Page 35 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Unit 3: Aristotle’s Life and His Conception of Human Nature and State

followed by a general revolt against Macedonian rule. When Athens declared war on Macedonia, Notes
Aristotle thought it was wise to leave the city, not only fearing for his life, but also denying Athens
a second chance to commit a crime against philosophy, the first being the trial and execution of
Socrates.
Ironically, in spite of his close links with Alexander, and the latter’s world conquests, Aristotle
remained oblivious of the fundamental changes in the political complexion of the city states. He
continued to see the self-sufficient and self-governing city state or the polis as his ideal, at a time
when the polis was in its twilight period, being relegated to history. All this happened over a 16-
year period, when Macedonia incorporated the city states into an empire, and Alexander began to
forge links between the Greeks and non-Greeks. Curiously, Aristotle’s political outlook and belief
“did not reflect these changes, nor did he make any effort to combat these. In that sense, “the
Politics is a retrospective anachronism”.
Aristotle spent the last year of his life at Chalcis in Euboea. He died in 322 BC at the age of 62, on
account of “chronic indigestion rendered acute by overwork”, as certified by his physician.

The most well-known of Aristotle’s work were the Politics, the Nicomachean Ethics
and the Endemian Ethics or on the soul.

Critique of Plato
The influence of Plato on Aristotle was profound and pervasive. Aristotle shared with Plato many
of the basic perspectives enunciated in the Republic, namely the hierarchy of human nature, justice
as a relation or order among parts, and the inevitability of social classes. But he also diverged from
his master in several significant ways, namely on the ideal regime, the dimensions of ethics, and
the causes of revolution.
On the death of Plato, Aristotle paid tribute to him as a man whom evil men should abstain from
praising, and who was the first to demonstrate both in terms of his own life and his writings that
it was possible to be, simul-taneously, good and happy. Aristotle was equally appreciative and
critical of Plato. Much of his criticism was made when Plato was alive. Though he was the most
well-known and the best among the Platonists, he was not a thorough-going Platonist. The fact
that Aristotle could differ from his master speaks highly of Plato, who encouraged his disciples to
develop a critical perspective, regarding nothing as a sacred cow, including that taught by one’s
teacher. Aristotle remarked that ‘Plato was a friend; Truth was a greater friend’.
Aristotle, like Plato, believed in the unified theory of sciences, but disagreed on how this unity
was to be achieved. Like Plato, he was concerned with knowledge as a search for the causes and
explanations of things. However, Aristotle, true to his scientific temperament, tried to explain,
more than merely observe and record, data. Plato and Aristotle as logicians were concerned with
problems of ontology, providing answers or clarifications to philosophical problems and puzzles.
Aristotle learnt in the academy that “knowledge must be systematic and unified. Its structure is
given by logic, and its unity rests at bottom on ontology. It is essentially explanatory. It poses deep
philosophical problems”.
Aristotle did not believe in Plato’s optimistic claim that all knowledge could be founded upon a
single set of axioms. He recognized the independence of the sciences, but stressed the need for a
system. He divided knowledge into three major categories: productive, practical and theoretical.
Productive knowledge was concerned with the making of things, for instance rhetoric and poetics.
Practical science focused on action, namely how one ought to act in different circumstances with
the knowledge that one possessed. Both politics and ethics belonged to this category. Theoretical

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 29