Books by David J. Riesbeck
Aristotle's claims that 'man is a political animal' and that political community 'exists for the ... more Aristotle's claims that 'man is a political animal' and that political community 'exists for the sake of living well' have frequently been celebrated by thinkers of divergent political persuasions. The details of his political philosophy, however, have often been regarded as outmoded, contradictory, or pernicious. This book takes on the major problems that arise in attempting to understand how the central pieces of Aristotle's political thought fit together: can a conception of politics that seems fundamentally inclusive and egalitarian be reconciled with a vision of justice that seems uncompromisingly hierarchical and authoritarian? Riesbeck argues that Aristotle's ideas about the distinctive nature and value of political community, political authority, and political participation are coherent and consistent with his aristocratic standards of justice. The result is a theory that, while not free of problems, remains a potentially fruitful resource for contemporary thinking about the persistent problems of political life.
Papers by David J. Riesbeck
Reason Papers, 2023
This essay reconsiders Fred Miller's interpretation of Aristotle in terms of natural rights. Aft... more This essay reconsiders Fred Miller's interpretation of Aristotle in terms of natural rights. After defending Miller against his numerous critics, I draw a somewhat different lesson from his interpretation than he himself does: Miller helps us to see that an Aristotelian theory of justice can do all the work that we would reasonably want a theory of rights to do while avoiding significant problems that the idiom and rhetoric of rights tend to generate.
Journal of Ancient Philosophy, May 2016
It is often thought that Aristotle restricts the scope of justice to existing communities. Agains... more It is often thought that Aristotle restricts the scope of justice to existing communities. Against prominent treatments of this problem, this paper argues that while Aristotle does indeed restrict the scope of justice, he recognizes eudaimonic reasons to cultivate cooperative and benevolent relations and to eschew manipulative and exploitative ones. His limitation of justice to existing communities thereby avoids the unsavory implications often attributed to it.
Apeiron, 2016
For several decades, most philosophical studies of Aristotle's Politics have treated the work as ... more For several decades, most philosophical studies of Aristotle's Politics have treated the work as more or less unified in substance, if not in form. Recently, however, a challenge to this emerging consensus has been raised by Mogens Herman Hansen, who maintains that the Politics in fact contains two fundamentally incompatible theories of constitutions (politeiai). Despite raising a number of legitimate interpretive problems, this challenge has gone unanswered by Aristotelian scholars. This paper considers Hansen's argument and seeks to resolve the puzzles it raises. Answering Hansen's challenge illuminates Aristotle's theory of constitutions and its place in his broader political theory.
Classical Quarterly 65.1, May 2015
In Politics 1.12, Aristotle maintains that husbands properly exercise a distinctive sort of autho... more In Politics 1.12, Aristotle maintains that husbands properly exercise a distinctive sort of authority or rule over their wives. ‘Marital rule’ is supposed to differ both from the ‘paternal rule’ that fathers exercise over their children and from the ‘political rule’ that citizens exercise over one another. Yet it seems as though Aristotle’s account leaves no conceptual space for marital rule to occupy, and his characterization of marital rule seems contradictory: husbands rule their wives ‘in a political way,’ and yet husband and wife do not take turns ruling and being ruled. This paper sets these claims in the context of Aristotle’s theory of the varieties of rule and of the psychology that he takes to justify them. I argue that there is indeed conceptual space between paternal and political rule, and that we can make sense of the analogy between marital and political rule while preserving their distinctness.
Phoenix, 2011
"This article presents and defends an alternative to traditional interpretations of the relations... more "This article presents and defends an alternative to traditional interpretations of the relationship between nomos and physis in Antiphon fr. 44. Antiphon associates physis not with natural inclinations for specific types of behavior, but with basic capacities for action, leaving the ends that human beings pursue ‘naturally’ underdetermined.
Cet article examine la relation entre le nomos et le physis dans le fr. 44 d'Antiphon. D'après ce texte, le physis n'est pas (comme disent les interprétations reçues) une source des inclinations naturelles pour quelques formes de conduite spécifiques, mais plutôt un ensemble de capacités fondamentales d’agir, dont les buts ne soient pas determinés par la nature humaine.
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Book Reviews by David J. Riesbeck
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2019
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review, Aug 2014
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, Oct 2012
Drafts by David J. Riesbeck
An old, unpublished draft paper on Nicomachean Ethics I.2 and I.7, beginning with the claim that ... more An old, unpublished draft paper on Nicomachean Ethics I.2 and I.7, beginning with the claim that "even if [the human good] is the same thing for an individual and for a city, the good of the city is nonetheless evidently greater and more complete (or 'more final,' teleioteron, 1094b8) both to attain and to preserve" (1094b7-9), and exploring what it is for one good to be more final than another and for eudaimonia to be unqualifiedly final. Comments welcome, please do not cite without permission.
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Books by David J. Riesbeck
Papers by David J. Riesbeck
Cet article examine la relation entre le nomos et le physis dans le fr. 44 d'Antiphon. D'après ce texte, le physis n'est pas (comme disent les interprétations reçues) une source des inclinations naturelles pour quelques formes de conduite spécifiques, mais plutôt un ensemble de capacités fondamentales d’agir, dont les buts ne soient pas determinés par la nature humaine.
"
Book Reviews by David J. Riesbeck
Drafts by David J. Riesbeck
Cet article examine la relation entre le nomos et le physis dans le fr. 44 d'Antiphon. D'après ce texte, le physis n'est pas (comme disent les interprétations reçues) une source des inclinations naturelles pour quelques formes de conduite spécifiques, mais plutôt un ensemble de capacités fondamentales d’agir, dont les buts ne soient pas determinés par la nature humaine.
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