Plato and Aristotle are two of the most well known philosophers of all time. Aristotle was one of Plato's
students at his academy. Although Aristotle studied under Plato, ironically he differed on many ideas
about what he felt the ideal political regime would be. Plato believed the ideal regime would be The
Republic, where the power of decision making was in the hands of the few, or the philosopher kings.
Aristotle believed the ideal political system would be the Polity. Polity was a combination of oligarchy
and democracy. In Aristotle's system, power was in the hands of the many that ruled in the best
interest of the common good. In this paper we will explore what each thinker believes to be the ideal
system and why.
Plato believed the ideal regime would be the Republic. Plato believed that the goal of the ideal state
would be to establish justice. He believed that a just society would produce harmony as opposed to
conflict. Plato's ideal political system would consist of three classes, the guardians, the auxiliaries, and
the workers. The guardians are the ruling class and consisted of the philosopher kings. The auxiliaries
are the military warriors. The workers consist of the merchants, artisans, farmers, etc. Plato also
believes that it is necessary to tell the citizens just one "noble lie." He says that it is a needful
falsehood, in case a citizen wants to know how he came into a certain social class. This is what is
referred to as the myth of the metals. In this myth he will tell the people that they were originally
born out of the earth and that each person has a certain metal mixed into him. Those who are most
suited to rule have gold and this corresponds to the guardians. Those who have silver are the
auxiliaries, and those who have iron are the workers.
Originally the class of the guardians and the auxiliaries would be one and the same, generally referred
to as the guardians. These guardians would receive a special education. This education would include
two sections, the arts such as literature and poetry, and physical training. Plato would often condemn
a lot of the literature and poetry of his time because he believed that they sometimes promoted
unmoral values. Plato says in the Republic, "Shall we then casually allow our children to listen to any
old stories, made up by just anyone, and to take into their minds views which, on the whole,
contradict those we'll want them to have as adults?" He says that in many of these stories, the unjust
succeed and the just man often times ends up with the bad end of the situation. He even criticizes
Homer for this. Plato believed that four virtues should be promoted through the arts. They are
wisdom, justice, temperance, and courage. The second part of education would be physical training.
This training is to be more like war training than the physical training of athletes. Plato believes there
needs to be a balance of physical training and the arts in education. If there is too much physical
training it would make the guardians savage and if there were too much arts it would make them too
soft. After this education was completed, the guardians were split into two separate classes. The first
class is the future rulers (guardians) and the second is the warriors (auxiliaries), the second being
much larger in number than the first.
Plato believes this will result in a just society because each person will be doing the task that they are,
by nature, best suited for, and therefore be a society that most likely allows harmony to exist. Plato
believed an unjust society was one where the people are not doing the task that they are best suited
for. He believed that a society where everyone specializes in what they are naturally best suited to do
would yield the most just society. Plato even leaves room to allow women to become rulers and
warriors. He believes that if they have the aptitude of doing a task then they should be allowed to. He
says, "Innate qualities have been distributed equally between the two sexes, and women can join in
every occupation, just as much as men, although they are the weaker sex in all respects."
The Philosopher Kings are the one's who will rule this ideal society. Plato believes that philosophers
make the best rulers because of their superior ability to reason. He believes that it takes a wise ruler
to make a just state. He says, "Unless communities have philosophers as kings,' I said, or the people
who are currently called kings and rulers practice philosophy with enough integrity in other words,
unless political power and philosophy coincide, and all people with their diversity of talents who
currently head in different directions towards either government or philosophy have those doors shut
firmly in their faces there can be no end to political troubles, my dear Glaucon, or even to human
troubles in general, I'd say, and our theoretical constitution will never see the light of day."
Aristotle believed that polity was the ideal regime. Aristotle believed that the city was a political
partnership. He believed that the inhabitants of the city are to work together as partners to pursue the
common good. Aristotle believed that the highest good was the virtue and the happiness of the
citizens. He believed that this was the purpose of the city, to make it possible for the inhabitants to
achieve happiness through virtue. Aristotle says that correct regimes are those aimed at the common
good. He believed that incorrect regimes were those that looked toward the advantage of the rulers or
other personal interests rather than the common good. He believed that kingship, aristocracy, and
polity were good regimes that served the political interest of the community as a whole. Tyranny,
oligarchy, and, democracy were incorrect regimes that were "selfish" and were aimed at satisfying
personal interests or the interests of a certain group of people.
Aristotle believed that polity was the best attainable regime. He defines it as mixture of oligarchy and
democracy. He believed that the polity would reinforce the best parts of each regime. In a polity the
many rule in the interest of the political community as a whole. Aristotle believes that the problem
with democracy is that the many rule in their own interests. The wealthy then have no political power
and their interests are not taken into account. He believes that a democracy is almost like the rule of
the poor and calls it a perverse form of polity, as opposed to oligarchy which is the rule of the
wealthy. A polity is like a democracy where the interests of the wealthy are taken into account and
protected by the laws. Aristotle says, "The sign that a good mixture of democracy and oligarchy has
been achieved is that the same constitution is described both as a democracy and as an oligarchy." He
believes that a good polity should be able to be referred to as either a democracy or an oligarchy, but
is neither of the two. Aristotle gives an example of this by saying, "In oligarchies the rich are fined if
they do not serve on juries, and the poor receive no pay for serving. In democracies on the other
hand, the poor are given pay while the rich are not fined. To follow both of these practices is to adopt
a common or middle term between them; and for that reason such a method is characteristic of a
constitutional government', which is a mixture of the two constitutions (1294a30)." In a polity for
example the poor would be paid for serving and the rich would be fined for not serving. By combining
these two approaches, it would result in both classes showing up to serve and therefore the power
would be equally shared by both classes.
Aristotle believes that for a polity to last, it is important that it have a large middling element, or
middle class. He believes that the middle class is in the best position. They are the most likely to
follow reason. Aristotle says this referring to the rich and the poor, "Thus there are those who are
ignorant how to rule and only know how to obey, as if they were slaves, and on the other hand, there
are those who are ignorant how to obey authority and only know how to rule as if they were masters.
The result is a city, not of freemen, but only of slaves and masters: a state of envy on the one side
and of contempt on the other." It is in the middle class that partnerships and friendships are most
likely to develop because everyone is on the same level. This will also result in less conflict because
there is much equality between everyone. There is less envy of one another and less contempt.
Factions are also less likely to form in the middle class. A large middle class which outnumbers the
rich and the poor will result in a stable form of government and have a good balancing effect.