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The Laws of Plato:
Translated, with notes and a book-length interpretive study
Translated, with notes and a book-length interpretive study
1979
Purchase from University of Chicago Press
The Laws, Plato's longest dialogue, has for centuries been recognized as the most comprehensive exposition of the practical consequences of his philosophy, a necessary corrective to the more visionary and utopian Republic. In this animated encounter between a foreign philosopher and a powerful statesman, not only do we see reflected, in Plato's own thought, eternal questions of the relation between political theory and practice, but we also witness the working out of a detailed plan for a new political order that embodies the results of Plato's mature reflection on republican civic virtue, the family, the status of women, property rights, criminal law, and the role of religion and the fine arts in education.
By far superior to any translation available.... Pangle's translation captures the excitement and the drama of Plato's text.
-Ancient Philosophy
Pangle's achievement is remarkable.... The accompanying interpretive essay is an excellent distillation of a dialogue three times its size. The commentary is thoughtful, even profound; and it amply demonstrates the importance of reading Plato carefully and from a translation that is true to his language.
-American Political Science Review
This new translation of the Laws is very badly needed. It is as remarkable for its clarity and vigor as it is for the brilliance of its penetration of the original Greek.
-David Grene, University of Chicago
Chinese translation (by Ying Zhu) of interpretive essay (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House: Hermes, Classici et Commentarii, 2012).
