A Journey Into Platonic Politics: Plato's Laws [Paperback]

Albert Keith Whitaker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0761826890 | ISBN-13: 978-0761826897 | Publication Date: July 15, 2004

"One should not take up the Laws as a plan for a new society nor as a means to critique one's own nation and its customs. Indeed, the Laws benefits most those readers who are comfortable in their lover for and allegiance to the standards and institutions of their time and place. Perhaps this claim sounds surprising. But it should surprise only those who believe that love and loyalty are deep set obstacles to thought and reflections. In contrast, such attachments, and not their facile critique, are precisely what lead us to take a healthy interest in and reflect fruitfully upon other people's ways. The characters of the Laws recognize this truth as well. They recommend that the highest body of the new city, a council of thinkers and legislators, young and old, should regularly send spies to other nations, to search out the "beauties" in their foreign habits, beauties that might--or might not--be able to be transplanted back to the council's city. The following study of the Laws attempts to do something of the same thing, to read Plato's dialogue as, in effect, a foreign country, through which readers are led as if they were on a mission for our own Nocturnal Council." —Albert Keith Whitaker, from the Introduction

Editorial Reviews

Review

What the reader will find in A Journey into Platonic Politics is an outstanding example of philosophical exposition…One could hardly ask for a better, more straightforward elucidation of Plato's final dialogue and I foresee this text becoming an essential guide for any who study the Laws. (Kenneth Royce Moore Polis )

About the Author

Albert Keith Whitaker is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Boston College. He earned his Ph.D. from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (July 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761826890
• ISBN-13: 978-0761826897
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,126,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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