1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910826768003321

Autore

Cherry Kevin M.

Titolo

Plato, Aristotle, and the purpose of politics / / Kevin M. Cherry [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2012

ISBN

9781139340427

9781107633506

1-139-33451-4

1-107-23162-0

1-280-39421-8

1-139-33797-1

9786613572134

1-139-34042-5

1-139-12888-4

1-139-34200-2

1-139-33710-6

1-139-33884-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiii, 232 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Classificazione

PHI002000

Disciplina

320.01

Soggetti

Political science - Greece - History - To 1500

Political science - Philosophy - History - To 1500

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. A place for politics: the household and the city -- 2. The beginnings and ends of political life -- 3. Political knowledge and political power -- 4. Political inquiry to Aristotle and the Eleatic Stranger -- 5. Philosophy and politics in the Eleatic Stranger, Socrates, and Aristotle -- 6. Modern politics, the Eleatic Stranger, and Aristotle.

Sommario/riassunto

In this book, Kevin M. Cherry compares the views of Plato and Aristotle about the practice, study and, above all, the purpose of politics. The first scholar to place Aristotle's Politics in sustained dialogue with Plato's Statesman, Cherry argues that Aristotle rejects the view of politics advanced by Plato's Eleatic Stranger, contrasting them on topics



such as the proper categorization of regimes, the usefulness and limitations of the rule of law, and the proper understanding of phronè„sis. The various differences between their respective political philosophies, however, reflect a more fundamental difference in how they view the relationship of human beings to the natural world around them. Reading the Politics in light of the Statesman sheds new light on Aristotle's political theory and provides a better understanding of Aristotle's criticism of Socrates. Most importantly, it highlights an enduring and important question: should politics have as its primary purpose the preservation of life, or should it pursue the higher good of living well?