Political Philosophy Cross-Examined

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction: The Philosophic Life in Question

   • Thomas L. Pangle, J. Harvey Lomax

   Pages 1-3

3. Sophistry as a Way of Life

   • Robert C. Bartlett

   Pages 5-16

4. Aristotle on Theory and Practice

   • Christopher Bruell

   Pages 17-28

5. Aristotle’s Politics Book VII on the Best Way of Life

   • Thomas L. Pangle

   Pages 29-44

6. Inexhaustible Riches: Mining the Bible

   • J. Harvey Lomax

   Pages 45-63

7. On the Philosophic Character of Tacitus’s Imperial Political History

   • James H. Nichols Jr.

   Pages 65-77

8. Maimonides on Knowledge of Good and Evil: The Guide of the Perplexed I 2

   • Ronna Burger

   Pages 79-100

9. Machiavelli in The Prince: His Way of Life in Question

   • Nathan Tarcov

   Pages 101-118

10. Of Human Ends in Bacon’s Essayes

    • Ralph Lerner

    Pages 119-136

11. Hobbes’s Natural Theology

    • Devin Stauffer

    Pages 137-151

12. Rousseau’s Happiness of Freedom

    • Hasso Hofmann

    Pages 153-171

13. Heidegger on Nietzsche on Nihilism

    • Robert B. Pippin

    Pages 173-187

14. How Benardete Read the Last Stage of Socrates’s Philosophic Education

    • Laurence Lampert

    Pages 189-203

15. Back Matter

    Pages 205-214

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Political societies frequently regard philosophers as potential threats to morality and religion, and those who speak for politics often demand a defense of philosophy. This book will address philosophy as a mode of existence put into question.

• Aristotle
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• liberty
• Machiavelli
• morality
• Niccolò Machiavelli
• political history
• political philosophy
• politics
• Rousseau

"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

Robert C. Bartlett, Boston College, USA Christopher Bruell, Boston College, USA Ronna Burger, Tulane University, USA Hasso Hofmann, Humboldt University, Germany Laurence Lampert, Indiana University, USA Ralph Lerner, University Of Chicago, USA J. Harvey Lomax, University Of Memphis, USA James H. Nichols, Claremont Mckenna College, USA Thomas L. Pangle, University Of Texas, USA Robert B. Pippin, University Of Chicago, USA Devin Stauffer, University Of Texas, USA Nathan Tarcov, University Of Chicago, USA

Policies and ethics