Journal Page

Plato’s praise of Minos grounds law in divine authority, not human deliberation. Minos, as Zeus’ intermediary, ensures laws remain immutable and universal. Praise in the dialogue is profound, tied to true virtue and divine hierarchy. Unlike shifting human laws, divine laws remain constant. Plato asserts that good laws derive from divine wisdom, not cultural evolution or debate. Compared to bronze mirrors the Ten Commandments in stone, signifying resistance to alteration, law’s materiality is symbolic. Wilde’s juxtaposition of love and materialism parallels this concept; just as his letters shift between passion and financial concerns, laws operate within both divine and material realms, binding human behavior to an immutable structure. Marxist analysis might see this as the codification of class power, where divine law legitimizes social order, while Žižek could argue that belief in immutable laws is an ideological construct masking legal fluidity. With laws rooted in the divine, their principles must be universal, transcending culture and history. Plato’s vision suggests justice aligns with cosmic order, not human consensus. Today, the challenge is not just creating laws but preserving them. However, Žižek might argue that the very act of preserving laws as inviolable is an ideological fantasy, masking the contradictions within legal structures. If laws are positioned as divine and immutable, this ignores their historical contingency and the power dynamics that enforce them. The belief in an eternal foundation of justice, rather than questioning its underlying ideological framework, risks becoming an obstacle to true social transformation. If laws stem from the divine, they should remain inviolable, etched in the foundations of justice itself.