How can Aristotle help you become a better person? In this course by award-winning teacher and leading Aristotle expert Prof. Cary J. Nederman (Ph.D., York University), you will become a more ethical person as you explore Aristotelian thought.The word “politics” is an often-controversial term in our day, conjuring associations with partisanship and subterfuge. But as conceived by the ancient Greeks, politics was essential for becoming a virtuous person. Among the g...

Machiavelli has been among the most commented upon, criticised and feared thinkers of the modern world. Infamous for his support of brutality and repression as valid political instruments, he is often portrayed as the pantomime villain of political theorists. In this whirlwind tour of Machiavelli’s writings and eventful life, Nederman highlights the complexities in his thought, showing that he actually advocated democracy as much as dictatorship, and debate as much as violence – depending ...

Of the great philosophers of pagan antiquity, Marcus Tullius Cicero is the only one whose ideas were continuously accessible to the Christian West following the collapse of the Roman Empire. Yet, in marked contrast with other ancient philosophers, Cicero has largely been written out of the historical narrative on early European political thought, and the reception of his ideas has barely been studied. The Bonds of Humanity corrects this glaring oversight, arguing that the influenc...

In the Middle Ages, as Christian sources on the Islamic world show, Muslim culture was perceived as extremely threatening: there were many defenses of Christianity, like the treatise on the "mistakes" of the followers of Allah. This book shows, through an analysis of the works of Nicholas of Cusa and of other authors, that in the course of time this textual attitude was modified, as European authors aimed to point out the Christian truth in comparison with the "falsity" of Islamic theology...

Recounts the life and career of St. Thomas Becket as viewed through the eyes of his lifelong associate, John of Salisbury.

How do we discern good and evil, just and unjust, virtue and vice? What role does reason play in morality?With roots in Greco-Roman antiquity, natural law—the idea that human nature is guided by certain universal principles—has been a cornerstone of Western moral and political thought for centuries. Over the course of 12 lectures, award-winning professor Cary J. Nederman (Ph.D., York University in Toronto) traces the development of natural law theory from Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E. ...

This volume deals with the development of moral and political philosophy in the medieval West. Professor Nederman is concerned to trace the continuing influence of classical ideas, but emphasises that the very diversity and diffuseness of medieval thought shows that there is no single scheme that can account for the way these ideas were received, disseminated and reformulated by medieval ethical and political theorists.

Niccolò Machiavelli counts among the most famous (and infamous) political authors in the history of Western political thought, primarily on account of his book the Prince. Before he wrote that notorious treatise, however, he served for fourteen years as a prominent and active civil administrator in the government of the Republic of Florence. Removed from office in 1512, following a take-over by the Medici dynasty that had ruled the city during much of the fifteenth century, Machiavelli was...

Cosmopolitanism is one of the most venerable intellectual traditions in the history of political philosophy. From the ancient Greek Diogenes’ claim to be “a citizen of the world” through to Kant’s Enlightenment vision of a world government and even into our own time, the idea of cosmopolitanism has stirred the moral imagination of many throughout history. Arguably the Brexit referendum result and the election of Donald Trump in 2016 marked the first major public repudiation of the transnat...

In the 21st century, political debates appear to center on fundamental conflicts between “the people” and “elites.” Most of these discussions emphasize strategies to protect and empower the oppressed masses against a predatory ruling class. Much of classical political thought, however, was written from an aristocratic point of view: that is, it ascribed paramount importance to the question of elite formation. Assuming inequality as a permanent feature of human associations, what virtues wo...