Laws (Plato)

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The beginning of the Laws, in the oldest exiting source, from the 9th century (codex Parsinus Graecus 1807)
Psiloritis Mountain, in Crete, was the location of the hiking trip

Laws (Ancient Greek Νόμοι Nómoi ['nɔmɔɪ̯] is a work Plato wrote, as an old man. Like most of his other works, it is in the form of a dialogue. It is Plato's biggest work. It is about the question what an ideal state should look like. Three people discuss during a hiking trip. Many questions are discussed. Among them are:

  • Divine revelation, divine law and law-giving
  • The role of intelligence in law-giving
  • The relations of philosophy, religion, and politics
  • The role of music, exercise and dance in education
  • Natural law and natural right