ARISTOTLE S POLITICS Arguably the foundational text of Western political theory, Aristotle s Politics has become one of the most widely and carefully studied works in ethical and political philosophy. This volume of essays offers fresh interpretations of Aristotle s key work and opens new paths for students and scholars to explore. The contributors embrace a variety of methodological approaches that range across the disciplines of classics, political science, philosophy, and ancient history. Their essays illuminate perennial questions such as the relationship between individual and community, the nature of democratic deliberation, and how to improve political institutions. Offering groundbreaking studies that both set Aristotle within the context of his own time and draw on contemporary discussion of his writings, this collection will provide researchers with an understanding of many of the major scholarly debates surrounding this key text. thornton lockwood is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Quinnipiac University. He has published articles on Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics in Phronesis, Journal of the History of Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Ancient Philosophy, Oxford Bibliographies On-line, and The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics. thanassis samaras is Lecturer at the University of Georgia. He is the author of Plato on Democracy (2002) and the Modern Greek Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Plato s Apology and Crito (2003). He has published a number of articles on the Pre-Socratics, Sophists, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as a contribution to Christopher Bobonich (ed.), Plato s Laws: A Critical Guide (2010).
cambridge critical guides Titles published in this series: Hegel s Phenomenology Of Spirit edited by dean moyar and michael quante Mill s On Liberty edited by c. l. ten Kant s Idea For A Universal History With A Cosmopolitan Aim edited by amélie oksenberg rorty and james schmidt Kant s Groundwork Of The Metaphysics Of Morals edited by jens timmermann Kant s Critique Of Practical Reason edited by andrews reath and jens timmermann Wittgenstein s Philosophical Investigations edited by arif ahmed Kierkegaard s Concluding Unscientific Postscript edited by rick anthony furtak Plato s Republic edited by mark l. mcpherran Plato s Laws edited by christopher bobonich Spinoza s Theological-Political Treatise edited by yitzhak y. melamed and michael a. rosenthal Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics edited by jon miller Kant s Metaphysics Of Morals edited by lara denis (Continued after index)
ARISTOTLE S POLITICS A Critical Guide edited by thornton lockwood Quinnipiac University and thanassis samaras University of Georgia
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9781107052703 Cambridge University Press 2015 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2015 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Aristotle s Politics: a critical guide / edited by Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras. pages cm. (Cambridge critical guides) isbn 978-1-107-05270-3 (hardback) 1. Aristotle. Politics. 2. Political science Early works to 1800. 3. State, The. I. Lockwood, Thornton, editor of compilation. II. Samaras, Thanassis, 1967 editor of compilation. JC71.A7A768 2015 320.01 1 dc23 2015014016 isbn 978-1-107-05270-3 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents List of contributors page vii Introduction 1 Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras 1 On logos and politics in Aristotle 9 Jill Frank 2 Is politics a natural science? 27 Pierre Pellegrin 3 Political rule over women in Politics I 46 Marguerite Deslauriers 4 Politics II: Political critique, political theorizing, political innovation 64 Thornton Lockwood 5 Politeia in Greek literature, inscriptions, and in Aristotle s Politics: Reflections on translation and interpretation 84 J. J. Mulhern 6 The mixed regime in Aristotle s Politics 103 Ryan Balot 7 Aristotle and the question of citizenship 123 Thanassis Samaras 8 Aristotle, political decision making, and the many 142 Christopher Bobonich 9 Little to do with justice: Aristotle on distributing political power 163 Eckart Schütrumpf v
vi Contents 10 Aristotle on the corruption of regimes: Resentment and justice 184 Arlene W. Saxonhouse 11 Aristotle on improving imperfect cities 204 Pierre Destrée 12 Nature, history, and Aristotle s best possible regime 224 Josiah Ober Bibliography 244 Index 256
Contributors ryan k. balot is Professor of Political Science and Classics at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Greed and Injustice in Classical Athens (2001), Greek Political Thought (2006), Courage in the Democratic Polis (2014), and editor of A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought (2009). chris bobonich is CI Lewis Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University. He is the author of Plato s Utopia Recast (2002) and various essays on Greek ethics. He has also edited Plato s Laws: A Critical Guide (2010) and coedited, with P. Destrée, Akrasia in Greek Philosophy: from Socrates to Plotinus (2007). marguerite deslauriers is Professor of Philosophy at McGill University. Her publications include Aristotle on Definition (2007), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle s Politics (coedited with P. Destrée) (2013), and a number of articles on ancient philosophy and on early modern feminist philosophy. pierre destre e is an Associate Researcher at the FNRS, and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Louvain. His publications include numerous articles on Plato s and Aristotle s ethics, politics, and aesthetics. He has also edited several books, including (with C. Bobonich) Akrasia in Greek Philosophy (2007), (with F. G. Herrmann) Plato and the Poets (2011), (with C. Collobert and F. Gonzalez) Plato on Myth (2012), and (with M. Deslauriers) the Cambridge Companion to Aristotle s Politics (2013). jill frank is Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University. She is the author of A Democracy of Distinction: Aristotle and the Work of Politics (2005), and articles on law, judgment, persuasion, justice, property, and nature, primarily in Plato and Aristotle. vii
viii List of contributors thornton lockwood is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Quinnipiac University. He has published articles on Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics in Phronesis, Journal of the History of Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Ancient Philosophy, Oxford Bibliographies On-line, and The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics. j. j. mulhern is Adjunct Associate Professor of Classical Studies and of Government Administration at the University of Pennsylvania and Senior Fellow and Acting Executive Director of the University s Fels Institute of Government. His recent publications include Politeia in Aristotle s Politica: An Annotated Catalogue (2014), Ethics, Morals, and the State: A Classical Perspective (2009), The Political Economy of Citizenship: A Classical Perspective (2009), Kakia in Aristotle (2008), and The Aristê Politeia and Aristotle s Intended Audience in the Politica (2007). josiah ober is Constantine Mitsotakis Professor of Political Science and Classics at Stanford University. His 2008 book, Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens, analyzes ancient Athenian democracy as a system for aggregating, aligning, and codifying useful knowledge. pierre pellegrin is Directeur de Recherche émérite au CNRS, and was formerly the Director of the Centre for the History of Arabic and Medieval Science and Philosophy, Paris. In addition to numerous articles and reviews, he has published translations and commentaries on Aristotle s Categories and On Interpretation (2007), Posterior Analytics (2005), On the Heavens (2004), the Physics (2000), and the Politics (1990); he has also translated works by Galen, Plato, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Sextus Empiricus. With Mary Gill he has edited A Companion to Ancient Philosophy (2006). thanassis samaras is Lecturer at the University of Georgia. He is the author of Plato on Democracy (2002) and the Modern Greek Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Plato s Apology and Crito (2003). He has published a number of articles on the Pre-Socratics, Sophists, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as a contribution to Christopher Bobonich (ed.), Plato s Laws: A Critical Guide (2010). arlene w. saxonhouse is the Caroline Robbins Collegiate Professor of Political Science and Adjunct Professor of Classics at the University of
List of contributors Michigan. She is the author of Free Speech and Athenian Democracy (2006), Athenian Democracy: Modern Mythmakers and Ancient Theorists (1996), Fear of Diversity: The Birth of Political Science in Ancient Greek Thought (1992), Women in the History of Political Thought: Ancient Greece to Machiavelli (1985), and the coeditor with Noel B. Reynolds of Hobbes s Three Discourses: A Modern, Critical Edition of Newly Identified Works by the Young Thomas Hobbes (1995). eckart schu trumpf is Emeritus Professor of Classics and of Humanities at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of a translation and commentary in four volumes on Aristotle s Politics (1991 2005). Prof. Schütrumpf has also published monographs on Aristotle s Poetics (1970) and Politics (1980), and on Xenophon s On Revenues (1982). He has coedited volumes on Demetrius of Phalerum (1999) and Dicaearchus (2001), and together with P. Crone and D. Gutras on The Greek Strand in Islamic Political Thought (2005). His new edition of the fragments of Heraclides Ponticus was published in 2007. ix