Abstract

My dissertation examines Plato's political and ethical thought in the Laws. Contrary to what most scholars believe, the role assigned to religion and codified statutes in running Magnesia does not constitute a break with the Platonic ideal of philosophical rule. The state religion and codified statutes of Magnesia are rational in nature and thus share a common origin with philosophy. All three are manifestations of $\rm No\\upsilon\varsigma,$ the supreme ordering principle in the cosmos. My reading of the Laws demonstrates that Magnesia will be ruled philosophically. ;My reading of the Laws avoids the difficulties encountered in the readings of other scholars. Those scholars who believe that Plato surrendered his ideal of philosophical rule in writing the Laws fail to recognize the similarities between the Laws and the Republic in respect to definitions of virtue and justice. They also do not take into account that the Kallipolis also requires legal statutes to function properly. Furthermore, they ignore the references in the Laws to philosophy, the plan for education of the rulers, and the emphasis placed on rational rule in Magnesia. ;While these aspects of Plato's writing have proved stumbling blocks for others, I am able to integrate these and other facets into a coherent whole. I give an account of Plato's moral psychology which makes sense of his use of codified statutes and his appeal to religion. I examine Plato's use of myth in addition to his use of dialectic as a key to understanding aspects of his epistemology. The result is a reading that demonstrates the unity of law, religion, and philosophy and thus a coherence between the thought in the Republic and that in the Laws