From Natural Catastrophe to the Human Catastrophe: Plato on the Origins of Written Law

Abstract

This article interprets the Athenian Stranger’s story of the origins of written law from Book III of Plato’s Laws, to the end of filling out the picture we have of Plato’s views on the purposes of law. The Athenian argues that the origins of written law reside exclusively in the need to address the problem of violent conflict among men resulting from dangerous passions and the scarcity of resources. While recent scholarship on Plato has focused on the promotion of virtue as the highest objective of law, this article clarifies the lower, but immediate and enduring, aspects of Plato’s jurisprudence.