With Aristotle's Teaching in the "Politics," Thomas L. Pangle offers a masterly new interpretation of this classic philosophical work. It is widely believed that the Politics originated as a written record of a series of lectures given by Aristotle, and scholars have relied on that fact to explain seeming inconsistencies and instances of discontinuity throughout the text. Breaking from this tradition, Pangle makes the work's origin his starting point, reconceiving the Politics as the pedagogical tool of a master teacher. With the Politics, Pangle argues, Aristotle seeks to lead his students down a deliberately difficult path of critical thinking about civic republican life. He adopts a Socratic approach, encouraging his students - and readers - to become active participants in a dialogue. Seen from this perspective, features of the work that have perplexed previous commentators become perfectly comprehensible as artful devices of a didactic approach.

About the Author
Thomas L. Pangle is the Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws."

Reviews
"Through a careful exegesis, Pangle unpacks Aristotle's text and illuminates the work's multilayered rhetorical structure.... Understanding the literary character of the work allows readers to clearly understand its substance.... Anyone with a serious interest in understanding Aristotle will benefit from, and enjoy, reading this book." (Choice) "Pangle is one of our finest contemporary political philosophers. His contributions to the study of classical political philosophy are well known. The appearance of his book on Aristotle's Politics is thus an occasion of note.... Readers will find themselves provoked by Pangle's exegesis to return to the Politics itself-a result, no doubt, that would please him most of all." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review)"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226213651
Author Thomas L. Pangle
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 595g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 16mm * 2mm