Endangered Excellence: On the Political Philosophy of Aristotle

434 Pages·2020·3.288 MB·English

by  Pierre Pellegrin, Anthony Preus (transl.)

ENDANGERED EXCELLENCE
SUNY series in Ancient Greek Philosophy
—————
Anthony Preus, editor
ENDANGERED EXCELLENCE
ON THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
OF ARISTOTLE
PIERRE PELLEGRIN
Translated by Anthony Preus
Cover art © Virginie Berthemet
Original French edition: L’Excellence menacée: Sur la philosophie politique
d’Aristote © Classiques Garnier, 2017
Published by State University of New York Press
© 2020 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pellegrin, Pierre, author. | Preus, Anthony, translator.
Title: Endangered excellence : on the political philosophy of Aristotle /
Pierre Pellegrin ; translated by Anthony Preus.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, 2020. | Series: SUNY
series in Ancient Greek Philosophy | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020000968 (print) | LCCN 2020000969 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438479576 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438479583 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Aristotle—Political and social views. | Democracy. |
Political science.
Classification: LCC JC75.D36 P45 2020 (print) | LCC JC75.D36 (ebook) |
DDC 320.01—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000968
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000969
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Translator’s Note vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction: “Our Ancestors the Greeks” 1
Chapter 1 The Philosopher in Politics 17
Chapter 2 A Biological Politics? 67
Chapter 3 The Endangered Happiness of the City 95
Chapter 4 Citizen, City, Constitution 171
Chapter 5 On the Positive Use of Deviance 235
Chapter 6 The Legislator 269
Chapter 7 The Theoretical Tools of the Legislator 305
Chapter 8 Political Matter 345
Conclusion 383
Bibliography 401
Index 409

Translator’s Note
I have tried to capture the spirit of Pierre Pellegrin’s French in my English
version; that effort has been considerably assisted by his careful reading of
the translation, and his many suggestions for improvement. Translations of
Aristotle and of other ancient texts have often been assisted by standard
translations but amended to cohere with Pellegrin’s excellent translations
of these same passages into French. I have tried to find translations of
modern authors into English, and to use those where possible. They are
noted in the footnotes and bibliography. Otherwise, I have translated
the originals into English, again very often with Pellegrin’s advice and
suggestions.
It should also be noted that Pierre Pellegrin has written a totally
new conclusion for the present volume; the conclusion is translated from
this new text, not from the original French edition.
vii

Abbreviations
APo Posterior Analytics
APr Prior Analytics
DA De Anima
DC De Caelo
EE Eudemian Ethics
EN Nicomachean Ethics
Eum. Eumenides
GA Generation of Animals
HA History of Animals
IA Progression of Animals
Met. Metaphysics
PA Parts of Animals
Phys. Physics
Rep. Republic
ix