Philosophy and Politics in Aristotle's Politics

Aristotle's Politics, fundamental to the Western political philosophy canon, has been widely regarded as an ancient handbook for statesmen. While conceding that Aristotle's treatise poses questions to lawmakers, Johnson argues that scholars would benefit from reading the text as indented for two audiences: political philosophers and statesmen. The philosopher's questions challenge our understanding of politics at an epistemological level: What does 'nature' mean in the context of politics? What is the state? What is the 'nature' of citizenship? What is the relation between the polis and the constitution? The statesman's questions, conversely, work toward applying these basic principles: Why is achieving 'the mean' and the 'middle' in politics important, and how does the statesman achieve these goals? What is 'the best constitution for most cities? This split-audience approach sheds new light on enduring conversations surrounding Aristotle's political masterpiece.

Curtis Johnson is the Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Professor of Government at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is the author of Aristotle's Theory of the State (1990), Socrates and the Immoralists (2005), and Darwin's Dice (2014). He has published many articles and chapters on Plato, Aristotle, Darwin, and the history of science.

Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations and Note on Text
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Philosophy and Politics in Aristotle's Politics 
1. Aristotle's Audiences
2. Politics Book I 
3. Aristotle's Method in the Politics
4.The Essential Nature of the State and Specific Identities in Aristotle's Politics 
5. Evaluating the Goodness of Regimes
6. Why Constitutions Differ: Causation in the Politics
7. The Citizen and the Sovereign Office in the Politics
8. Polity and the Middle Regime in the Politics
9. The 'Best State Absolutely'
Bibliography