The Appropriation of Aristotle in the Liberal-Communitarian Debate
Publisher: S. Saripolos Library, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Athens, Greece
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 306
Description: In this book, Eleni Leontsini examines the debate between so-called communitarian philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel, Michael Walzer and Charles Taylor, and those who support forms of liberal individualism such as that found in Rawls’s Theory of Justice.  Her original and illuminating account of this debate focuses on the ways in which both sides have tried to appropriate the political and moral thought of Aristotle. She offers an analysis of six key concepts –community, teleology, happiness, justice, friendship, and liberty– which play a leading role in both communitarian and liberal political philosophy and are also central to Aristotle’s account. She argues that neither the communitarian nor the liberal appropriations do justice to Aristotle’s political theory. Both attribute their own aspirations to the Aristotelian text and rely on Aristotle’s authority in order to substantiate their arguments. Not surprisingly it emerges that neither side of the liberal-communitarian debate can claim Aristotle as wholly theirs. Aristotle’s treatment of these issues is extremely complex and finely nuanced, providing a rich account of the relation between human beings and the society to which they belong without suggesting any simple dichotomy between individual and community. By demonstrating that Aristotelian political philosophy is consistent with neither a liberal-individualist nor a communitarian view, Leontsini shows how Aristotle’s own conception of community is bound up with his treatment of more fundamental philosophical questions about human nature and the good life. She also provides a detailed and perceptive discussion of particular issues which are of central importance to political and social philosophy, such as freedom, justice and friendship.
Table of contents: label: chapter 1
title: INTRODUCTION; title: 1. 1  Aristotle and the liberal-communitarian debate; title: 1. 2  The liberal-communitarian debate; title: 1. 2. 1  Sketching the debate; title: 1. 2. 2  Denouncing the communitarian title; title: 1. 3  Aristotelianism as a tradition; label: chapter 2
title: COMMUNITY; title: 2. 1  Introduction; title: 2. 2  Conceptions of community; title: 2. 3  The communitarian notion of a community; title: 2. 4  The liberal notion of a community; title: 2. 5  The polis as an association; title: 2. 6  Conclusion; label: chapter 3
title: TELEOLOGY AND HUMAN NATURE; title: 3. 1  Introduction; title: 3. 2  Aristotle and the naturalness claim; title: 3. 3  Teleology and communitarianism; title: 3. 4  Conclusion; label: chapter 4
title: THE CITY AND THE GOOD LIFE; title: 4. 1  Introduction; title: 4. 2  The good life in Aristotle’s Ethics; title: 4. 3  The good life in Aristotle's Politics; title: 4. 3. 1  The good life in the ideal city; title: 4. 3. 2  Aristotle's criticism of the Platonic ideal state; title: 4. 3. 3  The good life in the city; title: 4. 4  The good life and the liberal-communitarian debate; title: 4. 5  Conclusion; label: chapter 5
title: JUSTICE; title: 5. 1  Introduction; title: 5. 2  Aristotle’s account of justice; title: 5. 2. 1  Nicomachean Ethics; title: 5. 2. 2  Politics; title: 5. 3  Communitarian accounts of Aristotelian justice; title: 5. 3. 1  MacIntyre’s account of justice; title: 5. 3. 2  MacIntyre’s appropriation of Aristotelian justice; title: 5. 4  Justice and moderation; title: 5. 5  Conclusion; label: chapter 6
title: FRIENDSHIP IN THE CITY; title: 6. 1  Introduction; title: 6. 2  Problems with Aristotle's notion of political friendship; title: 6. 3  Definition of friendship; title: 6. 4  Three kinds of personal friendship; title: 6. 5  Defining political friendship; title: 6. 6  Political friendship, justice and the unity of the state; title: 6. 7  Political friendship and altruism; title: 6. 8  Political friendship in the liberal-communitarian debate; title: 6. 9  Conclusion; label: chapter 7
title: FREEDOM; title: 7. 1  Introduction; title: 7. 2  Conceptions of liberty; title: 7. 2. 1  The Constant-Berlin distinction; title: 7. 2. 2  A trichotomy. Three families of traditions of freedom; title: 7. 2. 3  Berlin's dichotomy; title: 7. 2. 4  Liberal and communitarian conceptions of liberty; title: 7. 3  Aristotelian accounts of freedom; title: 7. 3. 1  Three interpretations of Aristotelian freedom; title: 7. 3. 2  The Bradley-Mill view; title: 7. 3. 3  The Barnes view; title: 7. 3. 4  The Fred Miller view; title: 7. 3. 5  Which view?; title: 7. 4  Aristotle's conception of freedom; title: 7. 5  Conclusion; label: chapter 8
title: CONCLUSION; title: BIBLIOGRAPHY; title: INDEX LOCORUM; title: INDEX OF NAMES