Politics, IV-VII

PHIL 2011

Book IV

Conclusion

Middle class role

“The legislator should always include the middle class in his government”

Whether it’s oligarchical or democratic; “There only can the government ever be stable

where the middle class exceeds one or both of the others”;

“…in that case there will be no fear that the rich will unite with the poor against the rulers”;

“The arbiter is always the most trusted. And he who is in the middle is an arbiter” (110).

Even Aristocracy needs the middle class

Aristocracy is one of the good regimes; Rule of few in behalf of all; However,

– “Many even of those who desire to form aristocratic governments make a mistake, not only in giving too much power to the rich, but in attempting to cheat the people. There comes a time when out of a false good there arises a true evil, since the encroachments of the rich are more destructive to the constitution than those of the people” (110).

Aristotle’s moderate Distributism

in favor smallholders (e.g. farmers).N.B. this does not make him an egalitarian!

How both regimes deceive:

Oligarchy Rich merely fined for non-

participation in assembly, law-courts;

Poor not motivated to participate;

Rich not permitted to decline office;

Poor not required to have weapons or attend gymnastic practice.

Democracy Poor paid to attend

assembly and courts; No penalty on rich for

non-attendance.

Mixture of oligarchy & democracy (111)

This might be a good solution to the defects of each;

Mixture of both regimes:– Poor paid to attend– Rich fined for non-attendance– Property qualification such that number of citizens

exceeds those excluded (why?) – Poor will be tranquil so long as “they are not outraged

or deprived of their property” [Machiavelli in the Prince expresses a similar view].

Why the poor matter

“But to secure gentle treatment for the poor is not an easy thing, since a ruling class is not always humane” (111);

Aristotle agrees with Solon’s criticisms of the rich;

Is this from compassion or from a concern with the stability of regimes?

Comparisons of offices in state

Oligarchy: moderate vs extreme forms

Democracy

Deliberative: war & peace

Some deliberate for all

All deliberate, are supreme over laws; use fine

Magisterial: regulate persons or subjects

E.g. Probuli; some vote, are selected

E.g. Council; all vote/select from all

Judicial: 8 types of courts

Few try cases Many try cases

Book VII

Aristotle’s ideal state

What is best way of life?

Need to answer this in order to determine best form of state;

“…those…lead best life who are governed in the best manner of which their circumstances admit” (166).

Goods necessary for good life

Three kinds of goods necessary for best (good) life:– External goods– Goods of body– Goods of soul.– What should be the ratio of these goods to each

other?

Role of external goods

“…happiness, whether consisting in pleasure [of acting virtuously] or excellence, or both, is more often found with those who are most highly cultivated in their mind and in their character, and have only a moderate share of external goods” (emph. added).

What should be the ratio of these goods to each other?

Necessity of all three is “almost universally acknowledged” (166);

Some (e.g. hedonists) set no limits to external goods

And require only a moderate excellence But for Aristotle

– The “facts” show that “mankind does not acquire or preserve the excellences by the help of external goods,

– but external goods by the help of the excellences.”

Limited role of chance (luck)

Ancient Greeks placated gods to secure good fortune; Aristotle implies this is not the way to secure happiness.

– Happiness depends to a degree on external goods, and therefore luck

– “…it is for the sake of the soul that goods external and…of the body are desirable at all” (167).

– “…herein…lies the difference between good fortune and happiness; for external goods come of themselves and chance is the author of them”;

– “…but no one is just or temperate by or through chance” (167). But neither luck nor external goods are key to happiness; Your own conduct is!

Good life = Happiness, eudaimonia (Gr.)

Aristotle aware of common Greek notion: doing well, flourishing, pleasure

Nicomachean Ethics:– Happiness = good life, highest good, good in itself– H. = Pleasure, but how understood?– As “life of grazing animals” (hedonism, amusement, relaxation or

other pastimes)? No! either slavish or means to other ends (NE 1095b17-20, 1176b30-35);

– “no one would allow that a slave shares in happiness (NE, 1177a5-10)

– As honor? “too superficial”! (NE, 1095b25)– As wealth? No! only means to an end!

Relation of good to function

The good of a thing (its happiness) depends on its function:

“…living is apparently shared with plants [and sense-perception with animals], but what we are looking for is the special function of a human being….The remaining possibility, then, is some sort of life of action of the [part of the soul] that has reason” (NE, 1098a).

What kind of action?

Which way of life is best?

Citizen, with obligations?– If citizen, exercising constitutional or arbitrary rule?

Alien, without any ties? Business? Military? Philosophy? The “contemplative” life, along with

that of the statesman, “appear[s] to have been preferred by those who have been most keen in the pursuit of excellence” (168).

Aristotelian happiness

– Self-sufficiency: “by itself it makes a life choiceworthy and lacking nothing” (NE, 1097b15);

– Includes other ends (virtues) pursued for their own sake, e.g. temperance, magnanimity, understanding;

– Happiness = activity, not a state (NE, 1176b)

– “…the human good turns out to be the soul’s activity that expresses virtue” (NE, 1098a16-17)

– What is most happy life? Life of study, i.e. PHILOSOPHY!

Philosophic (contemplative) life

“this activity is supreme since understanding [reason] is the supreme element in us, and the objects of understanding are the supreme objects of knowledge” (NE 1177a20)

It expresses virtue It is continuous It involves leisure (activity of politician is not as leisurely) It is self-sufficient, has no end beyond itself; It is “god-like,” a life for him who has “a divine element in

him” (NE 1177b25-1178a).

Necessity of excellence

“…neither individual nor state can do right actions without excellence and wisdom”;

“the happy state may be shown to be that which is best and which acts rightly”;

“Thus, the courage, justice, and wisdom of a state have the same form and nature as the qualities which give the individual who possesses them the name of just, wise or temperate” (167).

“…the excellence of the good man is necessarily the same as the excellence of the citizen of the perfect state” (91).

Question

Aristotle said that “the best life, both for individuals and states, is the life of excellence, when excellence has external goods enough for the performance of good actions”(p.168), and “the form of government is best in which every man, whoever he is, can act best and live happily”(p.168).

However, in a cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong, people may work hard enough to earn a living, but they are not so happy, according to some surveys about happiness. By contrast, the GNP [per capita income?] in Bhutan is only 300 US dollars, but it is one of the countries with the highest happiness indices in the world. So do you think that the external goods we pursue are far more than we need ? And is this why we are unhappy?