Mark Blitz on the Enduring Importance of Aristotle

“What is human happiness? What is political excellence? What is speech, and rhetoric? It’s always important to remind ourselves of that. But especially when you have artificial intelligence, and all of these vast possible changes in human affairs, it’s important to remind ourselves of what’s basic…. And Aristotle uncovers 80%, 90%, 95% of what really one could say, I think, reasonably, and intelligently about lots of political, and ethical matters.”

So argues the distinguished scholar of political philosophy Mark Blitz, author of the newly published Aristotle’s Political Philosophy. In this profound yet accessible Conversation, Blitz distills insights from Aristotle’s works on politics and ethics, covering topics such as the character of human excellence, the centrality of political regimes, the nature of justice, and the relationship between speech and deed. This is a must-see introduction to Aristotle’s reflection on the permanent human problems.