Aristotle

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Aristotle

• Books 4, 6, and 8

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• Hence it is obvious that government too is the
  subject of a single science, which has to
  consider what government is best and of what sort
  it must be, to be most in accordance with our
  aspirations, if there were no external
  impediment, and also what kind of government is
  adapted to particular states. 4.1.1

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4

• Any change of government which has to be
  introduced should be one which men, starting from
  their existing constitutions, will be both
  willing and able to adopt, since there is quite
  as much trouble in the reformation of an old
  constitution as in the establishment of a new
  one, just as to unlearn is as hard as to learn.
  (what men perceive to be goodwhether it is
  good--is a limit on political action)
• And therefore, in addition to the qualifications
  of the statesman already mentioned, he should be
  able to find remedies for the defects of existing
  constitutions, as has been said before. 4.1.7

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Lincolns opposition to slaverywhy not
immediately emancipate all slaves?

• Example

With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without
it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who molds
public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts
statutes or pronounces decisions
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Book 2pages 80 82 (Jowett translation)

• Is political science like other arts and sciences
  (e.g. medicine)
• Should it reward any innovator who proposes
  useful changes?
• Aristotle answers yes and no

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• Yes
• What is old is not always good. New may be
  better(e.g. the peoples of old may have been
  rustic and ignorantwhy retain their laws now?)
• Laws are general, not particular, and may need to
  adjust to new circumstancesneed to be updated

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• No (laws should not be changed)
• Political laws differ from laws in science.
  Political laws are obeyed out of habit (II.8.24).
• a readiness to change from old to new laws
  enfeebles the power of the law
• Canadas endless Constitutional bickering??
• Who should change the laws? Should they all be
  changed or only some? Who decides that?

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Constitutionregime

• A constitution is the organization of offices in
  a state, and determines what is to be the
  governing body, and what is the end of each
  community. But laws are not to be confounded with
  the principles of the constitution

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Three types of regimes and their perversions have
been listed

• Kingship
• Aristocracy
• Constitutional (polity)

• Tyranny
• Oligarchy
• Democracy
• democracy is the most tolerable of the three bad
  forms 4.2.2

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What explains the variety of regime types?

• The reason why there are many forms of government
  is that every state contains many elements.
• Different families (rich, poor, middling, armed,
  unarmed, etc)
• Differences of rank and merit, etc
• Difference character (virtue, not virtuous)

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• If a regime is an arrangement of offices, and how
  they are distributed among the various types of
  people in the state, there will be many ways of
  arranging these officeshence different types of
  regimes.

13

• Clarifying oligarchy and democracy
• Oligarchy is rule of rich when they are few
• Democracy is rule of the free (usually poor) when
  they are the majority 4.4.6

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• Parts of the statelisted 4.4.9 ff.
• No slaves mentioned, why?
• Some parts are necessary for survival, other
  parts add grace to life
• But the highest, most essential part, is the
  class engaged in defence, and justice.
• these are more essential to the state than the
  parts which minister to the necessaries of life.

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types of democracy

• A key distinction, it seems
• Democracy under law
• Democracy where people rule without recourse to
  law
• Demogogues emerge, flatter the people, rule
  eventually becomes despotic
• Further, those who have any complaint to bring
  against the magistrates say, 'Let the people be
  judges' the people are too happy to accept the
  invitation and so the authority of every office
  is undermined. Such a democracy is fairly open to
  the objection that it is not a constitution at
  all for where the laws have no authority, there
  is no constitution. The law ought to be supreme
  over all, and the magistracies should judge of
  particulars, and only this should be considered a
  constitution.
• E.g. asking Canadians en masse to judge suspected
  criminalsit might be democratic, but it would
  undermine the authority of the judge (and it
  would not necessarily lead to better verdicts)
• Issue of referenda

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• Oligarchy
• Property qualification--excludes others from
  participating in offices and deliberation.

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• Advantage to having democracy among farmers and
  those with moderate fortunes
• When the class of husbandmen and of those who
  possess moderate fortunes have the supreme power,
  the government is administered according to law.
  For the citizens being compelled to live by their
  labour have no leisure and so they set up the
  authority of the law, and attend assemblies only
  when necessary. 4.6.2

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• If people are paid to serve in office, this frees
  them from other cares
• It empowers democrats
• One needs leisure time apart from necessary
  things in lifeto engage in politics.

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• Polity
• A mixture of oligarchy/aristocracy and democracy
  (but which tend more toward democracy)
• Democracy freedom
• Oligarchy wealth
• Aristocracy virtue. The distribution of office
  according to merit is a special characteristic of
  aristocracy
• How far can one go in mixing? Cautiongood laws
  if not obeyed are not good laws 4.8.6.
• Perhaps one can only go so far in the direction
  of democracy and still have good government
  (non-despotic). You can be excessively democratic.

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• Wealth is often (not always) a sign of nobility
• If one builds a place in regime for wealthy, one
  hopes nobility will come in its train. This may
  be the best one can hope for?

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Finding the Meani.e. middle way

• (3) There is a third mode, in which something is
  borrowed from the oligarchical and something from
  the democratical principle. For example, the
  appointment of magistrates by lot (by a roll of
  the dice, literally) is thought to be
  democratical, and the election of them
  oligarchical democratical again when there is no
  property qualification, oligarchical when there
  is. In the aristocratical or constitutional
  state, one element will be taken from each- from
  oligarchy the principle of electing to offices,
  from democracy the disregard of qualification.
  Such are the various modes of combination. 4.9.4

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Middle Class is Good

• it will clearly be best to possess the gifts of
  fortune in moderation for in that condition of
  life men are most ready to follow rational
  principle. But he who greatly excels in beauty,
  strength, birth, or wealth, or on the other hand
  who is very poor, or very weak, or very much
  disgraced, finds it difficult to follow rational
  principle. 4.11.5
• But this is rare 4.11.16

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• The legislator should always include the middle
  class in his government if he makes his laws
  oligarchical, to the middle class let him look
  if he makes them democratical, he should equally
  by his laws try to attach this class to the
  state. There only can the government ever be
  stable where the middle class exceeds one or both
  of the others, and in that case there will be no
  fear that the rich will unite with the poor
  against the rulers. 4.12.4-5

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Book 6

• The basis of a democratic state is liberty. .
  .this they affirm to be the great end of every
  democracy.
• One principle of liberty is for all to rule and
  be ruled in turn,
• whence it follows that the majority must be
  supreme, and that whatever the majority approve
  must be the end and the just.
• Democrats Every citizen must have equality.
  Consequence? The poor have more power than the
  rich, because there are more of them, and the
  will of the majority is supreme.
• Another principle of liberty is that a man
  should live as he likes. This, they say, is the
  privilege of a freeman
• whence has arisen the claim of men to be ruled by
  none, if possible, or, if this is impossible, to
  rule and be ruled in turns and so it contributes
  to the freedom based upon equality.

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Liberty gone too far?

• Every man should be responsible to others, nor
  should any one be allowed to do just as he
  pleases for where absolute freedom is allowed,
  there is nothing to restrain the evil which is
  inherent in every man. But the principle of
  responsibility secures that which is the greatest
  good in states the right persons rule and are
  prevented from doing wrong, and the people have
  their due. 6.4.7
• Randomness (being led around by ones appetites)
  is opposite of true freedom. to live life at
  random is slavish
• The truly free men are least at liberty to act at
  random, because all things are already ordained
  for them They are fundamentally ruled in this
  sense in terms of following a pre-established
  rational order.

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Book 8

• No one will doubt that the legislator should
  direct his attention above all to the education
  of youth for the neglect of education does harm
  to the constitution.
• The citizen should be molded to suit the form of
  government under which he lives. For each
  government has a peculiar character which
  originally formed and which continues to preserve
  it.
• The character of democracy creates democracy, and
  the character of oligarchy creates oligarchy and
  always the better the character, the better the
  government. 8.1.1

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• The customary branches of education are in number
  four they are-
• (1) reading and writing,
• (2) gymnastic exercises,
• (3) music, to which is sometimes added
• (4) drawing.
• 1,2,4 are usefulmusic is not. (8.3.1-3)
• Recall, though, politics does not aim at the
  useful, but rather at the whats best. See 3.9.12

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Liberal Educationeducation of/for the free
(liberal) person

• But leisure of itself gives pleasure and
  happiness
• The busy man is not at leisure, hence not
  experiencing happiness
• What is he busy at? Work, i.e. obtaining the
  means to life and leisure
• If all education aims at job training, it
  educates only with respect to the means of life,
  not the purpose of life, which is happiness and
  leisure
• Citizens need an education in how best to enjoy
  leisure.

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The role of music in education

• pleasure, varies according to the habit of
  individuals
• the pleasure of the best man is the best, and
  springs from the noblest sources.
• there are branches of learning and education
  which we must study merely with a view to leisure
  spent in intellectual activity, and these are to
  be valued for their own sake 8.3.7

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• To be always seeking after the useful does not
  become free and exalted souls.

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Education to Virtue

• Do not educate to one virtue (courage) and
  neglect the other virtues (e.g. Sparta and
  courage)
• Educate for nobility, for the noble are
  courageous, and have many other good qualities in
  addition. 8.4.5

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• Music. . .may it not have also some influence
  over the character and the soul? 8.5.16
• It excites the emotions of the ethical part of
  the soul (we can be made to feel pity, pride,
  etc. by music)
• Besides, when men hear imitations, even apart
  from the rhythms and tunes themselves, their
  feelings move in sympathy. 8.5.17

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• Virtue means rejoicing and loving and hating
  aright (in the right way at the right time with
  respect to the right things)
• Rhythm and melody supply imitations of anger,
  gentleness, courage, temperance and of virtues
  and vices generally
• This is true of no other sense (except sight to a
  limited extent)

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• Paid (professional) performers vulgarize music
• The vulgarity of the spectator tends to lower the
  character of the music and therefore of the
  performers they look to him- he makes them what
  they are, and fashions even their bodies by the
  movements which he expects them to exhibit.

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That was then, this is nowGreek aulos player ---
Rosie and Boy George