Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws

Original insights and important lessons about the limits of politics and philosophy abound in Ryan K. Balot's persuasive new reading of Plato's complex and challenging Laws. With keen attention to the nuances of the arguments and the dialogue's dramatic energy and a sensitivity to the rhetorical niceties necessitated by the Athenian Stranger's two audiences - especially the thumotic Kleinias and the sophisticated reader familiar with Plato's other writings- Balot practices the philanthropy he finds in the Athenian Stranger's efforts to educate his readers philosophically about politics. * Arlene W. Saxonhouse, University of Michigan * Long and serious meditation, rooted in careful textual analysis and interpretation, has produced this original and illuminating reconsideration of Plato's most important work in political philosophy-the study of which will henceforth need to proceed by sustained reckoning with this book. * Thomas L. Pangle, University of Texas at Austin * This is a wonderful book-our best guide to understanding Plato's Laws. Ryan K. Balot's reading is close and deep, moving through the text's surface to Plato's overall political philosophy and finally to the relationship between philosophic and political ways of life. Balot brings out tensions between them and several means of reconciling such tensions. The book culminates in a strikingly novel account of Plato's Nocturnal Council. The writing is clear throughout, dialectical in Plato's sense of conversational, celebrating and practicing the value of open-ended Platonic inquiry. * Stephen G. Salkever, Bryn Mawr College *