Masters and Slaves: Revisioned Essays in Political PhilosophyThis collection of essays sheds light on the writings of leading figures in the history of political philosophy by exploring a nexus of questions concerning mastery and slavery in the human soul. To this end, Masters and Slaves elucidates archetypal human alternatives in their import for political life: the philosopher and king; the lover of wisdom and the lover of glory; the king and the tyrant; and finally, the master and the slave. Palmer re-examines these ideas as a framework for achieving a deeper understanding of the work of famous thinkers--from the ancient to modern times--including Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Rousseau. As well, the book addresses distinctions between the 'ancients' and the 'moderns, ' and touches on the work of contemporary theorists such as Leo Strauss, George Parkin Grant, and Allan Bloom. |
Contents
Mastering Slaves or Mastering Science? An Aristotelian Reprise | 1 |
Kings Philosophers and Tyrants in Platos Republic | 13 |
Alcibiades and the Question of Tyranny in Thucydides | 37 |
Thucydides on Ambition to Rule | 57 |
Machiavellian virtù and Thucydidean arete Moderation and the Common Good | 61 |
Machiavellis Inhuman Humanism in The Prince | 79 |
The Master Fool The Conspiracy of Machiavellis Mandragola | 99 |
Hobbesian and Thucydidean Realism | 117 |
The Citizen Philosopher Rousseaus Dedicatory Letter to the Discourse on Inequality | 121 |
On Leo Strausss Jerusalem and Athens | 141 |
On George Grants EnglishSpeaking Justice | 145 |
On Allan Blooms The Closing of the American Mind | 149 |
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161 | |
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Masters and Slaves: Revisioned Essays in Political Philosophy Michael Palmer No preview available - 2001 |
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