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Action and Contemplation: Studies in the Moral and Political Thought of Aristotle. Edited by Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. 333p. $24.95 paper.
Inspired by the recent resurgence of interest in Aristotle among moral and political philosophers, this collection claims to address "the possibility of grounding moral and political action in some version of Aristotelian rationalism" (p. xi). The majority of authors "are united by their conviction that Aristotle, and hence reason, deserves a second hearing" (p. xiii). There are fourteen contributions, six of which were published in the 1980s and 1990s. They fall into two parts. In the first, five well-established, generally continental, scholars address the relevance of Aristotle; the second part is primarily exegetical, comprised of interpretations of aspects of Aristotle's moral and political thought.
The first set provides an overview of Aristotle's renewed relevance. Franco Volpi surveys Aristotle's influence, discussing an entire list of scholars, for the most part German. These range from Hans-Georg Gadamer, and his interest in practical reason, to Konrad Lorenz, who is interested in the biological basis of moral conduct. Volpi ultimately questions whether Aristotelian practical wisdom, removed from its metaphysical backdrop, can properly guide moral action. Hans Brunkhorst examines Hannah Arendt's claims concerning the relevance of classical republican models, criticizing her for insufficient attention to the West's Judeo-Christian heritage. In "Do We Need a Philosophical Ethics?" Ronald Beiner argues for the continuing relevance of Aristotelian contextual, practical reason, as articulated by Gadamer, against Jurgen Habermas's attempt to establish moral...