Political Philosophy Cross-Examined

Robert C. Bartlett, Boston College, USAChristopher Bruell, Boston College, USARonna Burger, Tulane University, USAHasso Hofmann, Humboldt University, GermanyLaurence Lampert, Indiana University, USARalph Lerner, University Of Chicago, USA J. Harvey Lomax, University Of Memphis, USAJames H. Nichols, Claremont Mckenna College, USAThomas L. Pangle, University Of Texas, USARobert B. Pippin, University Of Chicago, USADevin Stauffer, University Of Texas, USANathan Tarcov, University Of Chicago, USA

"The outstanding essays in this collection address a question that is central in our time, or any time. Can philosophy, the way of life governed by the uncompromising use of reason, defend itself adequately against rivals who claim that it is immoral, irreligious, impossible, or illusory?" - Mark Blitz, Fletcher Jones Professor of Political Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College, USA "From the admirers of Leo Strauss to those of Pierre Hadot, students of classical philosophy are today rediscovering the idea of philosophy as a way of life - and 'ways of life' as a philosophical question. But as this stimulating book shows, those questions have been debated throughout the Western philosophical tradition, down to the modern age. By throwing a light on the centuries' long conversion about alternative ways of life, from pure inquiry to political engagement to religious devotion to serene solitude, the authors lead us to ask: what exactly would it mean to live a philosophical life today? And how would it stand in relation to the other ways of life available in modern democracy? A thought-provoking volume." - Mark Lilla, Professor, Columbia University, USA

• 1. Sophistry as a Way of Life; Robert C. Bartlett 2. Aristotle on Theory and Practice; Christopher Bruell 3. Aristotle's Politics Book 7 on the Best Way of Life; Thomas L. Pangle 4. Inexhaustible Riches: Mining the Bible; J. Harvey Lomax 5. On the Philosophic Character of Tacitus' Imperial Political History and Science; James Nichols 6. Maimonides on Knowledge of Good and Evil: The Guide of the Perplexed I.2; Ronna Burger 7. Machiavelli in the Prince: His Way of Life in Question; Nathan Tarcov 8. Of Human Ends in Bacon's Essayes; Ralph Lerner 9. Hobbes's Natural Theology; Devin Stauffer 10. Rousseau's Happiness in Freedom; Hasso Hofmann 11. Heidegger on Nietzsche on Nihilism; Robert B. Pippin 12. How Benardete Read the Last Stage of Socrates' Philosophic Education; Laurence Lampert