Mid-term Meeting IPS, Neapoli, Lasithi (Crete), June 22–25, 2027
Plato on Law and Writing
Mid-term Meeting IPS, Neapoli, Lasithi (Crete), June 22–25, 2027
Plato’s relation with writing is intriguing and complex. He appears to be the first thinker to theorize the connection between writing on one hand and knowledge and human agency on the other. At the same time, he is the first author not only to experiment with sophisticated literary techniques but also to thematize the possibilities of the written text to produce and transmit knowledge, and its limits to convey meaning. The relationship between writing and law is thematized, too, in the dialogues—and perhaps connected with the rise of the “epigraphic habit” in Greece, as exemplified by early texts in Crete (Gortyn Law Code, Dreros Inscription).
Proposed sub-themes:
- Writing and memory in Plato
- The technology of writing
- Plato’s Socrates on orality versus literacy
- Written and unwritten law
- Plato and the history/archaeology of law in Crete
Interested parties should submit an abstract of around 500 words (plus bibliography/works cited). Presentations will run for approximately 20 minutes with additional time for discussion/questions. Please submit abstracts to IPS.Crete.2027@fks.uoc.gr by October 10, 2026.