The Problems of a Political Animal

by Bernard Yack

• ISBN13: 9780520081666
• ISBN10: 0520081668
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2023-04-28
• Publisher: University of California Press

Summary

A bold new interpretation of Aristotelian thought is central to Bernard Yack's provocative new book. He shows that for Aristotle, community is a conflict-ridden fact of everyday life, as well as an ideal of social harmony and integration. From political justice and the rule of law to class struggle and moral conflict, Yack maintains that Aristotle intended to explain the conditions of everyday political life, not just, as most commentators assume, to represent the hypothetical achievements of an idealistic "best regime." By showing how Aristotelian ideas can provide new insight into our own political life, Yack makes a valuable contribution to contemporary discourse and debate. His work will excite interest among a wide range of social, moral, and political theorists.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
Political Community as a Term of Distinction	p. 6
Distorted Images of Aristotelian Politics	p. 10
Interpretive Approaches	p. 18
Community	p. 25
The Communal Animal	p. 27
The Forms of Friendship and Justice	p. 33
Aristotelian Community and Modern Social Theory	p. 43
Political Community	p. 51
The Defining Characteristics of Political Community	p. 53
The Political Animal	p. 62
The Ancient Polis and Modern Political Communities	p. 71
Appendix. Monarchy add Political Community	p. 85
Political Teleology	p. 88
The Naturalness of the Polis	p. 90
Politics and the Good Life	p. 96
An Anthropocentric Universe?	p. 100
The Good Life in Imperfect Political Communities	p. 102
Political Friendship	p. 109
Neither Brothers nor Comrades	p. 110
The Dangers of Political Intimacy	p. 118
Political Friendship and the Inconveniences of Political Life	p. 122
Political Justice	p. 128
Political Justice and Reciprocity	p. 133
Natural and Conventional Right	p. 140
The Subject of Justice	p. 149
General and Distributive Justice	p. 157
A Political Conception of the Common Good	p. 166
The Rule of Law	p. 175
What Is Law?	p. 178
Adjudication	p. 184
A Political Conception of the Rule of Law	p. 194
Class Conflict and the Mixed Regime	p. 209
Class Conflict in Ancient Greece	p. 210
A Political Understanding of Class Conflict	p. 215
Perceived Injustice and Class Interests	p. 218
Political Friends, Class Enemies	p. 224
The Mixed Regime and Political Justice	p. 231
Appendix. "Political Revolution": A Missing Aristotelian Category	p. 239
The Good Life in Political Context	p. 242
Moral Character in Political Context	p. 243
Misfortune and the Asymmetry Between Praise and Blame	p. 251
Moral Conflict in Political Context	p. 259
The Good Life in Extrapolitical Context	p. 268
How Good Is the Aristotelian Good Life?	p. 269
The Tensions Within a Good Human Life	p. 277
Conclusion	p. 281
Bibliography	p. 285
Index of Citations from Aristotle's Works	p. 301
General Index	p. 305
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