Synopsis
A dialogue arguing that true law is right reason rooted in nature and the divine, binding all people universally and providing the standard for just human legislation.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Public domainTrue law is right reason in agreement with nature, the same for all peoples and all times, and no decree of a senate or assembly can release us from its authority.
It states the natural-law conviction that justice is not mere convention but grounded in a rational order higher than any state's commands.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Thomas Aquinas, Treatise on Law.
Reading note
Read alongside his Republic; treat the dialogue form as a vehicle for doctrine and focus on the definition of true law.
Best paired with
Thomas Aquinas, Treatise on Law