Rating: 
Summary: Interesting yet Boring
Review: Some monumental observations considering the time it was written. But a very difficult read that requires concentration and will-power to finish.No-one has ever accused philosophy of being practical.
Rating: 
Summary: Aristole's Politics is relevant and still applicable today
Review: ~The Politics (Penguin Classics)~ is a groundbreaking classic of Hellenistic political thought from the rationale philosopher Aristotle. "Man is by nature a political animal," avows Aristotle. First, it is important to note that this is not an authoritarian ruler's blackbook on the art of governing. Aristotle is not Machiavelli. Second, many people when first approaching Aristotle naively presume that he is mirror-image protege of Plato, which could not be further from the truth. Aristotle's references to his teacher Plato are laced with a cynical tone of irreverence. Plato was an idealist and Aristotle was a profound realist. I think it is a pointless endeavor to pick favorites from among them since rationalism and idealism both have their limitations. Some political theorists split hairs over whether Aristotle or Plato is a "conservative," which is hardly ascertainable. This is reductionism at its worst. In Hellenic antiquity, there was no delineation between the state and civil society, which should horrify the modern conservative. So, perhaps the conservative should content himself to be well read in both Aristotle and Plato rather than simply seeking to emulate one of them. Aristotle had a profound influence on the rise of medieval scholasticism and profoundly shaped the thought of Catholic theologians like Thomas Aquinas. Perhaps one of his big accomplishments is giving the realist camp intellectual ammunition to buoy their position.
Politics is still relevant today I think and one can learn a lot from Aristotle. It should be noted that Greek political thought and their concept of the polity (body politic) is profoundly dissimilar from post-medieval political thought in the West. Yet Aristotle's Politics is still relevant today in my opinion. I think one of the most profound things to be gleaned from Politics is a healthy dose of realism as opposed to the naive Wilsonian idealism that our leaders apply to foreign policy. Aristotle realized there are no canned quick-fix universal solutions to subordinate everything to. Also, Aristotle elaborated upon the various ascertainable political systems in their good and bad forms respectively (i.e. monarchy, tyranny; aristocracy, oligarchy; polity, democracy; etc.) Moreover, the practical approach to governance varies depending on any number of factors such as the nature of the polity, culture and society. Hence, modern efforts to impose "democracy" and/or "democratic capitalism" as if these are tangible commodities for export abroad usually are usually met with failures, or unexpected and less than desired for results. In recent years, nations like Russia acclimated to authoritarian rule never had much success at implementing it. The closest thing to "democracy" in the Islamic world, for example, would be Ayatollah Khomeini's populist fundamentalist regime in Iran that emerged in the late 1970s. Is that what the West really wants for the Muslim world?
| 
