Lexington Books Between Eternities: On the Tradition of Political Philosophy

Between Eternities reflects on the possibility of political philosophy as an ongoing, architectonic activity that is necessarily linked to both the past and future. Almost all contemporary work in political philosophy either studies the subject with an eye to past tradition? choosing a winner from that tradition and then deducing what follows from the posited premises in a thoroughly modern, constructivist fashion? or else limits itself to drawing out what follows from already accepted premises and principles. There is almost no effort to reflect upon the prerequisites for the tradition being an ongoing undertaking that can have a unique future. Between Eternities attempts to set loose that thinking toward the future. Review Gregory Smith's long engagement with postmodern thought has borne fruit in this monumental study of our philosophical and political present. In Between Eternities, Smith covers a myriad of topics, from Socratic dialectics to theoretical physics and international relations. His thesis, convincingly argued, is that political philosophy remains the architectonic science--for us no less than for Aristotle--because it alone can fashion a whole of ethics, politics, psychology, ontology, and epistemology. Smith's style is graceful and his point of view sharp-edged and confident.--Patrick Coby, Smith College About the Author Gregory B. Smith is professor of political science and philosophy affiliated with the Departments of Political Science and Philosophy at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.