. Laks’s reading opens a complex analysis of the relationships between rulers and citizens; their roles in a political system; the power of reason and persuasion, as opposed to force, in commanding obedience; and the place of freedom.Beyond the Republic presents a sophisticated reevaluation of a philosophical work that has exerted an enormous if often hidden influence even into the present day.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Editorial Note

1 The Form of the Laws: An Overview

2 Paradigms and Utopias

3 Paradigm and Retreats

4 What Is Human?

5 The Multiplication of Goals

6 Mixtures, Blends, and Other Metamorphoses

7 Construing the Preambles

8 A Rhetoric in the Making

9 Two Exceptional Preambles

10 Plato’s Best Tragedy

In Retrospect

Appendix A On the Status of the Statesman

Appendix B On a Supposed Evolution of Plato’s Psychology

Appendix C Aristotle and Posidonius on Plato’s Preambles

Notes

Bibliography

Index Locorum

General Index

A note on the type

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691236063

0691236062

OCLC:

1345591567