《理想国》和《法律篇》是柏拉图的两部主要政治哲学著作,学界通常把前者归于其中期的著作,把后者归于其晚期的著作。一般认为,柏拉图的思想经历了早、中、晚的演变。就其政治思想而言,同样应有一个从中期到晚期的变化过程。但对于这一演变的具体认识,学界却不尽一致,有人认为是从人治到法治的统治方式的转变,也有认为是从最优到次优的治理态度的转变。要想真正弄清这一演变,至少需要先回答三个问题:从《理想国》到 Ideals and Laws are two of Plato’s major political and philosophical works. The academic community usually attributes the former to his mid-term work and the latter to his later works. It is generally believed that Plato’s thought went through the evolution of early, middle and late. For its political thinking, there should also be a process of change from the middle to the late. But for the specific understanding of this evolution, the academia is not uniform. Some people think that it is the change from the rule of man to the rule of law, and the change of the governance attitude from the best to the second best. To truly understand this evolution, at least three questions need to be answered first: from “ideal country” to