ARISTOTLE

AGE

400 BC Father of Political Science Father of Comparative Politics Father of Rule of Law

CONCERN

 Criticism of Plato - For any answer think ..how to compare with plato —
possible ??
 How to prevent revolutions
 Best Practicable
 158 constitutions

SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

 Thinker of Common Sense - Important to be worldly wise than wise in the world of
ideas
 Golden Mean is the Golden Rule - Moderation
 Not to sacrifice good for the best
 Functionalist - Conservative - Piecemeal social engineering
o Fundamentalist - No change at all
 Teleology - school of destiny

INFLUENCES

Plato

Father = Physician+Philosopher

BOOKS - "Politics"

Theory of State

“Man is by nature a Political Animal”

 NEEDS
 Importance of state
 Nature created man in such a manner that it becomes essential for him to live under
the state (teleology)
 In greece - sophist and socratic
 Sophist=> State is artificial => Man is prior to state
 Socrates, Plato & Aristotle => State is natural & State is prior to man
 State is prior to man— he says -
o Man is not self-sufficient. Has various needs
o Creates a family to fulfil these needs. But all his needs are not met
o Village=> State
 o State capable of fulfilling all his needs =>So highest of all associations and
deserves highest of man’s obedience.
o Aristotle says “State comes into existence for the sake of life and continues for
the sake of good life”
o Good life is not possible in the absence of state.
o He achieves fulfilled life and self-actualization.
o Man is a social animal — In absence of state - Worst animal
o Chronologically- man comes first - but he becomes a man only after he lives
in a state
 Aim of man =>excellence ,whereas aim of State => self-sufficiency - capable of
fulfilling all the needs of man
 Teleological argument — Man is destined to live in the state
 In words of Aristotle - "One who can live without a state is either a beast or god but
cannot be a man”
 Different conceptions of state -> idealists, classical liberals, positive liberals,
anarchists etc.

“The Authority of statesman differs from the authority of Master”

 Context - Criticism of Plato’s view of the state

 Plato
o State = Family
o PK = Father - orders to be obeyed like children without question
o Sacrifice Personal for the sake of Political
 Aristotle
o State = Family of families— Diff interests
o Laws governing families not be dictated by one man
o Laws should be a result of deliberation among diff families
o Reflect reconciliation among competing interests
o No need to sacrifice Personal for political
o Maintain a balance -Co-exist
 Plato - Excessive unity
 Aristotle emphasis on “Unity in diversity"

Other scholars on authority. Machiavelli – Prince; Hobbes – state; Rousseau- people

Theory of Citizenship

 2 Universal principles
o Just Soli- citizenship by birth
o Jus sanguine – citizenship by blood
 Takes a substantive view of Citizenship
 Aristotle - goes beyond the 2 principles to say —> Citizenship = Duty towards the
state- to participate in legislative and judicial functions
 Direct democracy - POLITY
  Only those capable of performing these duties are citizens - Adult males - propertied
class
 Excludes
o Women - Limited understanding, household tasks
o Old people - Health
o Children - Immature
o Slaves - Absence of reason
 Conclusion
o Criticised for - narrow composition

But appreciated - SUBSTANTIVE meaning of citizenship than just formal status - duty to
participate and take interest in the affairs of the state (Inspiration for CIVIC
REPUBLICANISM of Hannah Arendt)

Theory of Slavery

 Slavery = Natural and Desirable ==> Unavoidable

 Slavery
o Legal - prisoners of war
o Natural - Born to be slaves — Aristotle concerned with this
 2 types of people
o Mentally strong— Masters
o Physically strong— Slaves
 Qualities of Master
o Reason- to take decisions
o Courage- to bear the consequences
 Qualities of slaves
o Cannot take a decision or lack the courage to bear the consequences
o Need other people to take the decision for them
 Utility of slavery
o Economic system - slaves - physical strong - work for long hours
o Political system - masters - time to participate in the events of the state
o Masters - time to develop intellect
o Slaves - Someone to take decisions for him & Development of virtues by
staying with master
 Link it with Plato
 Critical eval
o Criticised for justification of slavery
o Institution of slavery against - Principles of Human dignity
o Example of black slavery.
o Immanuel Kant - "Each man is an end in himself. He should not
be treated as means to an end”

Theory of Property
  Common Ownership - Common use — Everyone’s property is no one’s
responsibility
 Common ownership Individual use - Very exploitative (African dictators)
 Individual ownership - Common use —> Take what u need, donate the rest —
> Golden mean between the two.
 Similar to Gandhi’s theory of trusteeship
 Presence of large middle class averts revolution.
 Property
o Anything in which a man contributes his labor
o Not by deceit and fraud
o 2 types
 Animate - Slaves
 Inanimate - Property
o “Doing favors and helping friends, guests or mates is most pleasant, and
this only happens when property is private.”
o “It is a difficult business for the people to live together. It is more difficult
when property is involved”

Theory of Justice

 2 types
o Distributive justice — Public policy (Legislature )
o Rectificatory justice — For the sake of justice (Judiciary )
 Principle of Proportion
 Merit

"It is unjust to treat equals unequally. It is equally unjust to treat unequals equally”

 Aristotle — supports Meritocratic society

 ToJ concerned with 2 types - Distributive and Retributive.
 Both have Principles of Proportion.
 ToJ<=>ToS(linked)
o Reason + Courage = Masters and rest slaves
 ToJó Theory of Revolution
 Follow ToJ ==> No rebellion or revolution
 NO ABSLOUTE EQUALITY ( doctor = nurse )
 PROPORTIONATE EQUALITY
 Criticism
o Merit as sole criterion — not applicable in societies like India

Similarity with Plato’s theory.

Other schools of thoughts.

Theory of Constitution
  Father of Comparative Politics
 Govt = Constitution = State
 No difference
 158 Constitutions
 Diagram

“Polity is the best practicable form of government”

 Plato = Best, Aristotle = Best Practicable

 Aristotle -
o Placed PK as best — in theory — impossible to find. Practicable - Tyranny
o Tyranny- worst from
o Democracy is the 2nd worst form - Rule of ignorant poor — Demagogic
leaders — Tyranny
o Polity- Rule of middle class - best —moderate wealth and moderate reason
o Oligarchy<=> Polity <=> Democracy — Golden mean
o Middle class best practicable
 Rich <=> Distrust<=> Poor
 Both trust middle class
 Rich = Arrogance , Poor = Ignorance —> So not law abiding
 Middle class - moderate wealth - law abiding - men of reason
o Aristotle supports rule of the middle class as the best practicable.
o Society with extreme wealth inequalities — not stable

Different scholars have given different conceptions.

“Law is a reason without passion"

 Rule of law compared with Rule of Person (PK)

 Aristotle - Biggest disciple and critic of Plato — Critiques Plato for giving absolute
powers to PK
 Plato say
o It is foolish to limit the expert practitioner of medicine with a book of
medicine
o No law or ordinance is mightier than Knowledge
 Aristotle -
o We should not aim for the best but the best practicable
o PK is difficult to find
o Even if found — no guarantee — corrupt when in power — Reason and
appetite
o PK —> Tyranny
 So he says Not to sacrifice the good for the best
 Rule of law = Rule of reason with added benefits => best practicable
 RoL and RoR guide man — right and wrong
 Law is the outward manifestation of reason
 Reason - inside the soul, Law - outside in the book
  Collective wisdom; Wisdom of ages
 Superiority of RoL>RoR.
 Father of Rule of Law
 Plato in “The Laws” accepted PK as ideal and established RoL

Aristotle's ideal state is Plato’s second best state

Theory of Revolutions

 Aristotle gives the earliest example of political sociology in comparative politics.

 Issue of political obligation, revolution and resistance has been a matter of eternal
concern in intellectual tradition of political theory.
 Aristotle — extremely sensitive— rebellions and instability.
 He calls even a small change - revolution.
 Exhaustive study on the causes of rebellion
 Gives both general and particular
o General Causes
 Commonest - Feeling of inequality =>Feeling of rebellion & sedition
=> Revolution - State should be careful of this feeling
 So => Middle class is the best — moderation
 Corruption & carelessness of officials
 Influx of foreigners
 High handedness of persons in power
 Regime specific/Particular
o Monarchy- Family quarrels and jealousy ==> Feeling of obedience to law
o Oligarchy- Concentration of wealth in few hands - inequality - Poor conspire
against rich ==> Rich should work in the interest of the poor
o Democracy- Demagogic leaders- Rich will conspire against poor = Tyranny
==> Increase people’s stakes in the govt
 How to deal with revolution
o Treat the general causes
o Treat regime specific causes
o Feeling of patriotism, law abidingness and civic virtues
 Still relevant today. Golden mean of Plato (= Extreme
idealist) and Machiavelli (=extreme realist)
 Aristotle = Idealism + Realism (Pragmatism)
o Idealist - State is prior to man— uses dialectics to make his point

Realist - Theory of Revolution — reality of politics

Aristotle as "Father of Pol science”

 Compare with Plato

 Whitehead- The entire Western Political thought is nothing but footnotes to Plato
and Aristotle
 Plato - Father of Pol Phil , Aristotle - rightly - FoPS
  Not to be interpreted in technical terms of science — but as Comparative and
inductive
 Practical bent of mind
 Ideas
o Plato - world of ideas, Realty is just a shadow of ideas,
o Aristotle - does not overlook the reality of the world of matter
 Theory of forms
o Plato — idea is independent of matter
o Aristotle - matter is inherent to the idea - THEORY OF IMMANENT
FORM
 A — More imp for a ruler to be worldly wise than wise in the world of ideas
 Scientific-
o Not best but best practicable
o Inspired by father— Physician + Phil — Used method of bio in classifications
of constitutions
o Analyse the Theory of Revolutions

Treated as “Father of Rule of Law” — so appropriate to call — “FOPS”