Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Hossein Ghassami ¹
• Muhammad Asghari ²

¹ PhD Student, Department of Philosophy, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

² Professor at Department of Philosophy, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

The subject of this article is the comparison of nomos in Plato's Crito and law in Franz Kafka’s novel, The Trial. In ancient Greece, nomos had various meanings, among which we can refer to the general human law, established law, and law as the absolute power of the government. With the coming of Plato, the meaning of nomos transforms. In his three periods of thought - the Socratic period, the middle period, and the old age period - Plato has included nomos sometimes in opposition to Phusis and sometimes united with it. In Crito, which is a work belonging to the Socratic period, nomos is opposed to Phusis and takes an absolute form. On the other hand, in Kafka's novel The Trial, the law is introduced as an absolute thing, beyond the rules and mechanisms of the modern world. Finally, considering Platonic nomos and Kafka-esque law in the context of Michel Foucault's and Giorgio Agamben's thoughts, it seems that despite the apparent differences between the treatise and the novel, the essence of the law is manifested in them in such a way that they can be considered aligned in different ways. Therefore, it can be said that this research offers a new way of philosophical reading of Kafka's novel The Trial.

Keywords

• Nomos
• Law
• Plato
• Kafka
• Crito
• the Trial

Main Subjects

• Western Philosophy