2. POLIS
• POLIS – city koinonia or political
association
• It is the most soverign form of association
since it incorporates all other forms of
association
3. ASSOCIATION
• The basic unit of association is a
household
• Next is a village
• Ultimate association is the city
Man by nature is a political animal. Only as part of the city can people
fully realize their nature, separate from the city, they are worse than
animals - Aristotle
4. Three kinds of relationship that
make up a household
• Master and slave – is a mutual relationship as means by
which the master secures his livelihood. The master
possesses rational and commanding powers while the
slave lacking these is fit only to carry out menial duties
• Husband and wife – It resembles the statesman to his
people in that the husband and wife share the same free
nature. The male, by this nature is more fit than the
female to command and it justifies the fact that is is the
husband not the wife who rules the household.
• Parent and child- It resembles the king to his subjects as
the father rules by virtue to his children’s love for him
and their respect of his age
5. Art of acquisition
• It is the fourth element of a household
• It pertains to the satisfaction of basic
needs
Two kinds of acquisition
• Natural acquisition – necessities which is
an indispensible part of management of a
household
• Unnatural acquisition – accumulating
money of its own sake
6. Citizen
•
•
•
•
•
•
a citizen is someone who shares in the administration of justice and the
holding of public office.
a citizen is anyone who is entitled to share in deliberative or judicial office.
citizenship requires that the citizen be free from the necessary tasks of life
Aristotle points out that though citizenship is often reserved for those who
are born to citizen parents, this hereditary status becomes irrelevant in
times of revolution or constitutional change, during which the body of
citizens alters.
Manual laborers they are necessary to a city but states that not everyone
who is necessary to the city can be a citizen but still in oligarchies in which
citizenship is determined by wealth, a rich manual laborer may qualify for
citizenship.
all citizens were required to contribute in some way. Assemblies of citizens
made decisions in bodies whose modern equivalents are law courts and city
councils
7. Being a good citizen and being a
good man
• a good citizen to the
extent to which one
upholds and honors the
constitution Because
there are different kinds
of constitutions there are
also different kinds of
good citizens.
• a good man has a
Perfect virtue that is the
only standard for being a
good man
so it is possible to be a good citizen without being a good man. Aristotle
suggests that a good ruler who possesses practical wisdom can be
both a good citizen and a good man.
8. Attacks on plato
• Plato's Republic’s main
thrust is to be that
citizens should share in
common as much as
possible, including wives,
children, and property.
The goal of this
community is to achieve
as much unity in the city
as possible
• the city involves an
essential plurality:
different people must
make different
contributions, fulfill
different roles, and fit into
distinct social classes.
Otherwise, a city will not
be able to perform the
many functions
necessary for it to remain
self- sufficient.
9. Attacks on plato
• Men share the
women of the city and
that children be taken
from their mothers at
birth and raised
collectively in state
nurseries
• By this proposal, no
child would receive
proper parental care,
and the lack of family
ties would render
citizens less capable
of showing friendship
and love
10. Attacks on plato
• Plato remarks on the
community of
property, stating that
the practice of
generosity, an
important virtue,
requires individual
ownership of property
• The problems people
often associate with
ownership of private
property arise not
from privatization but
from human
wickedness. The
solution is to share
education, not
property
11. Attacks on plato
• Plato’s guardian is the • that it is dangerous to
sole class that
leave the governance
governs a city
of the city entirely in
the hands of one
class.
12. Attacks on Plato’s Laws
• Plato's proposed city requires a vast territory but
makes no provision for safe relations with
neighbors.
• Generosity, like temperance or moderation,
should be a guiding principle regarding wealth.
• Plato says that land should be divided into even
lots and distributed evenly between citizens but
makes no allowance for fluctuations in
population
13. Problems with the spartan
government
• the system of serfdom leaves the ever-present
danger of revolution.
• the undue freedom given to women presents
many hazards, the worst of which is a dowry
system that hurts the economy and the military.
• the Ephors, or overseers, are elected almost at
random from the general populace.
• both Ephors and councilors are susceptible to
bribes.
• the state's two kings are not elected on the basis
of merit.
14. Dissatisfaction with crete and
carthage
Crete
Carthage
• The Cretan system is
elitist, susceptible to
feuds, and has only
remained safe thanks
to its isolation from
other states
• While Carthage is
superior to both
Sparta and Crete, it
rewards the rich too
much, which
encourages
greediness.
18. Numbers of rulers
• In rare cases in which
one individual clearly
outstrips the rest, it may
be just to grant that
individual absolute
kingship.
• a single person cannot
possibly deal with all the
city's affairs. Further, a
single individual is more
susceptible than a larger
body to corruption.
• Each individual person
may not be particularly
commendable, the
populace as a whole is
less susceptible to error
and should share
collectively in the judicial
and deliberative offices of
government.
• a better judge as to
whether the people are
being governed well.
19. •
•
Ruler to • Laws be allowed to
vs laws cannot
If the governing body is allowed
determine what is just, then
democracies, oligarchies, and
tyrannies would then be just. And
though aristocracies and kingships
may rule justly, these systems
deprive the rest of the citizens of
the honor of holding civic office
more adaptable than laws to
particular circumstances
•
determine automatically what is
just, since they may be formulated
unjustly.
laws can only deal with
generalities, and there are many
particular cases on which the law
is not clear.
•well-constituted laws should ultimately be sovereign, and governing bodies should deal only
with particular cases not covered by general laws.
•A sovereign law should confer benefits according to each person's contribution to the city
• deliberative and judicial assemblies that are made up of all citizens should rule in cases where
the law is ambiguous.
•The governing body include all citizens and that they govern should have a common interest
and that the laws be well constituted and directed toward the general good
•The law should be the absolute sovereign, and the decisions of the government should only be
made in those cases where the law is unclear.
•The government should not have the power to make decisions that go counter to the law
•If the law is well constituted, this will ensure that, even if a corrupt government is in power, it
cannot do too much damage
20. • All constitutions are based on a notion of justice
• Justice is the end goal of politics
• distributive justice is based on a cold, practical
assessment of an individual's value to society.
• Merit is determined by one's contribution to the
functioning and well-being of the city
• since people make unequal contributions to society (and
hence are unequal), it is only just to grant them unequal
benefits
• Since all citizens take part in deliberative and judicial
office, all citizens contribute equally but there are
outstanding individuals who clearly make a far more
significant contribution than their peers and It would be
unjust to place such an individual on an equal level as
his peers, since he is making an unequal contribution
Though Aristotle is reluctant to endorse kingship for a number of reasons, he
ultimately concludes that in some cases it may be the best solution.
