Aristotle Aristotle. - Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Promise of the Common Good

This book, or whatever is good in it, is truly a common good. I am delighted to thank some of the many teachers, colleagues, family members, and friends without whose help this book never would have come to be, or would have come to be quite differently. Because I am, alas, a quintessentially absent-minded professor, I first want to apologize to and to thank anyone I have accidentally omitted here.

My first debt is to my teachers. Christopher Bruell introduced me to political philosophy when I was a freshman at Boston College and inspired me to continue its study. I owe to him an abiding interest in Platos and Aristotles works and in ancient Greek political thought generally. The late theologian and political theorist Ernest Fortin directed my undergraduate thesis and later suggested that I study the common good in Aquinass thought. That Fr. Fortins other suggestion for my dissertation was the rediscovery of Aristotle in the Latin West is, in the context of this book, one more indicator of how profound my intellectual debt is to this learned and generous man. Peter Kreeft, Marc Landy, and Mark OConnor were also for me the best of teachers in undergraduate philosophy, political science, and great books courses, respectively.

At the University of Toronto, Clifford Orwin and Thomas Pangle were my graduate mentors, teaching outstanding seminars in ancient and modern political philosophy. Cliff Orwin excelled, as he still does, at prompting me to laugh, chiefly at myself. Tom Pangle, beyond directing my dissertation, somehow convinced me before I had even defended my proposal to apply for a job at the University of Notre Dame, where I have been ever since. The late Edward Synan of Torontos Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies worked with me in a year-long directed readings course on Augustines City of God . He combined deep intellectual seriousness with childlike delight and wonder, and so made learning more lovable for his students. During a year of independent study in philosophy at the University of Navarre I benefited greatly from the assistance of Rafael Alvira, Alfredo Cruz, and Alejandro Llano.

My second book-related debt is in many ways no less than the first: my colleagues at Notre Dame have been for me true treasures of prudence and wisdom and constant sources of encouragement. Here it is hard to know with whom to begin, so I will proceed alphabetically, thanking from the heart Jim McAdams, department chair during several of my critical early years on Notre Dames faculty; Ralph McInerny, who graciously and repeatedly assisted a fledgling student of Aquinas in her work; John Roos and David Solomon, whose colleagueship went from the start and still goes far beyond the call of duty; Catherine Zuckert, who has given me a wonderful example of a woman who is a leading scholar in my field and a very faithful friend; and her husband, Michael Zuckert, who as my departmental senior faculty mentor has been incredibly generous in reading my work, providing critical feedback on several versions of this manuscript. I would also like to mention with gratitude the assistance, encouragement, and insights received over the years from many other Notre Dame colleagues, including Ruth Abbey, Eileen Botting, Gerry Bradley, Fred Crosson, Fred Freddoso, Edward Goerner, John Jenkins, C.S.C., Alasdair MacIntyre, Walter Nicgorski, David OConnor, Paul Weithman, and the late Jean T. Oesterle, a great translator with whom I shared an office during the 19956 academic year and whom I miss very much.

Several colleagues from other institutions have helped to improve this book with comments on earlier versions of the whole manuscript, individual chapters, or related pieces of work. In this regard I am indebted especially to J. Brian Benestad, Kenneth Deutsch, Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, Harvey Mansfield, Christopher Wolfe, and the members of the 20001 Erasmus Institute Fellows Seminar. I am deeply indebted to Cambridge University Press, especially to senior humanities editor Beatrice Rehl, who has been wonderful to work with throughout the review and publication process. I am also most grateful to senior political science editor Lewis Bateman for first taking an interest in this manuscript, and to production editor Louise Calabro and copy editor Helen Greenberg for their expert and eagle-eyed assistance. For permission to reprint, with some small changes, previously published articles as chapters in this book, I thank History of Political Thought and the Imprint Academic (for chapter , originally Aquinass Two Pedagogies: A Reconsideration of the Relation between Law and Moral Virtue in AJPS 45/3, 2001). I have also benefited from consulting an unpublished translation by Ernest Fortin of Aquinass Commentary on Aristotles Politics.