Politics

by Aristotle, Benjamin Jowett (Translator)

Overview

Exploring the foundations of civic life, Politics offers Aristotle's comprehensive examination of the structures, purposes, and variations of government in the classical world. Building on his ethical writings, this seminal work investigates how communities can best achieve the good life through political organization.

Set against the backdrop of the Greek polis, Aristotle analyzes constitutions, citizenship, law, and the roles of rulers and the ruled, presenting a comparative study of regimes from monarchy to democracy. He reflects on justice, virtue, and the delicate balance between individual and collective good. Through methodical inquiry and empirical observation, Aristotle develops a vision of political life grounded in rational deliberation and ethical purpose.

This enduring work remains essential to understanding the intellectual roots of Western political theory and the timeless challenges of governance, community, and human flourishing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781397668806
Publisher:	Left of Brain Books
Publication date:	07/06/2025
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Richard Kraut is Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University, Illinois. He was previously Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Read an Excerpt

Book I

Chapter 1. Since we see that every city is some kind of association, and every association is organized for the sake of some good (since everything everyone does is for the sake of something seeming to be good), it is clear that all associations aim at something good, and that the one that is most sovereign and encompasses all the others aims at the most sovereign of all goods. And this is the one called the city, the political association.

Now those who assume that the same person is skilled at political rule as at kingship, household management, and mastery of slaves do not speak beautifully. (For they regard each of these as differentiated with respect to manyness or fewness but not in form—a master being over few, a household manager over more, and a political ruler or a king over still more, as if a large household were no different from a small city; as for the political ruler and the king, when one has control himself, they regard him as a king, but as a political ruler when he rules and is ruled by turns in accordance with the propositions of this sort of knowledge. These things, though, are not true.) What is being said will be clear to those who investigate it along the usual path, for just as it is necessary in other cases to divide a compound thing up into uncompounded ones (since these are the smallest parts of the whole), so too with a city, it is by examining what it is composed of that we shall also see more about these rulers, both in what respect they differ from one another and whether it is possible to get hold of anything involving art applicable to each of the things mentioned.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations. Translation. Commentary. Textual Note. Bibliography. Glossary. Indexes.

Interviews

Joe Sachs’s new translation of Aristotle’s Politics is for students of philosophy, classics, political philosophy, political science, and/or great books at the college level.

Editorial Reviews

"This excellent addition to the Clarendon Aristotle Series will be indispensable not only to specialists in ancient philosophy and political theory but also to the many classicists now writing on the politics of Greek culture and society....With Kraut's reliable translation and his commentary illuminating the larger issues raised, Politics 7-8 could now be an eminently suitable introduction to Aristotle's thought for the classroom."—Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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