 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | The final and longest dialogue Plato wrote in his life, this work is set on the island of Crete, where three old men are journeying to the cave of Zeus in imitation of Minos, the ancient Cretan lawmaker. Along the way, they ask and attempt to answer many questions concerning legislation and governing. With Athenian and Spartan law systems clearly in mind, these speakers envision a new set of laws for a utopia called Magnesia. Beyond laws that regulate crime and its punishments or the organization of rule, Plato explores a sort of code of conduct that would encompass every aspect of life in Magnesia, from education and recreation to religion and sexual intimacy. Though it can be read as authoritarian, Plato's true intent seems to be a comprehensive method of societal reform, revealing the mature mind of one of history's preeminent thinkers. |
Average Customer Rating:   Plato As Law Giver I read this book as part of my research into Plato himself.
It's hard for me to see how relevant a book like this is today. Plato's world was very different than today. People owned slaves, there was no internet or mass communications, Christianity didn't even exist yet, etc..
However it did provide some of the insights I was looking for about Plato himself.
Plato's writings have a smooth quality. St. Augustine called Plato's philosophy very 'clear'. Reading his works can almost be like a sort of religious experience since he often talks about the various mythological gods and God Himself. A book carries the spirit of the author I guess.
Plato believed in reincarnation and the law of karma. For example he felt that the death penalty is a blessing in disguise for incorrigible criminals since it prevents them from contaminating their souls with even more evil.
I feel this book shows the influence of two things that were very important for Plato; his belief in Atlantis and the books in the old testament of the bible that talk about the details of those laws that were given from on high. These two things were always there deep in his thoughts.
Atlantis was a utopian society at first and it seems that for all of his life Plato was trying to recreate this ideal society. But I doubt that he could have imagined the information that came out in the 1900s from the great Edgar Cayce (Osiris). Sometimes when people see flying saucers those are our ancestors from Atlantis travelling through time.
It is not a coincidence that fate chose Plato to preserve the legend of Atlantis for future generations. He was there on Atlantis himself at the very beginning.
Interestingly the author of this translation doesn't agree that The Laws shows how Plato became more realistic when he realized that the idealistic society described in The Republic could never become a reality. That is a common theory that many people believe.
Rather he feels Plato would have known that The Republic could never beome a reality.
I think the next thing I'll read about Plato is a biography as part of my ongoing research.
Jeff Marzano
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