Aristotle was the first true political scientist. Unlike many moderns who claim that title, he was keenly aware that scientific knowledge has inherent limits. Though he is still unsurpassed as a systematic analyst, he also wisely refrained in his works from forcing human action into a theoretical straitjacket. He combined searching philosophical inquiry with common sense and practical wisdom. The Aristotelian spirit is alive in every political thinker, statesman, tradition, and regime that aims to infuse free politics with decency, moderation, and virtue. These are the features of Aristotle’s thought that Claremont McKenna College’s accomplished Fletcher Jones Professor of Political Philosophy Mark Blitz ably illuminates in his penetrating new book, Aristotle’s Political Philosophy: An Inquiry Into the Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, and Rhetoric. Aristotle’s view of ethics and politics, writes Blitz, remains “powerful because it uncovers what still, or necessarily, belongs to common understanding and action.” It is a precious and permanent contribution to humanity’s political self-understanding.

Aristotle took his bearings from human nature as it comes to sight in practical life, through the speeches and deeds of citizens and statesmen. As Blitz puts it, Aristotle knew as well as anyone before or after him that “ordinary