Aristotle's "Best Regime": Kingship, Democracy, and the Rule of Law

Acknowledgments

acknowledgments The subject of Aristotle’s “best regime” first came to my attention when I took two graduate seminars on Aristotle’s Politics at the University of Dallas. In those classes Dr. Leo Paul de Alvarez opened my eyes to the importance of political things and awakened my interest in Aristotle’s treatment of the pambasileia. When I began searching for a dissertation topic, M. E. Bradford encouraged me to take up my work on Aristotle, describing it as “a noble and worthy task.” I eventually settled on Aristotle’s themes of kingship, the rule of the many, and the rule of law. Mel was both a mentor and a dear friend. He forced me to reshape a good many of my prejudices and helped me replace them with theories guided by experience and prudence. He also encouraged me to return to graduate school, after I left Dallas in 1989. His sudden and untimely death in 1993 deprived the American academic community of a unique voice. Mel’s last gift to me was to secure from the Earhart Foundation a generous summer grant in 1993, which gave me the opportunity to write the outline and a substantial amount of the text of my dissertation. Throughout the process of writing the dissertation at Northern Illinois, I was ably guided and assisted by Dr. Larry Arnhart, my dissertation adviser, and Dr. David Gorman, who served on my dissertation committee and whose skills as a literary critic and editor were invaluable to my work on the topic. Many of the sections here were originally presented as papers at the conferences of various political-science associations, and the responses to those papers helped me to refine my ideas and to forge ahead with my work, so I would like to thank those people who organized those panels, chaired them, and commented on my papers. I must particularly mention Dr. George Anastaplo, who has encouraged and challenged me in my various academic endeavors. His willingness to stand up for principle, and his desire to live an examined life, have encouraged me in my own journeys. He stands as an example of how one should live rightly. x acknowledgments Many people have read earlier versions of this work and served as a sounding board for the basic thrust of my arguments. Their numbers are too great to mention each by name, but they should know who they are, so I want to thank them all. Especially important have been the friends I have met as an English expatriate living in Slovakia and Poland, who have helped me adjust to and survive in my new environments. I must also thank my good friend Jerzy Ciechanski. I met George (as he likes to be called) when we were both doctoral students in Dallas, and we became close friends. I am extremely grateful to him for advising me to relocate to Poland in 2000 and for directing me to Warsaw University, where I teach today. I also want to thank my former colleagues from Central Connecticut State University in New Britain and from City University Slovakia in the Slovak Republic and my current colleagues at Warsaw University. Their hard work and dedication constantly remind me why I have chosen this way of life. I also should not forget two very important people, my mother and my sister, for their support not only through graduate school and the writing of my dissertation and the revising of it for this work, but also for support of my adventure abroad. Their support both financial and emotional has been very essential and I very much like to thank them for it. Finally, I would like to thank Maureen Hewitt and Kenneth Thompson for their support of this book in its early stages, and also thank Gerry Anders, my editor, Ruth Laney, my copy editor, and all the others at LSU Press who helped to make this book a reality. aristotle’s “BEST REGIME” This page intentionally left blank ...