Aristotle Can Help Resolve Our Crisis of Citizenship
In Aristotle’s Politics, citizenship is defined as a partnership of people committed to working on behalf of the polis. More than just a bundle of rights that…
Aristotle, Tocqueville, and “Populism Rightly Understood”
Daniel Mahoney is someone I have known for over 30 years, after meeting him at the MPSA’s book lobby at the Palmer House in Chicago in April…
The Blessings of Liberty: Reminders from Aristotle and Livy For Our Troubled Times
Let [the reader] follow in his mind how, as discipline broke down bit by bit, morality at first foundered; how it next subsided in ever greater collapse…
On the Importance of Finding Meaning in Life
In March of 1877, Ulysses S. Grant left the presidency with a sullied reputation. It was a tough pill to swallow for a man who emerged from…
A Political Philosophy of Conservatism
A Political Philosophy of Conservatism: Prudence, Moderation and Tradition. Ferenc Hörcher. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. A Political Philosophy of Conservatism focuses on the fourth cardinal…
Finding Unity in the Diversity: Aristotle’s Theory of Civil Harmony
The notion of civil harmony has often featured prominently in works of political philosophy, but its significance has not always been appreciated. To the ancient Greeks, peace…
Aristotle for Planners
Please listen to Lee Trepanier talk about “Aristotle for Planners” on former student Zach Vega’s podcast, "Welcome To."
What is Phronêsis? Voegelin and Aristotle
The virtue that Aristotle calls phronêsis . . . is an existential virtue; it is the movement of being, in which the divine order of the cosmos…
Nomos, Nature, and Modernity in Brague’s The Law of God
By looking at the historical paths of Greece, Israel, Christianity, and Islam, Brague’s The Law of God compares each civilization’s conceptions of law and divinity. For the…
Lost in Thought: The Value of Aristotle’s Contemplative Life
Upon settling down to take in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics it takes little more than a cursory glance to discover a noticeable point of contradiction between the earlier…
Advice for Tyrants and the Possibility of the Good Life in Aristotle’s Politics
A close reading of Aristotle’s The Politics presents the political theorist or student of political theory with a range of issues for contemplation and analysis, and consequently…
Freedom from Reality. The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty
Freedom from Reality. The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty. D.C. Schindler. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017. This book examines the philosophical roots…
On Debate and Existence
In our capacity as political scientists, historians, or philosophers we all have had occasion at one time or another to engage in debate with ideologists — whether…
Hegel’s Philosophy – Insights and Illusions. Bold Attempt of a Critical Assessment at the Occasion of Hegel’s 250th Birthday
Along with Marx, Hegel was the main opponent of some of the most influential traditions of philosophy in 20th century. Most of the philosophers of these traditions,…
In Pursuit of the Sublime Pleasure: A Consideration of Citizenship and Philosophy in Aristotle’s The Politics
The Politics of Aristotle includes considerable discussion concerning the several categories of inhabitants of the various types of states existent at the time of Aristotle’s writing, as…