Aristotle’s Political Philosophy in its Historical Context

Andrew Lintott is Emeritus Professor of Worcester College, University of Oxford, UK.

"Andrew Lintott deploys his expertise – and few people know more about ancient political disorder – to make the riches of the Politics more accessible to those without a background in ancient philosophy. Expanding Aristotle’s often infuriatingly brief historical examples, and explaining the context of his project as a whole, Lintott’s analysis and commentary offer a timely primer on ancient ideas about political decline and change."- Carol Atack, St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, UK"This translation with commentary of Politics Books 5 and 6, aimed primarily at historians and political scientists, provides a welcome contextualization of the work. The approach is particularly useful given the practical nature of these books, which not only define existing political systems and the mechanisms of change within them (Book 5), focusing on democracy and oligarchy in Book 6, but also on how to sustain or subvert the various systems considered. Lintott’s commentary offers extensive explanations of Aristotle’s plentiful historical and political references, as well as contextualization within the Politics as a whole and Aristotle’s larger philosophical system." - Velvet Yates, University of Florida, USA, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018

• PrefaceAbbreviations1. Introduction2. The Politics - themes, structure, and chronology3. Political change and civil strife in Politics Book 54. Aristotle's theory of political change5. Aristotle and democracy6. Aristotle's preference - the politeia7. The Politics, Macedon, and Macedonian sympathisers8. The Politics and ethical theoryPolitics Book 5, sections 1-12Commentary on Politics Book 5Politics Book 6, sections 1-8Commentary on Politics Book 6BibliographyIndex of ancient textsIndex of proper namesIndex of subjects