Aristotle's Political Terminology

J. J. Mulhern examines eleven of the most consequential terms and related expressions in Aristotle’s political writings, asking how shifts in meaning can alter the interpretation of arguments about nature, property, constitutions and the ideal. The study draws on the fuller lexical evidence made possible by the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and tests translations against Aristotle’s actual patterns of usage.

One seemingly simple Greek word can change the direction of an argument. Politeia, often translated as ‘constitution’, occurs hundreds of times in the Politics, yet its meaning shifts with context. Mulhern follows its uses alongside the language of nature, possessions and citizenship, comparing examples rather than assuming that a familiar English equivalent will always do. Key Greek expressions appear in transliteration in the main text, with the original script in notes, so the linguistic problems remain visible without requiring fluency in Greek.