Review by Choice Review
Garver (emer., philosophy, Saint John's Univ.), with previous books on Aristotle's Rhetoric (Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character) and Ethics (Confronting Aristotle's Ethics, CH, Apr'07, 44-4385), completes his trilogy with this book on the Politics. Garver is a skillful interpreter, and it is a privilege to take note as he ruminates on questions most commentators never think to ask. Examples: Why are humans political animals if so few people live in cities (poleis) or equate human happiness with political participation? Why is there one ethically best life but a variety of politically best constitutions? Why is it personally desirable, when ruling, to step down from office in order to be ruled in turn? How was Aristotle able to affirm the value of rotation while holding out the possibility of permanent rule by a superior individual? Why is justice confined to the distribution of power? Why does it not comprehend the use of power as well? Much of the analysis is structured by Aristotle's outline in Book IV of the four requirements of a complete political science, to which Garver correlates the four causes. The close linkage of ethics to politics is investigated throughout and explains the book's subtitle. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. P. Coby Smith College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
