Aristotle’s Politics: -Aristotle holds monarchy to be the most

ideal kind of government.

Forms of Government

To determine whether a government is -Man of “preeminent in virtue” – “God

good or bad, Aristotle asked three among men”
basic questions:
Such man cannot be regarded as a part
1. Does the government serve the of the state, subject to the law like
common good or does it serve the everybody else.
selfish interests of those with
Since there is no law for men of
power?
preeminent virtue, monarchs are “law
2. Does the government rest on the themselves.
power at the ruler’s disposal or
Their superior virtue and political
does it rest on laws that have
capacity give them the right to “practice
been made in such a way that
compulsion and still live in harmony with
the ruled have agreed to them
their cities.
and have had a part in making?
A king is the resource of better classes
3. If the government is
against the people.
constitutional, is that
constitution just and are the laws The idea of a king is to be a protector of
made by that government just? the rich against unjust treatment; of the
people against insult and oppression.
Aristotle’s True Governments
Aristocracy
- Kingship

- Aristocracy -A government formed of the best men

absolutely (not relatively).
- Constitutional Government

Perversion of True Government -Based of merit and virtue

- Tyranny The deteriorated form of aristocracy that

form of aristocracy is oligarchy, in which
- Oligarchy government by the wealthy is carried on
for their own benefit rather than the
- Democracy
whole of the state.
Kingship
Constitutional Government
-A state that the citizens at large
administer for the common good.
-”Unite the freedom of the poor and the
wealth of the rich.”
Thinking realistically of the stability of
the state, Aristotle holds that the freedom
of the poor must be given consideration.
For a state in which many poor men are
excluded from office will necessarily be
full of enemies
The role of the middle class
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and
crime.
“Where there is no middle class, and the
poor greatly exceed in number, trouble
arise, and the state soon comes to an
end.”
Aristotle was opposed to the selfish rule
by either an excessively wealthy
plutocracy or by a propertyless
proletariat.
Democracy
-Rule of the poor
- Of the three degenerate forms,
government of the poor for the benefit of
the poor is “the most tolerable.”
Men think that is just is equal; that
equality is the supremacy of popular
will; and that freedom means the doing
what a man likes. In such democracies,
everyone lives as he pleases
Democracy of the Poor
-A state that the citizens at large
administer for the common good.
-”Unite the freedom of the poor and the
wealth of the rich.”
For a state in which many poor men are
excluded from office will necessarily be
full of enemies.
Aristotle
“Happiness is good. But in
moderation.”
Aristotle (384 BCE- 322 BCE)
Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist;
one of the greatest intellectual figures of
Western history.
His father, Nicomachus, was the
physician of Amyntas III, king of
Macedonia and grandfather of Alexander
the Great.
After his father’s death in 367, Aristotle
migrated to Athens, where he joined the
Academy of Plato. He remained there for
20 years as Plato’s pupil and colleague.
Aristotle’s Ethical Philosophy:
1. The highest good and the end toward
which all human activity is directed is
happiness, which can be defined as
continuous contemplation of eternal and
universal truth.

2. One attains happiness by a virtuous

life and the development of reason and
the faculty of theoretical wisdom. For
this one requires sufficient external
goods to ensure health, leisure, and the
opportunity for virtuous action.

3. Moral virtue is a relative mean

between extremes of excess and
deficiency, and in general the moral life
is one of moderation in all things except
virtue. No human appetite or desire is
bad if it is controlled by reason according
to a moral principle. Moral virtue is

acquired by a combination of knowledge,

habituation, and self-discipline.

4. Virtuous acts require conscious choice

and moral purpose or motivation. Man
has personal moral responsibility for his
actions.

5. Moral virtue cannot be achieved

abstractly — it requires moral action in a
social environment. Ethics and politics
are closely related, for politics is the
science of creating a society in which
men can live the good life and develop
their full potential.