Aristotle Analysis

Wisdom, courage, moderation and justice are four essential virtues the ideal state must be built upon, as explained by Socrates in Plato’s Republic. Throughout the eight books of Socratic dialogue the ideal state and ideas of justice are debated, on both individual and state levels. The guidelines for a perfect state and how it will come about are thoroughly described. Socrates covers every aspect of political life and how it should work stating that “until power and philosophy entirely coincide… cities will have no rest form evils” . In Plato’s Republic Socrates emphasizes the superiority of the philosopher and their abilities to rule as kings above others. He believes that they are best suited to rule as a result of their pure souls and

In Aristotle's Politics, he focuses much on the regimes of an oligarchy and of a democracy. Democracies exists when the free and poor, being a majority, have authority to rule, and have an equal share in the city. Oligarchies exists when the few wealthy and better born have authority and grant benefits in proportion to a person's wealth (1280a:10-30;1290a:5-10).

Ancient Greece, not being able to settle on the best way to govern, instituted several vastly different political structures across ancient Greek city-states. They equally contributed to the cultural change in the overall region’s history as well as the history of governments across the world. In this paper, I will compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy, which will also provide insight at which influential characteristics of these governments are still present in modern-day politics.

Examining the texts of Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” and “Politics” side by side, one is bound to find parallels between his reasoning with regard to the individual and to the state. In “Nicomachean Ethics” Aristotle discusses happiness, virtue, and the good life on an individual level and lays out necessary provisions for the good life of a person. He maintains that virtue is a necessary element of happiness: a man will be happy if he has virtues of justice, courage, and temperance, each constituting a balance between the extremes. But this requirement of virtue for the happy life goes beyond the individual level, as we see it in “Politics”. There,

In the world exist three forms of government: Democracy, Aristocracy and Monarchy. In Democracy the power is of everyone, in Aristocracy the government is of a few, the “elite” and in Monarchy the power is of one person. In the “Republic” written by Plato around the 380 BCE, he tried to give a definition of what justice really is. He described the three different ways of government and he criticized them. He wrote that none of the three is an ideal form of government because all of them turn out to be a damage for the society.

A democratic regime presents itself as a pure regime without despotic rulers. As such, equality is echoed throughout the city, with equality being bestowed upon both equals and unequals alike (558 c). The city is full of free speech and freedom, with the choice to do as one wishes, granting the private citizens to organize their lives as it suits them (557 b). With such a variety of dispositions found in the citizens, Socrates introduces the metaphor of a many-colored cloak, decorated in all hues, representing the most pleasant and fair looking object (557 c). The eclectic variety of the democratic city ensures a harmony unakin to any other regime.

Aristotle’s theory on ethics deviates from the attempts of prior theories to develop absolute and universal rules. Instead, he suggests that an individual’s character should be developed to help guide their actions. For Aristotle, the path to happiness, the one thing that is in itself good, involves the acquisition and expression of virtues (McBrayer and Markie 312). In context, Aristotle defined virtue as “a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to individuals which is determined by a rational principle” (McBrayer and Markie 315). To support his point that “happiness is an activity of the soul in perfect virtue”, Aristotle has utilized examples which are plausible to the extent that they are theoretically sound and logical, however, are limited by the vagueness of the theory itself (McBrayer and Markie 312).

The Greek philosopher, scientist and student of Plato, Aristotle made significant and long-lasting contributions to nearly every aspect of human knowledge, from logic to biology to ethics, and aesthetics. Aristotle had a vast intellectual range covering most of the sciences and many of the arts, including biology, botany, chemistry, ethics, history, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, physics, poetics, political theory, psychology, and zoology. (2) He was also the founder of formal logic. Aristotle wrote an estimated of 200 works in his lifetime. He was the Author of a philosophical and scientific system, which became the framework for Christian Scholasticism and medieval

Though we’ve discussed many kinds of governments, ideal cities and even ideal rulers over the course of the semester, from Aristotle’s Politics to the city described in the Melian dialogue, there is one that undoubtedly left a greater on me than the other- the city described in Plato’s Republic. From Plato’s remarkably feminist ideals and vague sense of barebones socialism, there’s a lot in this city that I hypothetically would throw my support behind. This is not to say that I think that this is the “best” option of the cities that we studied options, or even that it would even work if applied to real life. However, the ideas brought up about how to create this city and what would be required of all it’s citizens in order to make it work are undeniably fascinating and are never black or white. But what I love about the Republic, and why it so personally resonates with and has impacted me, is that it brings up interesting questions about morality and how far one should go in order to create a perceived “perfect society”. Questions that there is no easy answer to.

This idea reminds of the Nietzsche’s Ubermensch, who is the one to power the others. The similarity of these ideas lies in the fact that in Elitist’s theory they assume that all people are not created equal: some are stronger, more intelligent, more artistic, etc. Of course, not all abilities lead to economic wealth or political power-however, those people who have the most of the particular abilities which a society rewards become the political elite. Here we can draw a line to cross out Marx’s idea that people are born equal and the only thing that makes them different is being attributed to certain social class and therefore, there personal characteristics defer the social structure-the economic structure. Another Elitist Gaetano Mosca proposed the idea that there is a ruling elite, so-called “Classe Politica” (political elite) and “Social forces”-those social and economic categories on whom the society depends on because of their particular abilities. In other words, not the whole layer of elite actually rules-political power is the representative one-social forces have a major influence in them. Moreover, political elite are also the representatives of the masses- all elites stabilize their rule by making it acceptable to the masses. This is achieved by “political formula”, e.g.:

In Plato’s The Republic, the theory of appointing a ruling class is a major aspect in his political theory of a just state. As communicated through Socrates, Plato believed in the appointment of only a few citizens of the just city that possess a soul that craves all truth, knowledge, wisdom, and through proper education are competent enough to rule the just state and to decide on legislative policies. In my paper, I will be arguing against Plato’s political theory of who is best fit to be chosen as leaders to rule the just state. I will argue that Plato places too much confidence in the morals of citizens and that the soul is naturally rational and those who are chosen to lead will not necessarily uphold justice and make the right decisions. Placing the powers of democracy in the hands of the masses is more secure rather than designating power to only a selected few because the masses know what they want and know more for what is best for themselves. Although Plato was correct in requiring that leaders must be knowledgeable, but the best way to approach this problem is to not exclude people but that all people should be given the right to decide what is the greater good for their own societies. Citizens should have the right to appoint their own rulers based on their own knowledge. I will also argue that Plato’s political theory of the just state is ideal and not practical because it has not yet existed.

Is life really about the 'money', the 'cash', the 'hoes', who has the biggest gold chain or who drives the shiniest or fastest car, who sells the most albums or who has the most respect? Aristotle challenges views, which are similar to the ones held and shown by rap artists such as Jay-Z and the Notorious B.I.G., by observing that everything in the universe, including humans, has a telos, or goal in life. He states that the goal of a human life is to achieve happiness or eudaimonia. I believe that Aristotle is completely correct in his reasoning of the purpose of human nature. He even explains how happiness is different for every person, and each different type of person has a different idea of eudaimonia. He then

It is in Book VII that Aristotle further elaborates on the polity, or “ideal city,” and the way it is composed (Somerville and Santoni 95). He begins chapter four by stating that the city-size of the state must be manageable in both population and size so that the “due supplies of life” (Somerville and Santoni 95) are available, it can be governed effectively, and foreigners cannot attain citizenship without the knowledge of the city-state (Somerville and Santoni 96). The power of a city-state should not be determined by its geographical size, but rather by its ability to provide the “purpose[s] of life” to its citizens (Somerville and Santoni 98). It must also have the ability to provide food, art, military equipment, revenues for war and internal changes, religion, and a method to decide what is in the public’s interest. Within the city-state, these duties will be performed by the

I will begin writing the essay first by describing Aristotle’s theory of the highest good, and the connections to his view of virtue. I will define the core concepts of the assignment i.e. happiness, virtue and the role of political science related to this matter .Then I will discuss the arguments relevant to the essay. Finally I will highlight the role of political science in views of Aristotle about the highest good

Aristocracy as a form of government is ruled by a philosopher king, and has it its base wisdom and reason. Ideal state is composed of 3 casts like parts: ruling cast made of kings, auxiliaries cast made of soldiers, and the majority of the people, who are allowed to own property and produce goods for themselves, but are required to sustain their rulers.