Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics at Princeton University. She is also an associated faculty member in the Department of Classics and the Department of Philosophy at Princeton. As of August 1, 2023, for a term of three academic years, she is also the 50th Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, a non-degree-granting institution founded in London in 1597.  In this role, she delivers an extended series of public lectures, which are also livestreamed and available online on YouTube: access here.

About

Melissa Lane

Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University

Melissa Lane’s newest book, Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political (PUP, 2023) is capturing attention. Praise includes: 

“[A] meticulous new analysis of Plato’s constitutionalism. . .  With the appearance of Melissa Lane’s authoritative Of Rule and Office, debate over the evolution of Plato’s discussion of the vulnerabilities of political office and the various ways in which rule and office might be understood must be nearly at an end.”    (Andrew David Irvine, Times Literary Supplement)

“[A] major contribution to our faltering efforts to understand the challenges of politics across the world” (John Dunn, History of European Ideas)

A “great achievement” written with “extraordinary scrupulousness”: “What Melissa Lane’s book does is to drill down through all the layers, as others have not done, to the political bedrock below” (Christopher Rowe, Mind)

Attention to the political significance of the book includes:

Op ed in ‘The Hill’ on office and the Trump immunity case on  7/17/2024, by Jane Manners and Melissa Lane

Op ed in US News & World Report on Plato & ethics of Supreme Court Justices and their families

Episode 75 of “Timeless Leadership” podcast with Scott Monty

Op ed in the LA Times online-first on 3/23/2024, by Jane Manners and Melissa Lane

 “Keeping Democracy Alive” with Burt Cohen on Plato: The Benefits of Acting Justly

“The Political Mike” with Michael Taylor (Episode 122)

“Facepalm America” with Beowulf Rochlen (April 3) 

An article about Lane’s new book in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here – subscription required

Podcasts and reviews giving an overview of the book’s arguments:

Forthcoming: book symposia in Polis and in The Review of Politics

Zoom book launch in the Critical Antiquities Workshop (6 August 2024) with discussants Anthony Hooper and Demetra Kasimis: YouTube available soon

Zoom lecture for the Paideia Institute (21 July 2024) now on YouTube: “Plato on Rule and Office: Constitutionalism for the Good of the Ruled”

Oxford New Books roundtable (Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2024): comments by Connor Grubaugh and Miyo Peck-Suzuki with reply by Melissa Lane

Political Theory Review podcast, interviewed by Jeffrey Church, here

Classical Wisdom podcast, interviewed by Anya Leonard, here

Book symposium in History of European Ideas: Introduction by John Dunn; Review articles by Matthew Landauer, Matthew Simonton, Mark Philp, Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco; Response by Melissa Lane.

Book review by Christopher Rowe in Mind

Solon, lawmaker of Athens (640-558 BCE)
Art Resource Lycurgus QM Rubinstein

Research Interests

Melissa Lane is a political theorist whose work focuses primarily on ancient Greek philosophy, especially the writings of Plato. She also works on the reception and uses of Plato, informing work which she also does in contemporary political theory, including especially on issues in regard to scientific knowledge, communication, and climate change.

New Publication

Melissa Lane’s major new monograph is Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political, published by Princeton University Press on 20 June 2023.

In fall and winter 2023, the book was the topic of panel sessions of the American Political Science Association and UK-IVR Association for law and philosophy, and of book launches at Oxford, Princeton, and Labyrinth Books.   Further book launches and lectures on the book have been held in 2024 by the Paideia Institute and Critical Antiquities Workshop. Book symposia have been published or are forthcoming in History of European Ideas, Oxford New Books, Polis, and The Review of Politics.  See top right of this webpage for further details.

Recent & Upcoming Events

6 September 2024


"Ancient and Modern Constitutionalism on the Good of the Ruled"

APSA Annual Meeting

Philadelphia, PA

Panel “On Law and Constitutionalism in Ancient Greek Thought”

26 September 2024

"Singing the Laws: Ancient Greek Lawgivers in History and Legend"

Gresham College Lecture

Barnard’s Inn Hall, London

18:00 (BST) 

Subsequently on the Gresham YouTube Channel

 
 
 
29 October 2024

Lycurgus to Moses: Thinking through Lawgivers in Legal and Political Philosophy

 

Launch of the Isaiah Berlin Lectures

Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford

Lecture 1 on 29 October: 17:00 (GMT), The Chapel

Lectures 2-6 at 5 PM in the Philosophy Lecture Room on subsequent Tuesdays: 5, 12, 19, 26 November & 3 December

Oxford Political Thought Seminar on the lectures:  Weds 4 December, 4:00 – 6:00 PM: Ryle Room