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Article: Nature, Justice, and Rights in Aristotle's Politics.
- Article from:
- American Political Science Review
- Article date:
- March 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Cambridge University Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Judith A. Swanson, Boston University
While Fred Miller argues the increasingly popular thesis that Aristotle defends a doctrine of rights, he does so far more straightforwardly and painstakingly than any book presently available. Miller, does not go so far as to ascribe to Aristotle the Enlightenment theory of natural rights, but he goes far enough to elicit the complaint that any concept of rights is alien to Aristotle's thought.
To Miller's credit, he acknowledges at the outset the charge of anachronism and initially responds with a frank explanation of his reconstructive method, which "assumes that a concept or a claim may have a place in a philosopher's ...