Page 46 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Western Political Thought

Notes 3. As an organism is composed of cells, so the state is composed of individuals. In both cases, the
component units contribute to the life of the whole.
4. An organism is constantly subjected to the process of constant wear and tear. Old and worn out
cells die out and their place is taken by the fresh cells formed by the blood. In the case of social
organism as well old and decrepit individuals die out and their place is taken by the newborns.
5. Health of an organism depends upon the health of the cells organs. In case they get diseased,
the whole organism suffers. In the similar way, health of the state depends upon the moral and
physical health of the individuals, and associations of individuals. In case they do not work
properly the efficiency and performance of the state is bound to suffer. There is thus a complete
interdependence of the parts and the whole in both cases.
6. Both organism and state exhibit a "similar cycle of birth, growth, decay and death. From these
points of agreement, the conclusion is drawn that state is an organism and there is a lot of
identity between the two. The state lives, grows and develops much as an individual does.
The theory inevitably leads to the assumption that the individuals comprising the state are
completely subordinated to the state just as the cells of the body depend for their life and existence
on the organism. Chop off a part of the skin, it ceases to exist.
This theory leads us, therefore, to the conclusion that an individual cannot exist outside the state.
The theory thus hits at individual freedom and inevitably leads to the idea of the establishment of
totalitarian state or fascism.
Self-Assessment

Choose the correct option:
1. Aristotle was born at ............... in Northern Greece.
(i) Macedon (ii) Athens (iii) Stagira (iv) None of these
2. Nicomachus was a court physician to king ............... .
(i) Amyntas III (ii) Alexander (iii) Xenocrates (iv) None of these
3. Aristotle joined Plato’s academy at the age of 17 years in ............... .
(i) 365 BC (ii) 366 BC (iii) 367 BC (iv) None of these
4. Aristotle spent the last year of his life at Chalcis in ............... .
(i) Greece (ii) Macedonia (iii) Euboea (iv) None of these.
3.5 Summary

• Aristotle has rightly been called a political scientist, for he defined the subject matter of
politics and identified its core elements, namely sovereignty of law, constitutionalism, faith
in moderation, conception of proportionate equality and just rewards, causes and remedies
of revolution and polity or the middle class state as the best practicable and stable political
system.
• All these topics were scrutinized and analyzed in the Politics. Rather than being a book, it
was a compilation of independent essays and lecture notes. In dealing with these themes:
• Aristotle not only laid the general principles of universal significance but also reflected the
prevailing Greek notion which is why it is both interesting and important—interesting in
showing the common prejudices of educated Greeks in his time and important as a source of
many principles which remained influential until the end of the Middle Ages.
• Aristotle’s treatment of the various themes in the Politics reflected his empirical and inductive
method. With the help of collected observation, common opinion and traditional notions,

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