Aristotle and the Eleatic Stranger on the Nature and Purpose of Political Life

Bibliographic Data

ID11065160
AuthorsKevin M Cherry (0000-0003-1753-5717, University of Notre Dame, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume52
Issue1
Pages1-15
Publication date2008-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00295.x
OpenAlexW1491460021
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

This article argues that Book I of the Politics represents Aristotle's critique of Plato's Eleatic Stranger on the specific character of political rule and the knowledge required for political rule, and that this critique produces a different understanding of the proper division of regimes and the relationship between political theory and practice. These differences can be traced to a more fundamental disagreement about nature: Aristotle sees nature as generally hospitable to human life and argues that the natural end or goal of political association is not mere life but the good life, while the Eleatic perceives nature as hostile and proposes a minimalist politics, aimed primarily at preserving life. Although the Eleatic's view of nature might appear to be closer to and more compatible with modern political thought, the conception of nature Aristotle presents in his Politics offers richer possibilities for political theory and political life

Character (mathematics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Human life · Natural (archaeology · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · History · Law · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought

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