Endangered excellence : on the political philosophy of Aristotle /

The result of Pellegrin's many decades of highly regarded scholarly work on Aristotle's philosophy, this book has much to offer the Aristotle specialist. Pellegrin's earlier work on Aristotle's biology is incorporated seamlessly into this book on the Politics and informs his penetrating analysis of Aristotle's account of slavery. Pellegrin's approach is to provide historical context for Aristotle's thought and explain important ways that Aristotle departs from the thinking of his age. The philosophy of Foucault "forms the frame" of his study (p. 6). Pellegrin (director, National Center for Scientific Research, Paris) draws more heavily on European scholarship than American, which provides additional benefits for those working primarily in English. The book is organized into eight chapters and very loosely follows the traditional order of the Politics--an order that Pellegrin argues for. Particularly valuable is the way that he demonstrates how the seemingly disparate discussions of an idea or theme, when drawn together from various parts of the book, provide a comprehensive, subtle understanding of the concept being examined. Preus's translation is clear and very readable, but this is not a book that provides a good starting point for studying Aristotle. The book's primary audience will be scholars of ancient Greek philosophy, especially political philosophy. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. --Patrick N. Malcolmson, emeritus, St. Thomas University