The Laws is Plato’s famous political dialogue. He casts light upon main political concepts such as ‘law’, ‘state’, ‘power’, ‘peace’, and others that are relevant in political philosophy in this dialogue. Plato looking for the means of creating the structure of ideal government describes one of the most important means of a healthy and well-structured state, the system of laws. He devoted his dialogue Laws to the essence of laws and the main characteristics of a good politician.
The choice between peace and war is the most important one which can be made in politics. Taking into account, the necessity of wars, Plato states that wars are ordinary things for a state like diseases are peculiar to every normal organism. Every state needs such wars for developing its structure. The most widespread mistake of many people is that they think that many wars which destroyed millions of towns and human lives could have been avoided. The history of a well-developed country is impossible without wars. Plato points out the necessity of external wars as well as civil wars. The civil war causes the greatest danger to the state than wars against external enemies. Plato stresses that the peace obtained by the victory of one part and defeat of the opponents is not more preferable to the state than the peace achieved by the cooperation and friendship of all parts of the city. He points out that “the victory of the city over itself belonged not to the best things but the necessary things” (7).
Although all these wars are regretted, they are necessary for the sake of peace. The way to the best political order is full of social diversity and conflicting interests which may cause a civil war. A good ruler should realize the necessity of war. According to Plato, wars are like medical purgation for a healthy state (7). The state continues to develop after making some conclusions and learning lessons after wars. Plato points out that the state after the war is like “a sick body after it had received a medical purgation were in the best active condition” (7).
It should be pointed out that some laws may be the reason for the civil wars. When the citizens are not satisfied with the laws of their state they incite rebellion against the government. As the result, it may cause a war. Although a good lawgiver may predict such consequences of the creation of this law, it doesn’t stop him. There are such situations that are impossible to solve without wars. This person “would never become a lawgiver if he didn’t legislate the things of war for the sake of peace rather than the things of peace for the sake of what pertains to war”(7). A good politician finds the problem which stops the normal development of the state and solves it with the help of war despite a lot of damages. All these casualties are not senseless. They are for the sake of the state.
If a lawgiver’s main goal is to keep the peace, it slows down the development of the state. The main aim of the laws is not peace in the world. Laws are necessary for the normal development of the government. Of course, the laws should be humane otherwise they are senseless. The government is also necessary for a good life of an ordinary citizen. It will be chaos in the world without well-structured governmental systems and the laws of politics. The existence of such governmental systems is impossible without wars.
The best political order for Plato is that which tries to achieve social peace by cooperation and friendship of different groups, each adding to the common good and each benefiting from. The best form of government is that which represents the interests of different groups and combines aristocratic, democratic, and oligarchic elements. Sometimes such changes may be achieved only with the help of revolutions and wars.
Works Cited
Plato, Thomas L. Pangle. The Laws of Plato. USA: University of Chicago Press, 1988.