Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease

Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease PDF Author: Kostas Kalimtzis
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791492052
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This book explores Aristotle's theory of stasis, a word usually translated to mean "revolution," "civic disorder," or "sedition." It examines Aristotle's writings on stasis, especially Book 5 of the Politics, within the tradition established by ancient Greek poets, medical writers, philosophers, and orators, who held that the root sense of stasis was in fact nosos, or "disease." Aristotle's theory of the causes of stasis is presented in a cohesive manner, as factors that can account for political disease within the entire range of diverse constitutions. Aristotle is shown to have proceeded from the standpoint that the polis had to be cast in a mode of political friendship, what the Greeks called homonoia or "political friendship", and that when other standards for friendship such as wealth or liberty are practiced to an extreme, then the function of the polis may be "arrested." The telic functions of the polis are replaced by disordered "movements" whose paralyzing effect—as evidenced by transformations in values and language, and the pursuit of private-interest ends—is typical of a dysfunctional condition that often ends in senseless violence and civil war.

Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease

Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease PDF Author: Kostas Kalimtzis
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791492052
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This book explores Aristotle's theory of stasis, a word usually translated to mean "revolution," "civic disorder," or "sedition." It examines Aristotle's writings on stasis, especially Book 5 of the Politics, within the tradition established by ancient Greek poets, medical writers, philosophers, and orators, who held that the root sense of stasis was in fact nosos, or "disease." Aristotle's theory of the causes of stasis is presented in a cohesive manner, as factors that can account for political disease within the entire range of diverse constitutions. Aristotle is shown to have proceeded from the standpoint that the polis had to be cast in a mode of political friendship, what the Greeks called homonoia or "political friendship", and that when other standards for friendship such as wealth or liberty are practiced to an extreme, then the function of the polis may be "arrested." The telic functions of the polis are replaced by disordered "movements" whose paralyzing effect—as evidenced by transformations in values and language, and the pursuit of private-interest ends—is typical of a dysfunctional condition that often ends in senseless violence and civil war.

Conflict in Aristotle's Political Philosophy

Conflict in Aristotle's Political Philosophy PDF Author: Steven Skultety
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438476590
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Do only modern thinkers like Machiavelli and Hobbes accept that conflict plays a significant role in the origin and maintenance of political community? In this book, Steven Skultety argues that Aristotle not only took conflict to be an inevitable aspect of political life, but further recognized ways in which conflict promotes the common good. While many scholars treat Aristotelian conflict as an absence of substantive communal ideals, Skultety argues that Aristotle articulated a view of politics that theorizes profoundly different kinds of conflict. Aristotle comprehended the subtle factors that can lead otherwise peaceful citizens to contemplate outright civil war, grasped the unique conditions that create hopelessly implacable partisans, and systematized tactics rulers could use to control regrettable, but still manageable, levels of civic distrust. Moreover, Aristotle conceived of debate, enduring disagreement, social rivalries, and competitions for leadership as an indispensable part of how human beings live well together in successful political life. By exploring the ways in which citizens can be at odds with one another, Conflict in Aristotle's Political Philosophy presents a dimension of ancient Greek thought that is startlingly relevant to contemporary concerns about social divisions, constitutional crises, and the range of acceptable conflict in healthy democracies.

Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease

Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease PDF Author: Kostas Kalimtzis
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791446812
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Explores Aristotle's theory of the causes that give rise to stasis ('civic disorder'), and provides an original and systematic account of his understanding of political justice and friendship.

Amoral Politics

Amoral Politics PDF Author: Ben-Ami Scharfstein
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438418868
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
This is a study of how and why politics is amoral. It deals especially with what the author terms Machiavellism—the disregard of moral scruples for political ends that leads to the justification and use of deception and force in all aspects of political life. A comparative cultural study, it examines the theory and practice of politics in ancient China, ancient India, Renaissance Italy, and modern Europe, as well as tribal cultures, in order to test how widespread such political amorality has been throughout history. Scharfstein concludes that political or ethical theories that do not view Machiavellism as inseparable from political life are inadequate to human affairs and of doubtful relevance to politics. In reaching this conclusion, he explores such topics as why people readily accept political violations of truthfulness and fairness; whether decisive philosophical arguments have been advanced against Machiavellism; whether the use of deception in politics is in politicians' own best interests; and whether the prevalence of Machiavellism rules out the likelihood of a better political future.

Pharmakon

Pharmakon PDF Author: Michael A. Rinella
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1461634016
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Pharmakon: Plato, Drug Culture, and Identity in Ancient Athens examines the emerging concern for controlling states of psychological ecstasy in the history of western thought, focusing on ancient Greece (c. 750-146 BCE), particularly the Classical Period (c. 500-336 BCE) and especially the dialogues of the Athenian philosopher Plato (427-347 BCE). Employing a diverse array of materials ranging from literature, philosophy, medicine, botany, pharmacology, religion, magic, and law, Pharmakon fundamentally reframes the conceptual context of how we read and interpret Plato's dialogues. Michael A. Rinella demonstrates how the power and truth claims of philosophy, repeatedly likened to a pharmakon, opposes itself to the cultural authority of a host of other occupations in ancient Greek society who derived their powers from, or likened their authority to, some pharmakon. These included Dionysian and Eleusinian religion, physicians and other healers, magicians and other magic workers, poets, sophists, rhetoricians, as well as others. Accessible to the general reader, yet challenging to the specialist, Pharmakon is a comprehensive examination of the place of drugs in ancient thought that will compel the reader to understand Plato in a new way.

Aristotle on Stasis

Aristotle on Stasis PDF Author: Ronald L. Weed
Publisher: Logos Verlag Berlin
ISBN: 9783832513801
Category : Conflict (Psychology)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Ronald Weed's book offers a fresh investigation of political conflict in Aristotle's Politics. While there have been a number of studies on stasis or factional conflict, few provide a thorough analysis of its intractable character dimensions. Weed presents a highly original and provocative analysis of the moral psychology of factional conflict in the middle books of the Politics, arguing that the character deficiencies of a citizenry are the central causes of stasis and indispensable for understanding both the nature of these conflicts and their remedies. In Weed's view, Aristotle contends that stasis can be greatly limited without greatly reducing bad character, so long as the vices that breed it most are limited. Weed presents a novel and detailed explanation of how Aristotle's institutional remedies, such as the selective distribution of honor and wealth, may bypass circumstances that provoke stasis, if they account for what vices are triggered under those circumstances. Weed advances an understanding of Aristotle's practical thought that captures Aristotle's penetrating realism about political breakdown and pathology, while also preserving the robust and irreducible essence of his theory of character and rational choice.

The Politics

The Politics PDF Author: Aristotle
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141913266
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
Twenty-three centuries after its compilation, 'The Politics' still has much to contribute to this central question of political science. Aristotle's thorough and carefully argued analysis is based on a study of over 150 city constitutions, covering a huge range of political issues in order to establish which types of constitution are best - both ideally and in particular circumstances - and how they may be maintained. Aristotle's opinions form an essential background to the thinking of philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli and Jean Bodin and both his premises and arguments raise questions that are as relevant to modern society as they were to the ancient world.

Aristotle on Emotions in Law and Politics

Aristotle on Emotions in Law and Politics PDF Author: Liesbeth Huppes-Cluysenaer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319667033
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
In this book, experts from the fields of law and philosophy explore the works of Aristotle to illuminate the much-debated and fascinating relationship between emotions and justice. Emotions matter in connection with democracy and equity – they are relevant to the judicial enforcement of rights, legal argumentation, and decision-making processes in legislative bodies and courts. The decisive role that emotions, feelings and passions play in these processes cannot be ignored – not even by those who believe that emotions have no legitimate place in the public sphere. A growing body of literature on these topics recognizes the seminal insights contributed by Aristotle. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of his thinking in this context, as well as proposals for inspiring dialogues between his works and those written by a selection of modern and contemporary thinkers. As such, the book offers a valuable resource for students of law, philosophy, rhetoric, politics, ethics and history, but also for readers interested in the ongoing debate about legal positivism and the relevance of emotions for legal and political life in today’s world.

The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Politics

The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Politics PDF Author: Marguerite Deslauriers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107004683
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
This volume provides an overview of political problems as Aristotle conceived of them his Politics.

Aristotle’s Political Philosophy in its Historical Context

Aristotle’s Political Philosophy in its Historical Context PDF Author: Andrew Lintott
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351335677
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
This book offers new translations of Aristotle’s Politics 5 and 6, accompanied by an introduction and commentary, targeted at historians and those who like to read political science in the context in which it was produced. Philosophical analysis remains essential and there is no intention to detract from the books as political theory, but the focus of this volume is the text as a crucial element in the discourse of fourth-century Greece, and the conflict throughout the Greek world between democracy, oligarchy, and the rise of the Macedonian monarchy.