According to Plato, every law has a transcendental foundation: God. He is the "norm of the norms, the measure of the measures" (ibid, p. 1341). In The Republic, the supreme universal principle is the Good that coincides, in The Laws, with God’s mind. God presents himself as the legislator of the legislators, maintaining an eminent pedagogical relationship with men: as good fountains always spot out sound water, God always prescribes what is fair. He is, therefore, the "universal pedagogue" (ibid, p. 1343).
Renato José de Oliveira
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro