ARISTOTLE

1
ARISTOTLE

• The Politics c335BC

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ASSOCIATIONS

• Family/household
• Members/relationships
• husband-wife
• Father-children
• Master-slave

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FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD

• Rule
• Patriarchy/natural
• Ownership/ natural superiority
• End
• sustenance and material necessities
  reproduction, moral education

4
VILLAGE/CLAN

• Members multitude of families
• Rule patriarchy monarchical or collective
• Ends justice religion friendship

5
STATE (POLIS)

• Members like and equal
• Rule shared by all members
• End general advantage of all members the good
  life

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GOOD LIFE external, ethical and intellectual
goods

• External goods
• Health
• Wealth
• Friendship

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GOOD LIFE

• Ethical Virtues
• Courage-military life
• Honesty-business
• Liberality-civic life
• good temper-private life
• temperancephysical life

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GOOD LIFE

• Intellectual virtues (qualities of mind)
• Practical wisdom (ethical)
• Pure wisdom (contemplative)

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CONSTITUTIONS

• Criteria
• Numbers/proportion one, few and many
• Fitness virtue and equality
• Object of rule the common good vs the good of
  the ruler
• Class

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Right and Wrong Constitutions

• Kingshiptyranny
• Aristocracyoligarchy
• (Simple) politydemocracy

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Oligarchs versus Democrats

• Oligarchs
• Claim superiority
• Basis wealth
• Ignore equal birth superior wisdom, virtue and
  physical capacity

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Oligarchs versus Democrats

• Democrats
• Claim equality
• Basis free birth
• Ignore superior wisdom, goodness, wealth

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The One Best

• For
• Disinterestedness
• Intelligence, virtue
• Against
• Exclusion
• Sharing
• Isolation

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The Better Sort

• For
• Disinterestedness
• Intelligence and virtue
• Sharing collective responsibility
• Against
• Exclusivity
• Relative virtue and the danger of corruption

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The Many

• Equality and sharing
• Physical and military capacity
• Relative goodness
• Strength of numbers
• Evaluating

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MIXED GOVERNMENT

• Functions
• Office-holding
• Selecting and judging
• Selection
• Democratic lot free birth as the qualification
• Oligarchic vote property qualification

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MIDDLE CLASS STATE Complex polity

• The Attributes of the Middle Classes
• Rationality
• Obedience
• Moderate affluence
• Equality
• Legalism