Plato's Cretan City

[A] landmark in Platonic scholarship... Every informed interpretation of Plato's Laws in the last thirty years has built on the foundation that [Morrow] provided. -- "from the foreword"

A dialogue among three travelers, Plato's Laws proposes a detailed plan for administering a new colony on the island of Crete. In examining this dialogue, this title describes the contemporary Greek institutions in Athens, Crete, and Sparta on which Plato based his model city.Plato's Cretan City is a thorough investigation into the roots of Plato's Laws and a compelling explication of his ideas on legislation and social institutions. A dialogue among three travelers, the Laws proposes a detailed plan for administering a new colony on the island of Crete. In examining this dialogue, Glenn Morrow describes the contemporary Greek institutions in Athens, Crete, and Sparta on which Plato based his model city, and explores the philosopher's proposed regulations concerning property, the family, government, and the administration of justice, education, and religion. He approaches the Laws as both a living document of reform and a philosophical inquiry into humankind's highest earthly duty.