现代法治理论的最初起源可追溯到古希腊时代的思想家柏拉图和亚里士多德。尽管柏拉图在早期著作《理想国》中倡导贵族政体即贤人的人治,反对民主制和法治,但在其晚年的著作《法律论》中却转向法治主义。其弟子亚里士多德在《政治学》一书中则明确指出:法律是最优良的统治者,法治好比“神祗和理智”的统治,而个人的统治,则犹如“在政治中 The original origins of the modern theory of the rule of law can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle, thinkers of ancient Greece. Although Plato advocated aristocracy as the rule of man in the early Republic and in opposition to democracy and the rule of law, Plato turned to rule of law in his later book, The Theory of Law. Aristotle, his disciple, clearly pointed out in his book Political Science that the law is the best ruler, the rule of law is like the rule of ”gods and intellect,“ and the individual rule is like ” In politics