The Argument and the Action of Plato's Laws

by Leo Strauss

The Laws, the longest and one of the last of Plato's dialogues, has been regarded as a major change from his earlier political writings. Those who have held this view see the Laws as the work of a disenchanted old man.

In this fresh reading, Leo Strauss places the Laws in an orderly rather than an anomalous relation to Platonic political philosophy. Strauss, in what proved to be his own final work, provides an intensive book-by-book examination of the text and a general interpretation of the Laws within the Platonic corpus.

The Argument and the Action of Plato's 'Laws' was completed in 1971, two years prior to the death of Leo Strauss in 1973. It was not published until after Strauss' death.

Genres: Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Leo Strauss was a 20th century German-American scholar of political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students and published fifteen books.
Trained in the neo-Kantian tradition with Ernst Cassirer and immersed in the work of the phenomenologists Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, Strauss authored books on Baruch Spinoza and Thomas Hobbes, and articles on Maimonides and Al-Farabi. In the late 1930s, his research focused on the texts of Plato and Aristotle, retracing their interpretation through medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophy, and encouraging the application of those ideas to contemporary political theory.

Reviews

[Will Spohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Much to think about.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, concise writing. Seems on its surface to be merely a well-written summary/synopsis of Plato’s Laws, but is much more.

[Colm Gillis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Strauss & read 'The Laws' while reading this book. However I found this to be a major disappointment. There was very little insight & a book on 'The Laws' could have been tackled differently, e.g. picking a topic & drawing on it from the book. Book is probably best read as a handy reference.