AristotleTheoryofPoliticalScience(cilasscalpoliticltheory)assignments

Originofthestate&relationtofamilyandvillage

Aristotleinhisbookpoliticsbeginsbydefiningacitizenasapersonwhohasarighttovieforpublicoffice.Children,s
eniorsandforeignersthusdonotqualifytobecalledcitizens.Hearguesthatthecity-
stateorthepolisisacollectiveentitycomposedofdifferentofcitizens.

Thefamilyunitshouldthereforebetreatedasapolisforitiscomposedofdifferentindividualseachsubjecttothatf
amilythroughdifferentrelations.Hegoesaheadtostressthatincomparison,menmakebetterleadersthanwom
ensotheyshouldassumetheleadershiproleinthefamily(AristotleIII.16.125b40).

AvillageisacollectionoffamilieswhichAristotleassociateswiththestateasanentitytothepolis.Hefurtheraddst
hatstatedoesnotneedremakingratherneedsimprovementofsociety.Hehoweverdidnotdistinguishbetween
stateandsocietythereforeformingnoabsolutemeritbetweenthetwo.

Natureofjustice

Aristotleacknowledgesthatjusticeshouldberesponsiblefornurturingthebeliefthatgoodlifeissubjecttoallins
ocietyindisregardtotheirsocialclass.Hegivestheexamplesofdemocraticstateswhichperceivejusticeasequali
tybestowedbyfreebirthandoligarchicstatesconceivejusticeeveninthepresenceofcorruptionandinequalityi
ndistributionofoffice,providedbyaccumulatedwealth(AristotleIII.1.1275b20).

Hehoweverdisagreeswiththeseformsofjustice,whichheclaimswilleventuallyleadtothefallofacity-
state.Hethereforebelievesthatjusticedoesexistbutinanobjectivemanner.Itinvolvestreatingallpeopleequall
yandconversely,itentailsunequaltreatmenttounequalpeople

Typesofgovernment
Aristotlediscernssixtypesofgovernments,eachdeterminedbythenumberofrulersastatehas.Aone-
rulerstateinthecorrectformofadministration,heidentifiesasakingship.Astateunderafewrulersunderthecorr
ectconditionswillformanaristocracy,butwheredisaccordarises,anoligarchyisformed.Aristotlealsoacknowle
dgesthatmanyrulerscanformapolity,acombinationofoligarchy,andaristocracy,whichunderdeviantconditio
nsformsademocracy(AristotleII.1.1261a18).

Howtodistinguishgoodgovernmentfrombad

Aristotlewasoftheviewthatagoodgovernmentnomatterhowdistortedwastolookoutforthecommonpeople’
swelfare.Agoodgovernmentwasthereforejustandmaintainedabalanceinallstateoffices.

Thisgovernmentwasinapositiontohaveaconstitutionandimposeauthoritysubjectingeveryonetothelaw.He
wasalsooftheviewthatlawgiversshouldbethepoliticiansrulingthestatefortheyknowwhatisjust.Hemostfavo
redthearistocraticformofgovernmentwhichpooledthevariousvirtuesofdifferentleadersintoonegovernme
nt(AristotleII.1.1339a11).

AbadgovernmentaccordingtoAristotlewasonethatallowedoneclasstowieldpoliticalpower.Whatthismeanti
sthatthestatewouldmissoutonagreatleaderwithwisdomandhighvaluessimplybecausehedidnotbelongtoth
erulingclass.ThisaccordingtoAristotlewasbadgovernance

AristotleinpoliticsgreatlydisagreeswithPlato’sideaofstatewhichprovidestheframeworkforcreatinganewsta
te.Rather,Aristotleisoftheviewthatthestateitselfshouldberesponsibleforattainingthebestsystemofexisten
ce.

Bydeductiveinference,Aristotlestatesthattheperfectsystemofstateisalreadyinexistence,andfindsnoreason
astowhytheplatonicideologyshouldbeappliedtoit.ThustoAristotle,theperfectstateisbeinglivedoutatprese
ntandPlato’sstateisameresolutiontoanon-existentproblem.

Changeinstatesandbestfunctioning
Aristotlebelievedthatthestatewasprimarilyresponsibleforitsownprosperity.Toachievethis,thestateshould
haveorderingovernmentandsociety,witheachcategoryhavingdifferentsectorsofdistinctfunction.Thoughhe
wasagainstmoneyexchange,hewasforastatethatcouldrebuilditselfthroughtheavailablephysicalandhuman
resources(AristotleII.2.3261b27).

Todothis,everyindividualinsocietywhoqualifiestobeacitizenshouldbeconsultedintherunningofthestate,for
onlythencantrueharmonybeachieved.Therefore,thebestfunctioningstatewasonethatallowedcitizensofev
eryclassintogovernmentandeveryclasswaseligiblefortradeandpossessionofprivateproperty.

Idealstate,active&philosophicallife

Aristotelianpoliticsseekstoestablishthebestsystemthatwillbeabletosupportamajorityofcity-
states.Heaimsatastatethatisconcernedwiththehappinessofitscitizens,whereeachindividualwillpossessvirt
uesandtheknowledgeandskillrequiredtodispensejustice,leadingtoapeacefulandhappystate.

Suchastatewillallowcitizenstoholdpublicofficetradefreelyandownprivatepropertyandeveryonewillbeequa
lasopposedtotheoppressivecommunalstate.Thisstatewillpossessacommoneducationalsystemforallcitizen
sandthelawmakerswillbeprimarilyresponsibleforitincasetheinitialobjectivesarenotachieved(AristotleIII.1.
1298a21).

Roleofeducationinrelationtothestate

EducationaccordingtoAristotlewillprovideabalanceinthestatesinceallcitizenswillbeknowledgeable.Educati
onshouldnotonlycoverareaofskillandbasicknowledge,rathershouldinstillvirtuestothepupilsandintegratev
aluesintosociety.Educationisthereforeaformofgluethatcanholdastatetogethercohesively,butonlywhenta
ughtintherightway.

Educationshouldalsoprovidethevaluesneededbyrulersofthestatetogoverneffectively.Itisthereforeabasicn
ecessitytoincorporateeducationintosocietyforgrowthandprosperityofthestate.Philosophersandintellectu
alsshouldbebredthrougheducationifthestatedesirestoadvanceitssystemsofgovernanceandcoexistence.
PlatoandAristotle:MainPointsofComparison

•Bothphilosophersagreethatjusticeisanecessaryvalueandshouldbeexperiencedbyeveryoneinasocietyrega
rdlessoftheirsocialclass.

•PlatoandAristotlehadabasicintenttoimprovethesocietytheylivedinandbothcameupwithbrilliantideasasto
howthesocietycouldbeenhanced.

•PlatoandAristotlealsoagreethattheuniverseoriginatedfromamorepowerfulandintelligententitythanthen
ormalhumanbeing.Thoughtheybothhaveadifferentopiniononthefunctionoftheentity,theyacknowledgeits
existence.

•PlatoandAristotlearedescendantsoftheintellectualprismhousedbySocrates.SocratestaughtPlatoandPlato
taughtAristotle.Theysharedthesamebackboneinphilosophyeventhoughtheirideologymayhavediffered.

•BothPlatoandAristotlewerenotcontentwiththepoliticalgovernanceofAthensduringtheirtime.Bothtriedto
comeupwithconceptsthatweresupposedtoimprovetheseformsofgovernanceandconsequentlyalterthelea
dership.

•Bothphilosophersareresponsibleforshapingmoderncivilization.Aristotleplayedacontributoryroletomode
rndemocracyandPlato’swritingshavehelpedshapethecurriculaofpoliticalinstitutionsthroughhisquestfortr
uthinpoliticalphilosophy.

Conclusion

PlatoandAristotlewerebothbroughtupindescenthomesintheirtimes.Theywenttothesameacademyandtau
ghtatthissameacademy.Theirphilosophiesinregardtopoliticsdifferandbothmenimpelaconvincingargumen
tasfaraspoliticalgovernanceisconcerned.
TheirviewsonlifeanddeatharealsopolarizedwithPlatosuggestingtheexistenceoflifeafterdeathandAristotlea
ffirmingthatlifeendswhenonedies.Thoughtheyhavedifferentopinionsonawiderangeofissues,theyseemedt
oconcurthatsocietyneededtobeimprovedandthefullcapacityofhumanresourceandknowledgehasneverbe
enattained.

Theyalsoyearnforabalanced,peacefulandharmonizedsociety,whichcompelsthemtocomeupwithsocialmod
elsthatwouldeventuallyproducethedesiredresults.Botharehighlyacclaimedphilosopherswhoformedthefo
undationofmodernwesterncultureandsopresumingone’sworkissuperiortotheotherisafallacy.