Politics, Nature, and Piety: On the Natural Basis of Political Life

"The writings in this volume are the fruit of a lifetime devoted to the study of 'ancients' and 'moderns, ' both poetic and philosophic. Full of insights into foundational texts ranging from Aristotle's Poetics to the Declaration of Independence, they are marked by an admirable clarity of thought and expression and a persistent effort to engage the reader as a fellow thinker. I rejoice that the writings of Laurence Berns are now available in a single volume."--Peter Kalkavage, Tutor, St. John's College and author of The Logic of Desire: An Introduction to Hegel's Phenomenology of SpiritThe essays in Politics, Nature, and Piety take up
the central question of political philosophy: What is the good life, and what
place do nature, politics, and piety have in that life? "The unity of the
essays," Alex Priou writes in his introduction, "lies in the various tensions
explored: between ancients and moderns, religion and philosophy, magnanimity
and prudence, justice and friendship, and, most fundamentally, spiritedness and
the intellect." Laurence Berns proves an excellent guide for beginning one's
study of the great books of political philosophy, from Plato to the present.

Author: Laurence Berns
Publisher: Paul Dry Books
Published: 11/15/2022
Pages: 359
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.10d
ISBN13: 9781589881693
ISBN10: 1589881699
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | Political
- Philosophy | Essays
- Philosophy | Religious

About the Author
Laurence Berns (1928 - 2011) taught at St.
John's College in Annapolis, Maryland from 1960 to 1999. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where he studied with Leo Strauss.

Alex Priou is the author of Becoming Socrates: Political Philosophy in Plato's Parmenides and Defending Socrates: Political Philosophy Before the Tribunal of Science (forthcoming). He teaches at the University of Colorado, Boulder.