Aristotle: Democracy and Political Science
Delba Winthrop and Harvey C. Mansfield
Abstract
In our time democracy is seen as the best or even the only legitimate form of government, and not in need of defense. Delba Winthrop in this posthumous publication takes up the challenge of justifying democracy through Aristotle’s political science. She begins from the fact that democrats want inclusiveness; they want above all to include everyone as a part of a whole. But what makes a whole? Winthrop pursues the answer with a comprehensive interpretation of Aristotle’s Politics, Book3, uncovering the insights philosophy brings to politics and, especially, the insights politics brings to philo ... More
In our time democracy is seen as the best or even the only legitimate form of government, and not in need of defense. Delba Winthrop in this posthumous publication takes up the challenge of justifying democracy through Aristotle’s political science. She begins from the fact that democrats want inclusiveness; they want above all to include everyone as a part of a whole. But what makes a whole? Winthrop pursues the answer with a comprehensive interpretation of Aristotle’s Politics, Book3, uncovering the insights philosophy brings to politics and, especially, the insights politics brings to philosophy. Central to politics is the quality of assertiveness—the kind of speech that demands to be heard. Aristotle, as shown for the first time, carries assertive speech into philosophy, where human reason claims its due as a contribution to the universe.
Keywords:
Aristotle’s Politics,
Assertiveness,
Democracy,
Wholes,
ethical mathematics
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226553542 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: September 2019 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226553689.001.0001 |
