Acknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
1 Aristotle’s Theoretical and Practical Philosophy 4
2 Christian Practice and Medieval Philosophy 41
3 Aristotle in Germany 64
4 A Revolutionary Aristotelianism 102
MacIntyre’s Marxism 104
‘Aristotelianism’ 124
Social Ethics 144
Politics 167
Aristotelianism’s Reformation 189
Conclusion 222
References 226
Index 244
Kelvin Knight is Director of the Centre for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics at the London Metropolitan University.
"Kelvin Knight has done so much more to situate my thought
historically, and to relate it to the philosophical and political
thought of others, not only than I have ever done, but than I would
ever have been able to do."
Alasdair MacIntyre in Analyse & Kritik
"A clear, judicious history of Aristotelianism in Western thought
in order to explain the development of Alasdair MacIntyre's
thought. The book is exceptionally well organized, and the analyses
of the different interpreters of Aristotle - especially MacIntyre -
are intelligently concise and probing. Highly recommended [for]
upper-division undergraduates, graduate students and
researchers/faculty."
Charles E. Butterworth, Choice "A very fine piece of scholarship
... [It] will be regularly used for teaching at postgraduate
level."
Peter McMylor, (author of Alasdair MacIntyre: Critic of Modernity)
writing in Philosophy of Management "Well-structured and tightly
packed without being impenetrable, it should prove vital to
contemporary work on Aristotelianism and MacIntyre and more
generally useful to advanced students of political theory."
Journal of Moral Philosophy "Just as we can be grateful to
MacIntyre for his revitalization of Aristotle in the present day,
so too can we be grateful to Knight for a lucid and valuable
account of MacIntyre's own thought. His book helps to clarify
MacIntyre's philosophical lineage and in particular to re-assert
the continued importance of his early Marxism. In so doing, it
helps to make the case for "revolutionary Aristotelianism" as not
the oxymoron it might initially appear, but rather a powerful
contemporary alternative to both conservatism and liberal
democracy."
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "Combines philosophical and
historical erudition with clear prose and a sympathetic tone, and
is highly recommended to students of the Aristotelian philosophical
tradition as well as to anyone interested in learning more about
the origins and nature of MacIntyre's distinctive Aristotelianism
and its relationship to the tradition."
European Legacy "At times highly technical due to its depth and
nuance of complex concepts, Aristotelian Philosophy is a welcome
addition to college library and philosophical studies shelves."
Midwest Book Review "Writing with passion and on the basis of deep
knowledge of the evolution of MacIntyre’s thought, Knight argues
convincingly that he effects an anti-elitist reformation of
Aristotelian philosophy."
Political Studies Review "Kelvin Knight puts his readers greatly in
debt for this masterful and erudite study of the history of
Aristotelian philosophy, with particular emphasis on MacIntyre's
place in that history. Notwithstanding his disclaimers in the
conclusion, Knight has in fact produced a clear account of 'the
conceptual subtleties and political implications' of MacIntyre's
Aristotelianism elsewhere unmatched."
Bruce Ballard, author of Understanding MacIntyre "Philosophically
and historically informed, but written in an engaging and readable
style, the book presents a stimulating and often distinctive
account of key phases in the development of Aristotelian thought,
culminating in an extended and sympathetic discussion of the work
of Alasdair MacIntyre. Knight's account of MacIntyre's political
philosophy is the best that I know of."
John Horton, University of Keele "This is an impressive
intellectual history, both with respect to its account of the
various receptions and transformations of Aristotelian practical
philosophy generally and with respect to its account of the
development and character of Alasdair MacIntyre's own distinctive
Aristotelianism. With respect to the former: Aristotelianism is not
a monolithic tradition, and Knight does a masterful job in pulling
apart the Aristotelianisms that are elitist from those that are
anti-elitist and in pulling apart those Aristotelianisms that are
conservative from those that are revolutionary. With respect to the
latter: MacIntyre's views are widely caricatured by shallow
writers, and we have been much in need of an account of those views
that shows just how radical and anti-elitist MacIntyre's
Aristotelianism is; Knight's book fulfils this need with great
thoroughness and skill."
Mark Murphy, Georgetown University
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