Page 49 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Unit 4: Aristotle’s Theory of Revolution

achieve genuine knowledge. That Aristotle was interested in more than a strictly scientific Notes
exploration of human nature is evident from the discussion of literary art (particularly tragedy) in
Poetics and the methods of persuasion in the Rhetoric.
Aristotle made several efforts to explain how moral conduct contributes to the good life for human
agents, including the Eudemian Ethics and the Magna Moralia, but the most complete surviving
statement of his views on morality occurs in the Nicomachean Ethics. There he considered the
natural desire to achieve happiness, described the operation of human volition and moral
deliberation, developed a theory of each virtue as the mean between vicious extremes, discussed
the value of three kinds of friendship, and defended his conception of an ideal life of intellectual
pursuit.
But on Aristotle’s view, the lives of individual human beings are invariably linked together in a
social context. In the Politics he speculated about the origins of the state, described and assessed
the relative merits of various types of government, and listed the obligations of the individual
citizen. He may also have been the author of a model Constitution of Athens, in which the abstract
notion of constitutional government is applied to the concrete life of a particular society.
Aristotle’s life seems to have influenced his political thought in various ways: his interest in
biology seems to be expressed in the naturalism of his politics; his interest in comparative politics
and his sympathies for democracy as well as monarchy may have been encouraged by his travels
and experience of diverse political system; he criticizes harshly, while borrowing extensively,
from Plato’s Republic, Statesman, and Laws; and his own politics is intended to guide rulers and
statemen, reflecting the high political circles in which he moved.
4.1 Aristotle’s Philosophy

Aristotle defines philosophy in terms of essence, saying that philosophy is “the science of the
universal essence of that which is actual”. Plato had defined it as the “science of the idea”, meaning
by idea what we should call the unconditional basis of phenomena. Both pupil and master regard
philosophy as concerned with the universal; Aristotle, however, finds the universal in particular
things, and called it the essence of things, while Plato finds that the universal exists apart from
particular things, and is related to them as their prototype or exemplar. For Aristotle, therefore,
philosophic method implies the ascent from the study of particular phenomena to the knowledge
of essence, while for Plato philosophic method means the descent from a knowledge of universal
ideas to a contemplation of particular imitations of those ideas. In a certain sense, Aristotle’s
method is both inductive and deductive, while Plato’s is essentially deductive.
Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle’s philosophy aims at the universal. Aristotle, however, found the
universal in particular things, which he called the essence of things, while Plato finds that the
universal exists apart from particular things, and is related to them as their prototype or exemplar.
For Aristotle, therefore, philosophic method implies the ascent from the study of particular
phenomena to the knowledge of essences, while for Plato philosophic method means the descent
from a knowledge of universal Forms (or ideas) to a contemplation of particular imitations of
these. For Aristotle, “form” still refers to the unconditional basis of phenomena but is “instantiated”
in a particular substance (see Universals and particulars, below). In a certain sense, Aristotle’s
method is both inductive and deductive, whole Plato’s is essentially deductive from a priori
principles.
In modern times, the scope of philosophy has become limited to more generic or abstract inquiries,
such as ethics and metaphysics, in which togic plays a major role. Today’s philosophy tends to
exclude empirical study of the natural world by means of the scientific method. In contrast,
Aristotle’s philosophical endeavors encompassed virtually all facets of intellectual enquiry.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 43