Plato's Utopia Recast is an illuminating reappraisal of Plato's later works, which reveals radical changes in his ethical and political theory. Christopher Bobonich examines later dialogues, with a special emphasis upon the Laws, and argues that in these late works, Plato both rethinks and revises the basic ethical and political positions that he held in his better-known earlier works, such as the Republic. This book will change our understanding of Plato. His controversial moral and political theory, so influential in Western thought, will henceforth be seen in a new light.

• 1: Philosophers and non-philosophers in the Phaedo and Republic


• 2: Virtue , good, and happiness in the Laws


• 3: Parts of the soul and the psychology of virtue


• 4: Parts of the soul and non-rational motivations


• 5: The Citizens of Magnesia


• References, Index

Christopher Bobonich is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University.