Aristotle's Politics

About the Author

As mentioned in a previous Goodreads post, I am trying not to know too much about authors before reading their works when reading the Great Books of The Western World series because Mortimer Adler suggested going about reading the books in that way. Nevertheless, at the start of each of the books, there is a small introduction to the author, and I will summarize that information here. Aristotle was born in 384 at Stagira, a Greek colonial town on the Aegean near the Macedonian border and somewhat east of the modern city of Salonica. His parents were Ionian in origin. His father, Nicomachus, was a court physician to Amyntas II, the father of Philip of Macedon. Aristotle joined the Academy in Athens at age 17. Not much is known about Aristotle's time at the academy, but it is said that Aristotle was called the intellect of the school by Plato. Aristotle wrote an elegy for an altar of friendship to Plato in which he praised him as the man whom it is not lawful for bad men even to praise, who alone or first of morals clearly revealed, by his own life and by methods of his words, how to be happy is to be good. Aristotle was married to Pythias, daughter of Hermias, and had children.

Aristotle returned to Athens in 336, and he established the Lycaeum there. The Lycaeum was an organized institution, and it contained extensive maps and what is said to be then the largest library in Europe. Aristotle dedicated hir morning to the more difficult parts of philosophy and in the afternoon addressed a wider audience on rhetoric and dialectic. Most of the works of Aristotle that we have today probably represents lectures given at the Lycaeum. His works probably had been growing since he started teaching. After Alexander's death, Aristotle's life at the Lycaeum came to an abrupt end. He was charged with impiety for the elegy he had written for Hermias twenty years before, and Aristotle, remembering the fate of Socrates, fled to Chalcis, declaring I will not let the Athenians offend twice against philosophy.

Review

Aristotle's Politics is more similar to something that you might read today than Plato's Republic. Rather than arriving at questions to answers or knowledge on topics through the dialectic, Aristotle either references his own work or real-life examples in trying to arrive at conclusions. For this reason and because of the fact that there is only one speaker, Aristotle's Politics is easier to read than Plato's Republic. However, this fact, along with the lack of idealism - Aristotle's acknowledgement of real world states makes him recognize that most states the form called polity [a fusion of democracy and oligarchy] exists - makes Politics maybe less enjoyable to read than Plato's Republic. If you read this Goodreads post, you will see that Plato tries to arrive at answers to two questions throughout the Republic, but in Politics, Aristotle doesn't really have some overarching question that he wants to address it seems. Rather, he muses on the topic of the different kinds of states, what they are made of, how to best run each one, how revolutions have sprung up from each one, and man's existence in each.

I agree with much of what Aristotle says in Politics, and I think the work made me change my opinion on the nature of equality. Rather than believing in equity or an equality of opportunity, I would say now that I believe more in a form of equality according to proportion - treating equals equally.

Some Interesting Notes (That I Don't think are often discussed)

Diversity is our strength vs westerners today pg 456

If then self-sufficiency is to be desired, the lesser degree of unity is more desirable than the greater.

pg 459

for almost everything has been found out, although sometimes they are not put together

pg 465

That in a well-ordered state the citizens should have leisure and not have to provide for their daily wants is generally acknowledged, but there is a difficulty in seeing how this leisure is to be attained

pg 467

But that judges of important causes should hold office for life is a disputable thing, for the mind grows old as well as the body. And when men have been educated in such a manner that even the legislator himself cannot trust them, there is a real danger.

pg. 467

Once more: the revenues of the state are ill-managed; there is no money in the treasury, although they are obliged to carry on great wars, and they are unwilling to pay taxes. The greater part of the land being in the hands of the Spartans, they do not look closely into one another's contributions. The result which the legislator has produced is the reverse of beneficial; for he has made his city poor, and his citizens greedy.

pg. 471 , more on 472

a citizen is not a citizen because he lives in a certain place, for resident aliens and slaves share in the place; nor is he a citizen who has no legal right except that of suing and being sued; for this right may be enjoyed under the provisions of a treaty.

pg. 473, Prospera

For, since the state is a partnership, and is a partnership of citizens in a constitution, when the form of government changes, and becomes different, then it may be supposed that the state is no longer the same, just as a tragic differs from a comic chorus, although the members of both may be identical. And in this manner we speak of every union or composition of elements as different when the form of their composition alters; for example, a scale containing the same sounds is said to be different, accordingly as the Dorian or the Phrygian mode is employed. And if this is true it is evident that the sameness of the state consists chiefly in the sameness of the constitution, and it may be called or not called by the same name, whether the inhabitants are the same or entirely different. It is quite another question, whether a state ought or ought not to fulfill engagements when the form of government changes.

480, supreme court

laws, when good, should be supreme; and that the magistrate or magistrates should regulate those matters only on which the laws are unable to speak with precision owing to the difficulty of the general principle embracing all particulars.

Aristotle shares Plato's emphasis on beginning (see Plato's emphasis on the importance of childhood education):

'Well begun is half done'; so an error at the beginning, though quite small, bears the same ratio to the errors in the other parts.

I liked this quote because it reminded me of How To Win Friends and Influence People a little bit.

They should never wrong the ambitious in a matter of honor, or the common people in a matter of money; and they should treat one another and their fellow citizen in a spirit of equality.

Congressional trading

But above all every state should be so administered and so regulated by law that its magistrates cannot possibly make money.

Quotes

On the State:

Every state is a community of some kind, and every community is established with a view to some good; for mankind always act in order to obtain that which they think good.

The members of a state must either have (1) all things or (2) nothing in common, or (3) some things in common and some not.

a state is not made up only of so many men, but of different kinds of men; for simitars do not constitute a state.

But a state is composite, like any other whole made up of many parts; these are the citizens, who compose it. It is evident, therefore, that we must begin by asking, Who is the citizen, and what is the meaning of the term?

the state is a partnership, and is a partnership of citizens in a constitution

But state exists for the sake of a good life, and not for the sake of life only

a state, which is the community of families and aggregation of families in well being, for the sake of a perfect and self-sufficing life. Such a community can only be established among those who live in the same place and intermarry.

The end of the state is good life.

if wealth and freedom are necessary elements, justice and valor are equally so; for without the former qualities a state cannot exist at all, without the latter, not well.

If we call the rule of many men, who are all of them good, aristocracy, and the rule of one man royalty, then aristocracy will be better for states than royalty, whether the government is supported by force or not, provided only that a number of men equal in virtue can be found

For the best is often unattainable, and therefore the true legislator and stateman ought to be acquainted, not only with (1) that which is best in abstract, but also with (2) that which is best relatively to circumstances. We should be able further to say how a state may be constrained under any given conditions (3); both how it is originally formed and, when formed, how it may be longest preserved [...] He ought, moreover, to know (4) the form of government which is best suited to states in general; for political writers, although they have excellent ideas, are often unpractical.

of governments there are said to be only two forms - democracy and oligarchy. For aristocracy is considered to be a kind of oligarchy

democracy is the form of government which the free are rulers, and oligarchy in which the rich; it is only an accident that the free are the many and the rich are the few.

Now in most states the form called polity exists, for the fusion goes no further than the attempt to unite the freedom of the poor and the wealth of the rich, who commonly take the place of the noble. But as there are three grounds on which men claim an equal share in the government, freedom, wealth, and virtue.

that the happy life is the life according to virtue lived without impediment, and that virtue is a mean, then the life which is in a mean, and in a mean attainable by every one, must be the best. And the same principles of virtue and vice are characteristics of cities and constitutions; for the constitution is in a figure the life of the city,

Thus it is manifest that the best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class, and that those states are likely to be well-administered in which the middle class is large, and stronger if possible than both the other classes, or at any rate than either singly

The mean condition of states is clearly best, for no other is free from faction; and where the middle class is large, there are least likely to be factions and dissensions.

There only can the government ever be stable where the middle class exceeds one or both of the others, and in that case there will be no fear that the rich will unite with the poor against the rulers.

On Constitutional State

the idea of a constitutional state implies that the natures of the citizens are equal, and do not differ at all

The whole system of government tends to be neither democracy or oligarchy, but something in the mean between them, which is usually called a polity

the constitution is better which is made up of more numerous elements

it is improper that the person to be elected should canvass for the office; the worthiest should be appointed, whether he chooses to or not

The superiority of their constitution is proved by the fact that the common people remain loyal to the constitution the Carthaginians have never had any rebellion worth speaking of, and have never been under the rule of a tyrant.

A constitution is the arrangement of matrices in a state, especially of the highest quality of all. The government is everywhere sovereign in the state, and the constitution is in fact the government.

that governments which have a regard to the common interest are constituted in accordance with strict principles of justice, and are therefore true forms; but those which regard only the interest are all defective and perverted forms, for they are despotic, whereas a state is a community of freemen.

The words constitution and government have the same meaning, and the government, which is the supreme authority of the states, must be in the hands of a few, or the many. The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the common interest; but governments which rule with a view to the private interest, whether of the one, or of the few, or of the many, are perversions.

polity or constitutional government may be described generally as a fusion of oligarchy and democracy

On Equality:

for it is not the possessions but the desires of mankind which require to be equalized, and this is impossible, unless a sufficient education is provided by the laws

For the common people quarrel about the inequality of property, the higher class about the equality of honor; as the poet says -
The bad and good alike in honour share?

Democracy, for example, arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal. Oligarchy is based on the notion that those who are unequal in one respect are in all respects unequal; being unequal, that is, in property, they suppose themselves to be unequal absolutely. The democrats think that as they are equal they ought to be equal in all things; while the oligarchs, under the idea that they are unequal, claim too much, which is one form of inequality

Those which incline more to oligarchy are called aristocracies, and those which incline to democracy constitutional governments. And therefore the latter are the safer of the two; for the greater the number, the greater the strength, and when men are equal they are contented.

The only stable principle of government is equality according to proportion, and for every man to enjoy his own.

[In a democratic state] Every citizen, it is said, must have equality. [...] Another is that a man should live as he likes. This, they say, is the privilege of a freeman, since, on the other hand, not to live as a man likes is the mark of a slave.

democracy and demos in their truest form are based upon the recognized principle of democratic justice, that all should count equally; for equality implies that the poor should have no more share in the government than the rich, and should not be the only rulers, but that all should rule equally according to their numbers. And in this way men think that they will secure equality and freedom in their state.

On considering things from their origin:

He who thus considers things in their first growth and origin, whether a state or anything else, will obtain the clearest view of them.

On master and slave, ruler and subject:

For that which can foresee by the exercise of mind is by nature intended to be lord and master, and that which can with its body give effect to such foresight is a subject, and by nature a slave; hence master and slave have the same interest.

the living creature, which, in the first place, consists of soul and body: and of these two, the one is by nature the ruler, and the other the subject

where the relation of master and slave between them is natural they are friends and have a common interest, but where it rests merely on law and force the reverse is true

Practical wisdom only is characteristic of the ruler: it would seem that all other virtues must equally belong to ruler and subject. The virtue of the subject is certainly not wisdom, but only true opinion.

none of the principles on which men claim to rule and to hold all other men in subjection to them are strictly right

On nature, ends, and the best:

For what each thing is when fully developed, we call its nature [...] the final cause and end of a thing is the best, and to be self-sufficing is the end and the best.

On man:

man is by nature a political animal

For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all

Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual.

selfishness [...] is not the mere love of self, but the love of self in excess

And the avarice of mankind is insatiable; at one time two obols was pay enough; but now, when this sum has become customary, men always want more and more without end; for it is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.

And we see that men cling to life even at the cost of enduring great misfortune, seeming to find in life a natural sweetness and happiness

for men of pre-eminent virtue, there is no law - they are themselves a law

It if difficult to fight against anger, for a man will buy revenge with his soul

On Friendship:

For friendship we believe to be the greatest good of states and the preservative of them against revolutions

But indeed there is always a difficulty in men living together and having all human relations in common, but especially there having common property

'Friends' as the proverb says 'will have all things in common'

the will to live together is friendship.

friendship implies likeness and equality

for good fellowship springs from friendship; when men are at enmity with one another, they would rather not even share the same path.

On Property:

Property should be in a general sense common, but, as a general rule, private; for, when every one has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, and they will make more progress, because every one will be attending to his own business

It is clearly better that property should be private, but the use of it common; and the special business of the legislator is to create in men this benevolent disposition

For liberality and temperance are the only eligible qualities which have to do with the use of property

In the opinion of some, the regulation of property is the chief point of all that being the question upon which all revolutions turn

And so with respect to property: there should not only be enough to supply the internal wants of the state, but also to meet the dangers coming from without. The property of the state should not be so large that more powerful neighbors may be tempted by it, while the owners unable to repel the invaders; nor yet so small that the state is unable to maintain a war against states of equal power and of the same character

Relationship between the part and whole:

the state is by nature clearly prior to the family and to the individual, since the whole is of necessity prior to the part;

the virtue of the part must have regard to the virtue of the whole

But the whole cannot be happy unless most, or all, or some of its parts enjoy happiness

On definition:

things are defined by their working and power

On justice:

justice is the bond of men in states, for the administration of justice, which is the determination of what is just, is the principle order in political society.

justice is thought by them to be, and is, equality, not, however, for all, but only for equals.

in seeking justice men seek for the mean or neutral, for the law is the mean.

On money:

When the inhabitants of one country became more dependent on those of another, and they imported what they needed, and exported what they had too much of, money necessarily came into use. For the various necessaries of life are not easily carried about, and hence men agreed to employ in their dealings with each other something which was intrinsically useful and easily applicable to the purposes of life, for example, iron, silver, and the like. Of this the value was at first measured simply by size and weight, but in process of time they put a stamp upon it, to save the trouble of weighing and to mark the value.

Hence some persons are led to believe that getting wealth is the object of household management, and the whole idea of their lives is that they ought either to increase their money without limit, or at any rate not to lose it. The origin of this disposition in men is that they are intent upon living only, and not upon living well; and, as their desires are unlimited they also desire that the means of gratifying them should be without limit.

There are two sorts of wealth-getting, [...]; one is a part of household management, the other is retail trade.

a man, they say, who is poor cannot rule well, - he has not the leisure

On good

the good of things must be that which preserves them

the good man is he who has one single virtue which is perfect virtue

the good ruler is a good and wise man, and that he who would be a statement must be a wise man.

'he who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander'

In the perfect state the good man is absolutely the same as the good citizen; whereas in other states the good citizen is only good relatively to his own form of government.

Many things are best in the mean; I desire to be of a middle condition in my city.

On Laws

For the law has no power to command obedience except that of habit, which can only be given by time, so that a readiness to change from old to new laws enfeebles the power of law.

a multitude is a better judge of many things than any individual

Therefore he who bids the law rule may be deemed to bid God and Reason alone rule, but he who bids man rule adds an element of the beast; for desire is a wild beast, and passion perverts the minds of rulers, even when they are the best of men. The law is reason unaffected by desire.

for the laws are, and ought to be, relative to the constitution, and not the constitution to the laws. A constitution is the organization of offices in a state, and determines what is to be the governing body, and what is the end of each community. But laws are not to be confounded with the principles of the constitution; they are the rules according to which the magistrates should administer the state, and proceed against offenders.

For in democracies which are subject to the law the best citizens hold the first place, and there are no demagogues; but where the laws are not supreme, these demagogues spring up.

good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government

There are three points on which the varieties of law-courts depend: The persons from whom they are appointed, the matters with which they are concerned, and the manner of their appointment.

In all well-attempered governments there is nothing which should be more jealously maintained than the spirit of obedience to law, more especially in small matters; for transgression creeps in unperceived and at last ruins the state, just as the constant recurrence of small expenses in time eats up a fortune.