ABSTRACT
The anonymous author of the Minos makes full use of the History of Euphorus who maintains the thesis that the laws promulgated by the famous Spartan law-giver Lycurgus were derived from Crete, or to be more exact, from the fabulous King Minos. Hence in the Minos the same question concerning the nature or essence of the law is being reformulated once again by contrasting the positive or man-made law with "philosophy", that is to say, with the rational natural law. In order to understand the scope of the Minos we will have to keep in mind that this dialogue resumes the discussion about the nature of law which had been taken up in the first book of the Laws. The main argument of Socrates, therefore, is that "true" law is always related to the nature of reality, and that justice signifies harmony with true being.
