Arist. Ath. Pol. 9.2 e la regola del giudizio globale sui politika. Considerazioni sul metodo storico aristotelico

E. Poddighe

2018-01-01

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Abstract

In Ath. Pol. 9, 2 Aristotle criticizes one of the reconstructions that circulated in Athens about the purpose of Solon’s legislative and political project. The passage has complex points of contact with Aristotle’s theoretical reflection, both in its contents and in its methods, and has therefore been the object of much discussion. I argue here that in order effectively to explain the relation between this passage and Aristotle’s political theory we need to take into consideration an important theoretical principle to which the passage refers: the rule that guides good historical assessment of politika, namely the principle according to which historical reasoning aimed at true knowledge, theorein, must assess political phenom- ena globally, within the framework of an overall vision. The purpose of this paper is to show that Ath. Pol. 9, 2 works as a test-case of Aristotle’s historical method only if we take into account this principle, because Aristotle, as shown by the Rhetoric, the Nicomachean Ethics and the Politics, deems it an indispensable tool for understanding and assessing politika.