Page 39 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

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

Aristotle pointed out that politics was not merely about the rule of the capable. A stable polity Notes
would have to accommodate the aspirations of different claimants. In Plato’s Ideal State, not only
were workers prevented from assuming office, but even among the guardians not everyone was
in a position to aspire for one. As opposed to rule by perfect persons, Aristotle preferred
constitutional rule, for it not only checked arbitrary power, but also ensured a periodic rotation of
office-bearers. Though he feared the levelling tendencies within democracies, he was more
concerned about the detrimental effects, both moral and practical, of an aristocratic monopoly on
social and political honours. Furthermore, he was skeptical of Plato’s contention that the knowledge
of the wisest ruler(s) was better than the customary law:
There is another matter which must not be ignored—the teaching of actual experience.
We are bound to pay some regard to the long past and the passage of the years, in
which these things (advocated by Plato as new discoveries) would not have gone
unnoticed if they had been really good. Almost everything has been discovered already,
though some of the things discovered have not been co-ordinated, and some though
known are not put into practice.
For Aristotle, a good ruler ought to be worldly-wise rather than wise in the world of ideas.
Moreover, from his own experience he could realize clearly and strongly the difficulty in attaining
truth (scientific truth), though one could pursue it indefinitely:
He does not reject (Plato’s) discovery of the nature of scientific knowledge, nor his
belief that the pursuit of such knowledge is the proper task of the philosopher; but he
introduces a distinction which had been unknown to Plato, between the theoretical
and the practical exercise of reason. Scientific knowledge is possible only of what is
necessary and universal... but they are not found in the realm of human affairs which
is the field of practical activity.
Like many of Plato’s later-day critics, Aristotle argued that Plato deprived his guardian class the
material and psychological reasons to be happy on the grounds that the object of legislation was
the happiness of the whole state.
It is impossible for the whole of a state to be happy unless most of its parts, or all, or at any rate
some, are happy. The quality of being happy is not of the same order as the quality of being even.
The quality of being even may exist in a whole without existing in either of its parts: the quality
of being happy cannot ... . If the guardians are not happy, what are the other elements of the state
which are?
If the guardians were not happy, then it was possible that they would replicate the same kind of
life for others, defeating the purpose of justice as defined by Plato as making a soul happy.
Aristotle was critical of denying the lower classes the right to political opinions and participation.
Such a denial would make them hostile. Unlike Plato, Aristotle did not dismiss their opinions as
irrelevant. Moreover, Aristotle could perceive that participation achieved consensus on political
issues or “opinions”, and:
... among the most important and exacting tasks of government in a civilized society is
the distribution of various goods, such as public office and power, social recognition
and prestige, wealth and privilege. The question posed by the distributive role of
government is: from what elements ought a judgement about distribution be fashioned?
In maintaining that community “opinions” ought to be a vital element, the central
issue does not revolve around the truth or falsity of these opinions, but around the
special kind of rationality demanded of a judgement that is to apply to the whole
community.
Aristotle shared with Plato his dislike for democracy, but, unlike Plato, was willing to accept
democracy as unavoidable. This reluctant acceptance of democracy as inevitable in Aristotle was

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 33