When the Connection Fails: The Function of Law in Republic VIII

• In Event: On Law and Constitutionalism in Ancient Greek Thought

Abstract

In this paper, I show that law has a connective function between the lawgivers’ knowledge and the lives of citizens in Plato’s ideal and corrupt constitutions, and argue that the degeneration of constitutions in Republic VIII occurs when law loses this connective function. While the process of kallipolis’ decline into a series of corrupt constitutions in Republic VIII has been studied by many scholars, insufficient attention has been given to the parallel decline of law at every juncture of degeneration. I illustrate the chain of degeneration from kallipolis to the corrupted constitutions of timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny, and show that this linear degeneration occurs when law becomes progressively less influential within each city.
Two variables affect the connective function of law: the quality of the laws and the law-abidingness of the citizens. Within the process of degeneration, the quality of law changes from the good laws of kallipolis, to the bad laws of rulers who introduce laws to their own advantage, and eventually to no law (lawlessness). The law-abidingness of the citizens decreases from full law-abidingness in kallipolis, to the rulers’ disobedience to the law, and finally to the disobedience of all citizens. Within the process of degeneration, these variables can bear upon each other: the rulers’ disobedience and manipulation of the laws to their own ends can result in the emergence of bad laws. Different combinations of these two variables represent different degrees of law’s connective function, and also the degree to which the constitution departs from its ideal form.

Author

• Jiseob Yoon, Princeton University