Aristotle on the Scope of Practical Reason: Spectators, Legislators, Hopes, and Evils

This book offers a new account of Aristotle’s practical philosophy. Pavlos Kontos argues that Aristotle does not restrict practical reason to its action-guiding and motivational role; rather, practical reason remains practical in the full sense of the term even when its exercise does not immediately concern the guidance of our present actions.

To elucidate why this wider scope of practical reason is important, Kontos brings into the foreground five protagonists that have long been overlooked...