Politics of Aristotle - by Peter L Phillips Simpson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A touchstone in Western debates about society and government, the Politics is Aristotle's classic work on the nature of political community. Here, he argues that people band together into political communities to secure a good and self-sufficient life. He discusses the merits and defects of various regimes or ways of organizing political community -- democracy in particular -- and in the process examines such subjects as slavery, economics, the family, citizenship, justice, and revolution.Peter Simpson offers a new translation of Aristotle's text from the ancient Greek. He renders the Politics into an English version that is accurate, readable, and in certain difficult passages, original. His innovative analytical division of the whole text, with headings and accompanying summaries, makes clear the progression and unity of the argument -- a helpful feature for students or readers unfamiliar with Aristotle's studied brevity and often elliptical style. Books 7 and 8 are repositioned -- a move supported by Aristotle's own words and much scholarly opinion -- to restore the work's logical organization and coherence. Finally, Simpson places the Politics in its proper philosophical context by beginning the text with the last chapter of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, which he sees as an introduction to what follows.

Review Quotes

"Peter Simpson's translation is of high quality: it is precise and follows the Greek without sacrificing readability. It also provides valuable aids such as headings which enable readers to find their way through the often difficult text. This edition is also unique in two respects. First, it starts with the final chapter of the Nichomachean Ethics as a preface to the Politics. This seems reasonable because the Nichomachean Ethics concludes with a transition to political philosophy, and the Politics evidently presupposes Aristotle's ethical theory at critical junctures. Second, and more fundamentally, it departs from the traditional ordering of the books. Many leading commentators -- including W. L. Newman, F. Susemihl, and R. D. Hicks -- have argued that the so-called 'middle' books (iv through vi in the traditional numbering) presuppose and advance beyond the books traditionally numbered vii and viii. By transposing the traditional books iv through vi to the end, Simpson offers the only available translation which enables students to read the Politics in a way which many scholars believe makes the best sense of Aristotle's argument." --Fred D. Miller Jr., Bowling Green State University

"Peter Simpson's translation of Aristotle's Politics is not only an outstanding literal translation, but it is a godsend for teaching the Politics to undergraduates." --Philosophy in Review

"Professor Simpson's translation of Aristotle's Politics is at the same time the most accessible and the most accurate translation of this difficult and vitally important book into English. His rendering of the Greek is clear and readable, and it is as close to being a literal reflection of the original as one could hope for; students will find the chapter divisions and subdivisions an aid to comprehension and the summary introductions to each section exceedingly helpful. This is no ordinary translation; it is an highly ambitious attempt to make an old and famous book fully accessible to modern readers for the first time. The introduction is an invitation to rethink much of what we have supposed concerning Aristotle's Politics." --Paul A. Rahe, Yale University

About the Author