Page 45 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

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

The aim of the state for Aristotle was: Notes
... to produce cultured gentlemen—men who combine the aristocratic mentality with
the love of learning and arts. This combination existed in the highest perfection in the
Athens of Pericles, not in the population at large but among the well-to-do. It began to
break down in the last years of Pericles.

3.4 Organic Theory of State
The basic idea of the organic theory is to show that the state is, in its nature, like a biological
organism or a living being and that the relation between the state and the individual is the same
as between an organism and its cell. The organismic theory is essentially a biological concept
which describes the phenomena of the state in biological terms. According to this theory, the state
is not a mere aggregation of individuals, but an organism having parts and organs which arc
related to one another in the same way as the different organs of an animal or a plant are related
to one another. The theory is as old as political thought itself. Plato compared state to 'A' and man
to 'a': it is an individual magnified. He compared the rulers, warriors and working classes to
wisdom, courage, and appetite of the individual respectively. Aristotle drew a comparison between
the symmetry of the state and symmetry of the body and believed that the individual is an
intrinsic part of the society. Cicero, a Roman philosopher, also makes a passing reference to this
theory. He likened the head of the state to the spirit that rules the body. Hobbes compared the
state to a huge, imaginary monster called the Laviathan, which is but an artificial man, of great
strength and stature. According to him the state could suffer from human ailments like pleurisy,
scabies and boils etc. Rousseau, a French philosopher, too, compared the "body politic" to the
"Human body", both of which he said possessed the "motive power" of "force" and "will" (the
legislative power and the executive power). The former was the "heart" of the state; the latter its
"brain". Blunschli, a German philosopher, found a striking resemblance between the state and an
organism. According to him the state is not a lifeless mechanism. It has life and spirit. It is not
merely a collection of individuals just as an oil painting is not merely a collection of drops of oil-
paint. The state has its own personality independency as that of the individual comprising the
state. Idealists described the state as a moral organism but according to Spencer the state is a living
organism. He draws an elaborate analogy between the state and a living organism in the following
manner:
1. Both state and an organism show a similar process of growth and evolution from simplicity to
complexity. State in the beginning was just a tribal organization but it has developed from that
primitive stage to the modern complex structure with a multiplicity of functions. An organism
also exhibits similar process of growth. An embryo in the body of the mother is just a lump of
flesh but slowly grows to a complete whole with various organs having variety of functions.
Both grow from inside outwards. Each evolves by adjustment and response to environments.
In process of growth each undergoes individualization, specialization and differentiation of
both organs and functions.
2. Both state and organism have three main systems ; a sustaining system; a distributory system;
a regulating system. Sustaining system of an organism consists of digestive system by which
food is digested and life of an organism, is sustained. In the case of the state there is a
corresponding sustaining system which consists of agriculture and industries by virtue of
which the State is sustained. The distributing system in an organism consist of circulatory
system by which blood is distributed to various parts of the body. In the case of the state, the
distributing system consists of transport and communication. The regulating system of an
organism consists of brain and nerves. Governmental and Military system constitute the
regulating system in the State. There is thus a parallelism between the ways in which animal
and social life are preserved.

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