Aristotle: Politics

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (384-322 BCE) identifies the meaningful life
that nature provides for humanity as one lived in harmony with the world, and in
his Politics, he examine the influence that politics and the political sphere must
play in fostering about the virtuous life in the citizenry. The Politics also analyses
the many forms of political communities that existed at the period, revealing
where and how these cities fell short of the ideal community of friendly people.

Aristotle states that all learning may be categorised into three kinds in Book Six of
the Ethics: theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge, and productive knowledge.
The aims of these different types of knowledge are as follows: theoretical
knowledge aims at contemplation, productive knowledge aims at invention, and
practical knowledge aims at activity.

-The study of truth for the sake of study is theoretical knowledge; it is knowledge
about inevitable and unchanging phenomena, such as logic, physics, and
mathematical principles.

-The productive and practical sciences, on either hand, addressed our basic needs
as individuals and resolve problems that might alter. Knowledge is defined
generically as know-how; figuring out how to make a table, a house, a pair of
shoes, or compose a tragedy, for example, is an example of knowledge.

To continue with, it signifies that Aristotle believes merely abstract knowledge of

ethics and politics to be pointless.
Second, according to Aristotle, only a few people may learn from studying politics.
According to Aristotle, women and slaves (or at least those who are slaves by
nature) can never be benefited from learning economics and therefore not be
allowed to participate in politics.
Third, in terms of the precision with which they studied, Aristotle distinguished
between practical and theoretical knowledge.

Governmental Structures:

According to Aristotle, depending on who governed and for whom they ruled,
communities might be structured in six different ways under governmental
legitimacy.
The One The Few The Many
For the Common Monarchy Aristocracy Polity
Interest

For the Interest Tranny Oligarchy Democracy

of Ruler

He referred to the first three as "genuine forms" of administration, while the

second three were "deficient and perverted variations" of the first three.
Aristotle's Ideal and Preverted Government Views:

For the first instance, Aristotle used a scholarly approach to classify the
constitution. His categorisation is the outcome of an analysis of 158 ancient
constitutions. He organizes the constitution into subcategories depending on the
location of sovereign state and the purpose by which it is used. Aristotle classified
constitutions into two categories: right or ideal constitutions of governments, and
wrong or perverted governments. The ideal or just constitutions are those that
strive for the common good or the common good.

We could see from the above table that Aristotle's classification of the constitution
was based primarily on the position of sovereign power and the state's goals.

Monarch, according to Aristotle, is when a state is ruled by a centralized person

that rules for the benefit and betterment of his citizens. The first "proper"
constitution established by Aristotle is monarchy, which itself is administered by a
single man who is appointed or inherited the crown. Aristotle says that monarchs
have the privilege of being able to act quickly and decisively in moments of
emergency. He emphasized national priorities over individual preferences, and he
listened to his citizens' suggestions. The monarch emphasizes deep interest in all of
his acts. Even though, kings are emotional creatures who cannot handle all of their
duties at once. Aristotle believed that monarchs must not have total power for
these reasons. The law should impose limits on them. Monarchy becomes Tyranny
when the ruler becomes incompetent and corrupt. The first example of a "bad"
constitution is tyranny, which is a perverted form of kingship. Tyrants subjugate
others through force and are only focused in their own personal gain. The ruler of
tyranny is a single tyrant who manages the state administration according to his
preferences. The monarch is exempt from criticism and must defend his personal
interests. So, in a one-man government, if the king acts according to the needs of
the people, it is Monarchy, and its corrupt form is titled Tyranny. Aristotle includes
nobility in his list of "proper" constitutions. The reigning class is known as
aristocracy, and it is composed of a limited number of participants of virtue and
wealth who rule the state for the benefit of the community. Aristocrats are
individuals of wealth and leisure who have polished their minds to the point where
they would have superior intellects, according to Aristotle. They are intended to
encourage the advancement of the general public's interests, which predominate
over wide range of policy concerns. According to Aristotle, these individuals would
only govern for the sake of all. When an aristocracy administers only for the
benefit of the privileged, it becomes an oligarchy, which is one of Aristotle's "bad"
constitutional forms. Oligarchies were among the most important aspects of
government in Greek city-states. This moderate composite constitution was called
a polity by Aristotle, who believed that it would best serve the general welfare of
all inhabitants in most governments. The middle class manages state
administration in this type of government, and a vast number of citizens are
engaged. Administrators are people's elected representatives who operates the
state's administration in compliance with the democratic will of the people. The
Polity develops into democracy when the ruling elite becomes corrupt and greedy.
Aristotle condemned democracy and identified it as one of his "wrong"
constitutions, deny the reality that Athens was a democratic city-state. Aristotle
describes democracy as "every free-born individual's duty and responsibility to
help in the management of the city." As a result, anybody can attend Assembly
debates, vote, and hold public office, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, intelligent
or dumb. This kind of governance, according to Aristotle, was harmful. The poor
majority would always be able to overwhelm the rich and powerful. He argued
that democracy might devolve into a multi-headed tyranny.

Legacy:
Since the Renaissance, the Academy and the Lyceum have been regarded as two
contrasting ideological poles. Aristotle is realistic, utilitarian, and parsimonious,
while Plato is idealist, futuristic, and heavenly. (This viewpoint is reflected in
Raphael's iconic Vatican artwork The School of Athens, that portrays Plato and
Aristotle.) In fact, the doctrines that Plato and Aristotle agreed on are more
essential than those that both disagree on. Many post-Renaissance philosophical
historians have been less perceptive than late-Antiquity commentators, who
considered it as their obligation to build a harmonic concord between the two
greatest thinkers of the known world.

Aristotle's intellectual achievement is remarkable by any measure. He was the first

good scientist in the world. He was the first author to also include detailed and
comprehensive analyses of natural phenomena in his works, and the first
philosopher to understand the scientific method's connection between
observation and theory. He explored and examined the various scientific
disciplines and their connections. He was the first professor to arrange his lectures
into courses and publish a syllabus for them. His Lyceum was the first research
centre to gather a group of scholars and researchers to collaborate on research and
documentation. Finally, and most significantly, he was the first person in history to
form a research library, a systematic collection of works that could be analyzed by
his contemporaries and passed down from generation to generation.

Plato and Aristotle also are widely considered the greatest philosophers of all time,
millennia later. Nevertheless, if their achievements to philosophy are equal,
Aristotle made the greater contribution to the world's intellectual legacy. Every
philosopher, and every scientist, owes him a debt of thanks. He is entitled of the
title "master of those who know," which Dante conferred upon him.