Aristotle
Democracy and Political Science
Edited by Harvey C. Mansfield
288 pages
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6 x 9
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© 2018
Review Quotes
Devin Stauffer, University of Texas at Austin
“Winthrop’s original and provocative work is much more than a meditation on Aristotle’s complex view of democracy. Because Winthrop reads Aristotle’s Politics as much for its ontological implications as for its political lessons, she wrestles with questions concerning the status of forms and wholes for Aristotle, the possibility of human freedom in a natural world governed by necessity, and the relationship between political science and natural science. This fascinating study challenges readers to look at the Politics in a dramatically new way.”
Ronna Burger, Tulane University
“Winthrop’s illuminating study of Aristotle’s Politics follows the argument of the foundational Book III as it sets out from the democratic citizen’s claim about political freedom and moves toward the question of its philosophic justification. Her insightful account, supported by her own translation, offers us, ultimately, a distinctive Aristotelian contribution to our own understanding of democracy and the complexity of human freedom—political, moral, and intellectual.”
Law Liberty
"...Aristotle: Democracy and Political Science is the most original and intriguing work on Aristotle in recent memory. Its effort to show that the philosopher’s concern for politics is not altogether separate from his theoretical concerns about first causes is a notable challenge to the traditional understanding of the relationship between the theoretical and practical sides of Aristotle’s thought. For anyone interested in getting to the heart of his political science, it is well worth the effort to work through Winthrop’s rich and painstaking interpretation of Politics III."
Will Morrisey | Society
"Winthrop accordingly considers Book III of Aristotle’s Politics with both philosophic acuity and political astuteness...Book III is the core of the book. Winthrop has written a book on the core of the book that arguably forms the core of political science as subsequently understood for a very longtime, if not all time."
Paul W. Ludwig | Claremont Review of Books
"Delba Winthrop’s book leaves two final impressions on the reader. First, one recovers the sheer joy of reading Aristotle. Second, one marvels at a beautiful mind that is not in the least interested in its own ingenuity but only in bringing Aristotle’s ingenuity to light.The same can be said of the defamiliarizing translation of Book III of the Politics which accompanies the commentary. The Aristotelian democracy that emerges from Winthrop’s treatment is more moderate and balanced than today’s democratic thinkers would like. Nevertheless, as the comparisons with the great Tocqueville show, Aristotle’s lessons about democracy are ancient but not superseded."
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