#11 - Important Enough To Refute: A Dialogue with Stephen Clouse

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stephen Clouse about political theory, philosophy, and Aristotelian concepts in general and for current day application. They talk about the differences between political philosophy and political science and also the ways in which they intersect. They have a discussion about political theory using various examples. They talk about the importance of etymology and also about primordial concepts underlying the American political system. They also give a brief history of 20th century philosophy and discuss some of the challenges with postmodern/deconstructionist philosophy.

They provide a background and history of Greek philosophy and talk about the importance of Aristotelian philosophy for modern times. More specifically, they talk about Aristotle's concept of purpose and how this interacts with leisure. They also talk about his concept of tragedy and pity and many other topics. 

Stephen Clouse is a political science PhD candidate with his primary focus on ancient Greek philosophy, specifically Aristotelian philosophy, along with early American political thought. You can find his writing here and here. You can also follow him on Twitter: @sclouse2