Description
Book SynopsisBetween Eternities reflects on the possibility of political philosophy as an ongoing, architectonic activity that is necessarily linked to both the past and future. Almost all contemporary work in political philosophy either studies the subject with an eye to past traditionchoosing a winner from that tradition and then deducing what follows from the posited premises in a thoroughly modern, constructivist fashionor else limits itself to drawing out what follows from already accepted premises and principles. There is almost no effort to reflect upon the prerequisites for the tradition being an ongoing undertaking that can have a unique future. Between Eternities attempts to set loose that thinking toward the future.
Trade ReviewGregory Smith's long engagement with postmodern thought has borne fruit in this monumental study of our philosophical and political present. In Between Eternities, Smith covers a myriad of topics, from Socratic dialectics to theoretical physics and international relations. His thesis, convincingly argued, is that political philosophy remains the architectonic science—for us no less than for Aristotle—because it alone can fashion a whole of ethics, politics, psychology, ontology, and epistemology. Smith's style is graceful and his point of view sharp-edged and confident. -- Patrick Coby, Smith College
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Political Philosophy; Is There a Future Tradition? Part 2 Modern Constructivism or Phenomenology Chapter 3 Preface: Modernity and Its Closure Chapter 4 The "End of History" or a Portal to the Future Chapter 5 What is Political Philosophy: A Phenomenological Approach Chapter 6 Cacophony of Silence: Derrida's Deconstructionism and the Possibility of Political Philosophy Chapter 7 Machiavelli's The Prince and the Essence of Modernity Chapter 8 Phenomenology or Constructivism: Robert Pippin's Modernity Part 9 Leo Strauss and the Tradition: An Engagement Chapter 10 Preface: Remembrance and Tradition Chapter 11 Who Was Leo Strauss? Chapter 12 Leo Strauss and the Straussians: An Anti-Democratic Cult? Chapter 13 Athens and Washington: Leo Strauss and the American Regime Chapter 14 On a Possible Epicurean Garden for Philosophy Chapter 15 On Cropsey's World: Joseph Cropsey and the Tradition of Political Philosophy Chapter 16 Between Platonism and Postmodernism: Plato's Emendation of Socratism in the Trilogy Chapter 17 Leo Strauss and Martin Heidegger Part 18 The Non-Metaphysical Plato: Second Beginnings? Chapter 19 Preface: Plato, Platonism, and a Second Beginning Chapter 20 Dialogue and Dialectic in Plato's Phaedo Chapter 21 Political Philosophy and Eros: Plato's Socrates in the Symposium Chapter 22 Plato's Parmenides: Socratism and the Origins of Platonic Political Philosophy Chapter 23 Aristotle on Reason and Its Limits Part 24 Political Philosophy After Modernity? Chapter 25 Preface: Openings Toward the Postmodern Chapter 26 Legitimacy, International Morality, and the Postmodern Global Future Chapter 27 Jerusalem and Washington: Political Philosophy and Theology Chapter 28 Ontology, Technology, Poetry, or Mandarin Pastime? Chapter 29 The Queen of the Sciences: Political Philosophy or Biology Chapter 30 Political Philosophy and Environmentalism: Recovering the Phenomenon "Nature" Chapter 31 Conclusion: Is There a Future?
