Sign-In
Cart
Laws: Plato's Final Political Work - Justice, Government, and the Ideal Legal Order (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)
Hardcover
Series: Library of Alexandria, Book 357
ISBN13: 9781806292486
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Published: Jun 26 2025
Pages: 366
Weight: 1.35
Height: 1.06 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Laws is Plato's final dialogue and most ambitious attempt at political and moral philosophy. Unlike his earlier idealism in The Republic, this work takes a practical and grounded approach to structuring a real-world state, addressing the challenges of implementing virtue and justice among imperfect human beings.
In this deeply contemplative work, three aged men-an unnamed Athenian, a Spartan, and a Cretan-discuss the principles upon which a new colony's laws should be founded. The dialogue blends legal theory with ethical insight, proposing a meticulously organized legal code that balances reason, tradition, and divine inspiration.
What You'll Discover in This Modern Translation:
- Plato's Vision of the Lawgiver - Understand the ideal role of laws in shaping moral citizens and a just society.
- Education as a Foundation of the State - Explore how music, gymnastics, and philosophy form the pillars of civic instruction.
- The Balance of Freedom and Order - Analyze Plato's attempts to reconcile individual liberty with communal responsibility.
- Religion, Virtue, and the Gods - Discover how divine law and civic virtue intertwine in Plato's ultimate political theology.
- The Evolution of Justice - Compare the pragmatic reforms of Laws to the utopian ideals of The Republic.
This modern translation makes one of the most influential political treatises of antiquity accessible for today's reader, drawing timeless insights from a 2,400-year-old conversation.
Whether you are a student of philosophy, law, politics, or ethics, Laws provides essential reading for anyone interested in the structure of just governance.
Also from
Plato
The Republic of Plato: The Ten Books - Complete and Unabridged (Classics of Greek Philosophy) (Hardcover)
Jowett, Benjamin
Plato
Hardcover
The Atlantis Dialogue: The Original Story of the Lost City, Civilization, Continent, and Empire
Plato
Shepard, Aaron
Paperback
The Republic of Plato: The Ten Books - Complete and Unabridged (Classics of Greek Philosophy)
Plato
Jowett, Benjamin
Paperback
Complete Works of Plato: A Philosophy Masterclass (Grapevine edition)
Original Thinkers Institute
Plato
Hardcover
Five Dialogues by Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, and Phaedo A Contemporary English Adaptation
Plato
Mind Atlas Publishing
Paperback
The Atlantis Dialogue: The Original Story of the Lost City, Civilization, Continent, and Empire
Plato
Shepard, Aaron
Paperback
Plato's Examination of Pleasure: A Translation of the Philebus, with an Introduction and Commentary by
Hackforth, R.
Plato
Hackforth
Paperback
Platonis Et Quae Vel Platonis Esse Feruntur Vel Platonica Solent Comitari Scripta Graece Omnia Ad Codices Manuscriptos
Plato
Ficino, Marsilio
Bekker, Immanuel
Paperback
Platonis Gorgias Syllogismo Socratico Una Cum Grammatica Duce Emendatus Atque Illustratus Nec Non Prolegomenis Et Indice Instructus in Usum Studiosae
Plato
Hirschig, Rudolphus Bernardus
Paperback
PensÃ(c)es De Platon Sur La Religion, La Morale, La Politique, Recueillies Et Traduites
Plato
Le Clere, Joseph Victor
Paperback
Also in
General Fiction
Elizabeth Spencer: Novels & Stories (Loa #344): The Voice at the Back Door / The Light in the Piazza / Knights and Dragons / Stories
Spencer, Elizabeth
Hardcover
Anniversaries, Volume 2: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl, April 1968-August 1968
Johnson, Uwe
Paperback
Philip Roth: Novels 1973-1977 (Loa #165): The Great American Novel / My Life as a Man / The Professor of Desire
Roth, Philip
Hardcover
John Updike: Novels 1978-1984 (Loa #339): The Coup / Rabbit Is Rich / The Witches of Eastwick
Updike, John
Hardcover
Selected Writings: Robert Musil: Young Torless, Three Women, the Perfecting of a Love, and Other Writings
Musil, Robert
Agee, Joel
Paperback
Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories
Baughman, Judith
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Bruccoli, Matthew J.
Paperback