Agency and Rule in Aristotle's Politics

In this talk, Prof. Jagannathan argues that Aristotle's conception of political community depends on a particular view about collective agency, that is, how we get things done in concert with one another. This view makes ruling essential to collective decision-making. Political rule turns out to be a special sort of ruling and being ruled in turn that is appropriate to those who are free and equal, the citizens of the political community. This way of looking at political rule and political community also explains why despotic rule – the rule of masters over slaves – is framed as the counterpart of political rule, and why slavery is such a preoccupation of Aristotle's in developing his theory of political community in Book I of the Politics. He will conclude with some thoughts about a contrasting way of understanding collective agency, namely, that of John Dewey, which emphasizes collective self-knowledge rather than activity.

Bio

Dhananjay Jagannathan is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Director of Graduate Studies of the Classical Studies Program at Columbia University. His recent scholarly work has focused on Aristotle's ethics and political philosophy, but his research interests range over ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, philosophy and literature, the history of ethics, and theories of practical reason. In his book manuscript Aristotle's Practical Epistemology, he argues against the conflation of practical knowledge with scientific knowledge, a conflation that continues to distort not only readings of Aristotle but also our understanding of how different kinds of knowledge are related and which are rightly thought of as basic. Dhananjay Jagannathan earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.St. from The University of Oxford, an M.Phil. from The University of Cambridge, and his Ph.D. from The University of Chicago.