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Aristotle's Politics (350 bc)
- zoon politikoon
- Man is a political animal and
we can only achieve good by
living as citizens in a state
- Man is a political animal and
we can only achieve good by
living as citizens in a state
- Six kinds of constitution
- Just (where the rulers
benefit everyone in
the city)
- Polity (ruled by
everyone for
everyone)
- Least susceptible
to corruption
- Least susceptible
to corruption
- Aristocracy (ruled by
few for everyone)
- Monarchy (ruled by one
for everyone)
- Polity (ruled by
everyone for
everyone)
- Unjust (where
rulers benefit only
themselves)
- Democracy
(where
everyone
rules badly)
- Oligarchy (where
select few rule for
themselves)
- Tyranny (rule of one for
his own benefit)
- Democracy
(where
everyone
rules badly)
- Just (where the rulers
benefit everyone in
the city)
- Distributive Justice
- Distributing benefits to
citizens depending on their
contribution to that state
- Distributing benefits to
citizens depending on their
contribution to that state
- Tension between rich
and poor
- Strong middle class keeps this in check
- Strong middle class keeps this in check
- Three branches of civil
government
- Deliberative make major
political decisions
- Executive runs
day to day
business
- Judicial overseas legal affairs
of the state
- Deliberative make major
political decisions
- Maintaining power
- Give rich minority and
poor majority equal
power, so that rich
individuals have more
power than poor, but the
classes are equally
represented
- Give rich minority and
poor majority equal
power, so that rich
individuals have more
power than poor, but the
classes are equally
represented
- Books VII VIII discuss the ideal state
- The good life is rational
contemplation, and the
political state is the means of
securing this life
- Young citizens serve in
military, middle age
citizens govern and
older citizens take care
of religious affairs while
non-citizen labourers
take care of farming and
crafts
- A Public education of reading, writing,
physical education, music and drawing
- The good life is rational
contemplation, and the
political state is the means of
securing this life
- The Community is
prevalent over the
individual
- Law should be over
the governing body
to avoid abuses of
power
- Slavery
- Natural Slavery
- It is natural for these slaves to be
slaves and their masters to be
masters.
Annotations:
- Slaves are tools to their masters, and a slave lacks all the freedom a citizen. Natural slavery is not unjust as slaves lack reason, knowledge wisdom, character, virtue. He refers to anonymous 'opponents of slavery' and in Rhetoric, he quotes Alcidamas who believes 'All men are equal, including slaves.'
- It is natural for these slaves to be
slaves and their masters to be
masters.
- Legal/conventional
slavery
- eg. taking slave after defeat
of other polis is unjust
Annotations:
- Although he declares this unjust, he is not an ambassador against it, and doesn't feel strongly about it being unjust.
- eg. taking slave after defeat
of other polis is unjust
- Relationship
between slave
and master is
compared to
relationship
between; king and
subject, soul and
body, and
craftsman and
tool.
- Natural Slavery
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