Aristotle

25 July 2008

The best regimes

• What are the best regimes or constitutions?– Those where the rulers rule for the common

good

• Who ought to rule for the regime to be good?– Those with the best understanding of/best

ability to contribute to the common good = the virtuous

What is the common good?

• People in imperfect regimes will disagree about the common good– and hence will disagree about who ought to

share in rule (be a citizen)

Claims to authority

• What are the claims to rule?– Wealth = oligarchy– Freedom = democracy– Birth (a proxy for virtue) = aristocracy/kingship– Law = all “constitutional” governments

• All in a sense right and wrong

The role of the people

• The oligarch and the aristocrat dispute the claim of the people– The majority of the people are not good

judges of the common good: experts are (i.e., the virtuous)

– Most individuals, taken separately, are not all that virtuous

Is the crowd superior in wisdom to the few?

Count

Under what conditions is the majority superior to the few?

• The many must not be too vicious

• There must be some diversity of views and abilities that can be rationally shaped by deliberation

• The few must not be too superior in virtue

• The many are only wise collectively and only with regards to judging, not initiating policy

The role of the people

• Election: the people collectively are good judges of character

• Holding to account: the people are like the “users” of the common good, and hence are good at judging the performance of officials

Is this a defence of democracy?

• Democracy is not always wrong: “polity” is in fact a correct regime

• However, Aristotle refuses to conclude that it is the best form of government– People collectively are good at judging, not at

ruling

• There is, however, some role for the people in all correct regimes

Kingship and aristocracy

• The most reasonable claim to rule is that the best (the most virtuous) should rule

• Under what conditions then are kingship and aristocracy the best regimes?

Consider the banquet analogy

Why kingship and aristocracy are better

• The multitude together may be better than the single, random person

• But a few or one person might be better than the multitude together

• It would be unjust to treat these people equally with the rest

• Kingship/aristocracy by such people is therefore better than democracy

The rule of law disputes with absolute kingship

• Proponents of kingship:– Law only provides general principles, not

enough guidance for specific cases– The justice of law depends on the justice of

the constitution– Experts do not bound themselves by written

rules

The rule of law disputes with absolute kingship

• Proponents of law:– Individual judgments must include the general

principle: the law educates individual judgment

– Individual judgment can be corrupted, while the multitude or the few ruled by law is less corruptible

What is Aristotle’s view?

• In some cases absolute kingship is still better than the rule of law

Consider marriage

• Would you hire a detective to spy on your partner even if you thought they were good?

• Law as destructive of trust

Consider theocracy

Original view of regimes

• Regimes where the ruler rules in the common interest– Monarchy– Aristocracy– Polity

• Regimes where the ruler rules in the interest of a part– Tyranny– Oligarchy

• Rule of the wealthy

– Democracy• Rule of the poor

Six Basic Types

A revised view of regimes

• The best regime one can hope for (books VII and VIII), ruled by many good men

• Absolute kingship/aristocracy of one or many virtuous men (book III)

• Mixtures: polity, moderate democracy, moderate aristocracy (books IV-VI)

• Tyrannies: of one person, of the many poor, of the few rich

The best regime

• A regime of citizens who are all good men

• Who are good men?– People who have a fairly correct

understanding of the human good = the virtuous

– A correct understanding of the human good includes the common good

• Why is this best?

What is necessary for a regime to be composed of good people?

• A correct view of the good life, shared by the citizens• Freedom from necessity

– A moderate amount of wealth– A class of slaves or foreigners to labour (or machines!)

• Relative equality of wealth– Need to prevent divergence of material interests

• A small community, in a good site– Need to monitor the character of other citizens and prevent

invasion by less good regimes• Education

– Need to reproduce the correct view of the common good• Eugenics

– Need to preserve good natures

What would such a regime look like?

• Participation of all in deliberating about the common good

• Citizens would be just, moderate, courageous, etc.

• Use of leisure in activities which are good for their own sake: art, science, religion

• But also: private life would be tightly regulated, including “personal” decisions

How would such a regime act in the world?

• It would not pursue war for its own sake: participation in politics is not about the pursuit of power

• But it might assume leadership over other free poleis, and it would be fit to rule over natural slaves

Is Aristotle’s view of politics convincing?

• Some potential objections– There is no single or objectively correct view

of the common good and the good life– Aristotle’s view of the common good and the

good life is mistaken– Politics should be about matters about which

we can agree – protection against obvious harms – not about the good life