Politics, IV-VII
PHIL 2011
Book IV
Conclusion
Middle class role
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“The legislator should always include the middle
class in his government”
Whether it’s oligarchical or democratic;
“There only can the government ever be stable
where the middle class exceeds one or both of the
others”;
“…in that case there will be no fear that the rich
will unite with the poor against the rulers”;
“The arbiter is always the most trusted. And he
who is in the middle is an arbiter” (110).
Even Aristocracy needs
the middle class
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Aristocracy is one of the good regimes;
 Rule of few in behalf of all;
 However,
– “Many even of those who desire to form aristocratic
governments make a mistake, not only in giving too
much power to the rich, but in attempting to cheat the
people. There comes a time when out of a false good
there arises a true evil, since the encroachments of the
rich are more destructive to the constitution than those
of the people” (110).
Aristotle’s moderate
Distributism
in favor smallholders (e.g. farmers).
N.B. this does not make him an
egalitarian!
How both regimes deceive:
Oligarchy
 Rich merely fined for nonparticipation in assembly,
law-courts;
 Poor not motivated to
participate;
 Rich not permitted to
decline office;
 Poor not required to have
weapons or attend
gymnastic practice.
Democracy
 Poor paid to attend
assembly and courts;
 No penalty on rich for
non-attendance.
Mixture of
oligarchy & democracy (111)
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This might be a good solution to the defects of
each;
 Mixture of both regimes:
– Poor paid to attend
– Rich fined for non-attendance
– Property qualification such that number of citizens
exceeds those excluded (why?)
– Poor will be tranquil so long as “they are not outraged
or deprived of their property” [Machiavelli in the
Prince expresses a similar view].
Why the poor matter
“But to secure gentle treatment for the poor
is not an easy thing, since a ruling class is
not always humane” (111);
 Aristotle agrees with Solon’s criticisms of
the rich;
 Is this from compassion or from a concern
with the stability of regimes?
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Comparisons of offices in state
Oligarchy:
Deliberative:
war & peace
Magisterial:
Democracy
moderate vs
extreme forms
Some deliberate for All deliberate, are
all
supreme over laws;
use fine
E.g. Probuli;
regulate persons or
some vote, are
subjects
selected
Judicial: 8 types Few try cases
of courts
E.g. Council; all
vote/select from
all
Many try cases
Book VII
Aristotle’s ideal state
What is best way of life?
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Need to answer this in order to determine
best form of state;
“…those…lead best life who are governed in
the best manner of which their
circumstances admit” (166).
Goods necessary for good life
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Three kinds of goods necessary for best
(good) life:
–
–
–
–
External goods
Goods of body
Goods of soul.
What should be the ratio of these goods to each
other?
Role of external goods
“…happiness, whether consisting in pleasure [of
acting virtuously] or excellence, or both, is
more often found with those who are most
highly cultivated in their mind and in their
character, and have only a moderate share of
external goods” (emph. added).
What should be the ratio of these
goods to each other?
Necessity of all three is “almost universally
acknowledged” (166);
 Some (e.g. hedonists) set no limits to external
goods
 And require only a moderate excellence
 But for Aristotle
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– The “facts” show that “mankind does not acquire or
preserve the excellences by the help of external goods,
– but external goods by the help of the excellences.”
Limited role of chance (luck)
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Ancient Greeks placated gods to secure good fortune;
Aristotle implies this is not the way to secure happiness.
– Happiness depends to a degree on external goods, and therefore
luck
– “…it is for the sake of the soul that goods external and…of the
body are desirable at all” (167).
– “…herein…lies the difference between good fortune and
happiness; for external goods come of themselves and chance is
the author of them”;
– “…but no one is just or temperate by or through chance” (167).
But neither luck nor external goods are key to happiness;
Your own conduct is!
Good life = Happiness,
eudaimonia (Gr.)
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Aristotle aware of common Greek notion: doing well,
flourishing, pleasure
Nicomachean Ethics:
– Happiness = good life, highest good, good in itself
– H. = Pleasure, but how understood?
– As “life of grazing animals” (hedonism, amusement, relaxation or
other pastimes)? No! either slavish or means to other ends (NE
1095b17-20, 1176b30-35);
– “no one would allow that a slave shares in happiness (NE, 1177a510)
– As honor? “too superficial”! (NE, 1095b25)
– As wealth? No! only means to an end!
Relation of good to function
The good of a thing (its happiness) depends on its
function:
“…living is apparently shared with plants [and
sense-perception with animals], but what we
are looking for is the special function of a
human being….The remaining possibility, then,
is some sort of life of action of the [part of the
soul] that has reason” (NE, 1098a).
What kind of action?
Which way of life is best?
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Citizen, with obligations?
– If citizen, exercising constitutional or arbitrary rule?
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Alien, without any ties?
 Business?
 Military?
 Philosophy? The “contemplative” life, along with
that of the statesman, “appear[s] to have been
preferred by those who have been most keen in the
pursuit of excellence” (168).
Aristotelian happiness
– Self-sufficiency: “by itself it makes a life choiceworthy
and lacking nothing” (NE, 1097b15);
– Includes other ends (virtues) pursued for their own
sake, e.g. temperance, magnanimity, understanding;
– Happiness = activity, not a state (NE, 1176b)
– “…the human good turns out to be the soul’s activity
that expresses virtue” (NE, 1098a16-17)
– What is most happy life? Life of study, i.e.
PHILOSOPHY!
Philosophic (contemplative) life
“this activity is supreme since understanding [reason] is
the supreme element in us, and the objects of
understanding are the supreme objects of knowledge” (NE
1177a20)
 It expresses virtue
 It is continuous
 It involves leisure (activity of politician is not as leisurely)
 It is self-sufficient, has no end beyond itself;
 It is “god-like,” a life for him who has “a divine element in
him” (NE 1177b25-1178a).
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Necessity of excellence
“…neither individual nor state can do right actions
without excellence and wisdom”;
 “the happy state may be shown to be that which is
best and which acts rightly”;
 “Thus, the courage, justice, and wisdom of a state
have the same form and nature as the qualities
which give the individual who possesses them the
name of just, wise or temperate” (167).
 “…the excellence of the good man is necessarily
the same as the excellence of the citizen of the
perfect state” (91).
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Question
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Aristotle said that “the best life, both for individuals and states, is the
life of excellence, when excellence has external goods enough for the
performance of good actions”(p.168), and “the form of government is
best in which every man, whoever he is, can act best and live
happily”(p.168).
However, in a cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong, people may work
hard enough to earn a living, but they are not so happy, according to
some surveys about happiness. By contrast, the GNP [per capita
income?] in Bhutan is only 300 US dollars, but it is one of the
countries with the highest happiness indices in the world. So do you
think that the external goods we pursue are far more than we need ?
And is this why we are unhappy?