By Plato, Trevor Saunders, R. F. Stalley
Within the legislation, Plato describes in interesting element a complete process of laws in a small agricultural utopia he named Magnesia. His legislation not just govern crime and punishment but in addition shape a code of behavior for all features of lifestyles in his perfect state—from schooling, activities, and faith to sexual habit, marriage, and consuming events. Plato units out a plan for the day by day rule of Magnesia, administered through electorate and elected officers, with very best energy held by way of a Council. even if Plato’s perspectives that voters may still act in entire obedience to the legislation were learn as totalitarian, The legislation still constitutes a hugely outstanding application for the reform of society and offers an important perception into the brain of 1 of classical Greece’s greatest thinkers. * Revised variation comprises an appendix, index, a brand new preface, and up to date additional analyzing * Trevor J. Saunders's translation combines accuracy with clarity * advent discusses Plato's existence and instances, his political conception, and sleek reactions to his works
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Sample text
It is to be a small agricultural state, governed by a virtually unalterable code of laws and insulated from almost all day-to-day contact with the rest of the world. The fundamental conviction which inspires the whole project is that, given care and effort, it is possible to achieve a society that is at once excellent and unchanging. At a popular level, this optimistic belief has never lost its influence: it is still the unformulated assumption behind political programmes of widely varying complexions.
Do we wish to blame Plato for accepting and approving certain institutions and customs of his day, simply because we find them repellent? Slavery, which is fundamental to the whole structure of Magnesia, is a case in point. We reject it utterly; yet it was as completely taken for granted in the ancient world as the employer–employee relationship today (which may itself in time come to be regarded with as much distaste as slavery is regarded now). 33 Let us by all means censure Plato for accepting slavery: but let us also condemn the entire ancient world, and not single out Plato for special mention.
But does this mean that the Laws, as a utopian work, deserves the full measure of our censure? A brief review of Plato’s life and thought will enable us to understand the origins and nature of his book. PLATO’S LIFE AND WORK Plato was born in 427 BC into an aristocratic and well-connected Athenian family. His father’s name was Ariston, his mother’s Perictione; he had two brothers and one sister. When he was no more than a boy his father died, and his mother married Pyrilampes, who had been on friendly terms with Pericles (died 429), the leader of the Athenian democracy.