Aristotle's Teaching in the ""Politics""

In recent decades, there has been an extraordinary wave of fine scholarship on Aristotle. It has therefore become increasingly difficult to write a new book on Aristotle's Politics that is both original and good. Pangle's commentary succeeds admirably. Through a careful exegesis, Pangle (Univ. of Texas, Austin) unpacks Aristotle's text and illuminates the work's multilayered rhetorical structure. He lays out the argument of the book and brings to light Aristotle's intention or "teaching." Aristotle's teaching is to be understood in terms of both how he wrote or taught and what his work teaches. Understanding the literary character of the work allows readers to clearly understand its substance. Pangle brilliantly demonstrates that Aristotle was a "political" philosopher; he was guided by his understanding of the deep essential tension that necessarily exists between politics and philosophy. Anyone with a serious interest in understanding Aristotle and political philosophy will benefit from, and enjoy, reading this book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. P. N. Malcolmson St. Thomas University