Reviews

Politics by R.F. Stalley, Aristotle

jmrprice's review against another edition

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4.0

Considering his era, curious how this translation/interpretation is rather still applicable today.
Seems governments should be either an oligarchy or democracy, but not entirely sure democracies stack up in his eyes, with further discussions of what characteristics should mark a country’s citizenship. Enlightening.

starofthelakereads's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

2.75

How can he be both wildly progressive and conservative at the same time 

phoenix2's review against another edition

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4.0

I especially enjoy Aristotle's works, as he is easy to read and his philosophy is beautifully stractured. In this book, some of the foundamental ideas of politics are presented, again with an ease so everyone could understand them and see how he reached his conclusion by a logical order.

jannekurki's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

5.0

izcanbeguscott's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

As much as the Republic is the better known work and is very interesting in its own right, Aristotle strikes me as the first theoretician where I can go “I can see the forming of the modern liberal democratic capitalist state.” His ideas on constitutions (not quite the same but honestly pretty close), propertied democracy, and more were enlightening as a sort of “ground level” approach to these age old questions. I think this is why some say that while Plato was the first famous political philosopher, Aristotle was the first famous political scientist. He appeals to real governments and revolutions of his time, including a very funny digression about how “flute music is ruining the youth” in the last chapter.


These insights, of course, comes with the understanding that states were significantly less complex then than they are now, and Aristotle’s chauvinist & pro-slavery positions aged poorly (although, not like he was diverting from the norm of the time lol). Despite those clearly dating factors and his overwhelming reliance on the “appeal to nature” argument, I’d say it’s a worthwhile read if you are interested in how governments and citizenship works in its earliest stages.

mirindashi's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5

thefool0's review against another edition

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challenging reflective

mururu's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

alexraphael's review against another edition

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3.5

Overall a nourishing read. The structure of the notes in general (as one would expect), makes it hard to get into a flow.

samantuuks's review against another edition

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4.0

Better than Plato “Republic” for sure. And i like how he’s criticising Plato.
I like how Aristotle explains his ideas. Interesting book.