About us
We are a Great Books reading and discussion group that specializes in political philosophy. Over the years we have read a wide variety of thinkers, from Plato to Richard Rorty. We are currently reading the works of Friedrich Nietzsche from beginning to end. Our group is open to all comers, so please give us a try!
We meet on the third Thursday of every month at Central Market.
There is a one-page Discussion Guide describing how we work. Click on "More" and "Files" to download.
For more information on the group, including an archive of past readings, go to:
Upcoming events
1
Join us for a discussion of Aristotle's Politics
Location not specified yetReading: Aristotle, Politics
Book IV, Chapters 12-16Our May meeting will be held at our regular location in Rice Village. RSVPs will receive directions the the week of the meeting.
Our April discussion was about Chapter 11, a crucial turn in Aristotle's analysis of forms of government and the best regime. His question is,'what is the best government for most people to share and which most cities are capable of taking part in?'
And his answer is, a city where the balance of power is held by those of the middle range of wealth, having property 'moderate and sufficient' and where this group is large enough to prevent either the wealthy or the needy from dominating.
So governments most closely approximating this, whether a democracy or oligarchy, are the best and most stable form.
We'll see whether this conclusion holds up. At this point, however, this best form of government for most cities most of the time does not have a name.
And here are three translations:
Cairnes Lord -- most commonly used translation in universities today:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ANLZ3rQyO4a4kQ5sc-RL2U5IRmHpinX0/view?usp=sharing
Cairnes Lord, the Kindle version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z1jCLFbE02XOLU1qKljshb9T8kBGnbEk/view?usp=sharingErnest Barker -- the gold standard when I was in school:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AL8sjX-DsQO6fM1Ht-IQuKDw9Hy_Bvfm/view?usp=sharingJoe Sachs -- a recent translation that sticks closely to the Greek and is very helpful with Greek terminology:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A3Px3tYlFaXXJwNbwmS9jG9_oZsXZnvi/view?usp=sharing3 attendees
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