Man also renders anthrpos in its generic sense; this term is otherwise translated human being. Anr is sometimes rendered male; in some contexts, the translation husband is often equally appropriate. For Periander cf. (2) Gorgias of Leontini therefore, perhaps partly by way of raising a question and partly in irony, said that just as mortars are made by mortar makers, so Larisaeans are made by craftsmen, since some of them are Larisa makers.6 (3) The matter is simple. Solon and Theramenes are commonly cited as possibilities, but what seems wanted is the leader of a hegemonial state; the most plausible candidate would appear to be Philip of Macedon. The kings and the senate are comparable to the kings and senators there; (4) yet it is better [handled in Carthage] insofar as the kings do not derive from the same family, nor an average one, but if any is outstanding whether [in birth or virtue, it is from such families that they are chosen, and the senators too] are elected from these rather than [occupying the office] on the basis of age.110 For as they have authority in great matters, if they are insignificant [1273a] persons they do great harm; and they have already done harm to the city of the Spartans. It belongs to the excellent legislator to see how a city, a stock of human beings,13 and every other sort of community will share in the good life and in the happiness that is possible for them. We laid it down that the slave is useful with respect to the necessary things, so that he clearly needs only a small amount of virtueas much as will prevent him from falling short in his work through licentiousness or cowardice. (10) But when some have authority in some matters [and all in some]for example, when all have it concerning war and peace and audits, and officials in other matters, these being chosen either by election or by lotit is aristocracy or polity. See GOVERNING BODY; POLITY. One is concerned with audits; another is for anyone committing a crime with respect to common matters; another is concerned with what bears on the regime; a fourth is for both officials and private individuals and concerns disputes over fines; a fifth is that concerned with private transactions of a certain magnitude. 9. CHAPTER 5 (1) Whether anyone is of this sort by nature or not, and whether it is better and just for anyone to be a slave or not, but rather all slavery is against nature, must be investigated next. (6) And the argument from the example of the arts may be held to be falsethat it is a poor thing, for example, to heal in accordance with written rules, and one should choose instead to use those who possess the arts. ORDER (kosmos): order, beauty, adornment (also rendered ordered beauty); the visible universe or cosmos (rendered universe). When all select but not at the same time, and select either from all or from some, either by lot or by election or both, or select from all and some from some [either by lot or by election or]67 by both (by both I mean some offices by lot and others by election), it is characteristic of polity. [1260a] For if he is licentious and cowardly he will perform none of his duties. 1 has tous polemious (enemies) instead of tous polemous (wars), perhaps rightly. What things bring about revolutions in regimes and how many and of what sort they are; what are the sources of destruction for each sort of regime and into which sort of regime a regime is most particularly transformed; further, what are the sources of preservation both for regimes in common and for each sort of regime separately; and further, by what things each sort of regime might most particularly be preservedthese matters must be investigated in conformity with what has been spoken of. (21) The one that is closest to this must of necessity always be better, the one that is more removed from the middle, worse, provided one is not judging with a view to a presupposition. 98. 3.14.13. Hence even when they have no need of assistance from one another, they no less yearn to live togethernot but that the common advantage too brings them together, to the extent that it falls to each to live finely. 39. So the transgressor could never make up later for the deviation from virtue he has already committed. The arguments of those who dispute against kingship are, then, essentially these. Since aristocracy tries to assign preeminence to the best of the citizens, it is asserted that oligarchies too are [1294a] made up particularly of gentlemen. 42. Deprived of prerogatives (atimos) was a technical term for persons formally stripped of citizenship. For there are certain persons who are possessed by this motion, but as a result of the sacred tuneswhen they use the tunes that put the soul in a frenzywe see them calming down as if obtaining a cure and purification.37 (5) This same thing, then, must necessarily be experienced also by the pitying and the fearful as well as by the generally passionate, and by others insofar as to each falls a share in such things, and there must occur for all a certain purification and a feeling of relief accompanied by pleasure.38 In a similar way the purificatory39 tunes as well provide harmless delight to human beings. (3) Similarly, although citizens are dissimilar, preservation of the community is their task, and the regime is this community; hence the virtue of the citizen must necessarily be with a view to the regime. 16). According to Jaeger, books 78, reflecting the Platonic concern with a single ideal form of government, were composed during Aristotles stay in Assos, when the influence of the Academy was still strong. Michael Browner (7) It is the same way with good birth as well; for they consider themselves well born not only among their own but everywhere, but barbarians only at homethe assumption being that there is something well born and free simply, and something not simply [but relatively], as Theodectess Helen says: As offshoot of divine roots on either side Who would dare call me serving-maid?30 (8) When they speak in this way, it is by nothing other than virtue or vice that they define what is slave and what is free, who is well born and who is ill [1255b] born. 74. MASTER (despots): the head of household in his capacity as master of slaves. This is considered by many to be one and the same as the sort mentioned because of the resemblance between them; and while it is not the same as the one spoken of, it is not far from it either. There are also some who live pleasantly by combining several of these in order to compensate for the shortcomings of one way of life, where it happens to be lacking in sufficiency. Kant : Reason as the Realisation of Nature, Summary: Aristotle on the City and the Political, "According to Nature". Some or all of these writings are generally supposed to be identical with the so-called exoteric discourses (hoi exterikoi logoi) cited on a number of occasions in the extant treatises. The reference would seem to be to 2.47. For it is as a result of the bringing together of these that the kinds of democracy arise, and that there are several sorts of democracy that differ, and not a single sort. The one is by nature, while the other is not by nature but arises rather through a certain experience and art. (25) Also, the way Socrates selects the rulers is hazardous; for he has the same persons always ruling. Hence among some peoples there is a law that those who are neighbors of a bordering people may not share jointly in deliberation concerning wars against them, the assumption being that they are not capable of deliberating finely on account of their private interest. (16) Hence, persons from the lowest assessments and of whatever age share in the assembly and deliberate and adjudicate, while those from the greatest assessments are the treasurers and generals and hold the greatest offices. (7) That it is not the same in an unqualified sense, therefore, is evident from these things. BOOK 8 1. 30. It is not lawful to rule a city in this fashion justly, let alone unjustly; and it is possible to conquer others unjustly.11 Yet not even in the other sciences do we see this: it is not a function of the doctor or the pilot to either persuade or compel persons to submit to their rulepatients in the one case, voyagers in the case of the other. The Greek term is kosmoi. (13) So according to this argument the multitude ought not to be given authority either over the choice of officials or over their auditing. 5.9. Rowe, Christopher J. But prudence is the only virtue peculiar to the ruler. (12) And it is reasonable that those who have bought an office will become habituated to profiting from it, since they spent so much in order to rule.114 For it would be odd if, when even a respectable person who is poor will want to profit from office, a worse one will not want to when he has already spent so much. DOWNLOAD FILE 121. 10.13. Philip was officially designated leader (hgemn) in his capacity as head of the League of Corinth, and the constitution of the League contained measures that were designed to moderate the struggle of rich and poor within member cities.14 If this interpretation is correct, the implications are considerable. [1298b] When all do not take part in deliberation but only those elected to do so, and they rule in accordance with law, it is oligarchic as before. Or literally according to prayer (kat euchn), an expression Aristotle uses in a quasi-technical way to characterize the best or (as it is often translated) ideal regime. It is odd that one who plans to introduce education19 and who holds that it is through this that the city will be excellent should suppose it can be corrected by things of that sort, and not by habits, philosophy, and laws, just as the legislator in Sparta and Crete made common what is connected with property by means of common messes.20 [1264a] (16) Nor should one ignore the fact that it is necessary to pay attention to the length of time and the many years during which it would not have escaped notice if this condition were a fine one; for nearly everything has been discovered, though some things have not been brought together, while others are known but not practiced. 1). (2) We must make a beginning that is the natural beginning for this investigation. (11) There was once a law in Macedonia as well that any man who had not killed an enemy had to wear a tether for a belt; among the Scythians one who had not killed an enemy was not permitted to drink from the cup passed around at a banquet; among the Iberians, a warlike nation, they fix in the ground around a tomb as many spits as the number of enemies [the deceased] has killed; (12) and there are many other things of this sort among other nations, some of them prescribed by laws, others by customs. 1101a1416. CHAPTER 10 (1) It is also clear what the answer is to the question raised at the beginning whether the art of getting goods belongs to the expert household manager or political ruler or not, but should rather be available to him. Reading katatynchanein with Kraut rather than kat euchn (according to prayer) with the MSS or kata tychn (according to fortune) with Dreizehnter. Pastime (diagg) will emerge as a major theme of Aristotles discussion of education and culture in books 78. As regards the aggregate of property, too, one should see whether it would not be better to determine this differently and more clearly. I mean, for example, concerning the number of citizens and the amount of territory. Phaleas would perhaps object that this is what he himself is saying; for he supposes that cities must have equality in these two things, property and education. (2) It is a sign of a well-organized regime if the people voluntarily acquiesce in the arrangement of the regime, and if there has never been factional conflict worth mentioning, or a tyrant. 8. (2) For it is not easy to distinguish what its power is or for the sake of what one should partake in it, whether for the sake of play and rest, as in the case of sleep and drinking (for in themselves these do not belong among excellent things, but are pleasant and at the same time put a stop to care, as Euripides has it;16 (3) hence music too is assigned to these and allsleep, drinking, and musicare treated in similar fashion; and some place dancing among them as well); or whether it is rather to be supposed that music contributes something to virtue, the assumption being that, just as gymnastic makes the body of a certain quality, so also is music capable of making the character of a certain quality by habituating it to be capable of enjoying in correct fashion; (4) or whether it contributes in some way to pastime and prudence; for this is to be posited as the third of the things mentioned. WebAristotles Politics . TRADITIONAL (patrios): deriving from ones forefathers, ancestral. Nic. 1.2. The seemingly pointed use of the word persuaded in this context might be intended to suggest some involvement in the matter by Aristotle himself. (2) First, then, there must of necessity be a conjoining of persons who cannot exist without one another: on the one hand, male and female, for the sake of reproduction (which occurs not from intentional choice butas is also the case with the other animals and plantsfrom a natural striving to leave behind another that is like oneself); on the other, the naturally ruling and ruled, on account of preservation. II. 40. (9) Selfishness is justly blamed; but this is not having affection for oneself simply, but rather having more affection than one shouldjust as in the case of the greedy person; for practically everyone has affection for things of this sort. And there are other such features of tyranny, in Persia and among the barbarians, which have the same power. Thus generals attack their monarchsas Cyrus attacked Astyages, for example, out of contempt both for his way of life and his power, because his power had deteriorated while he himself lived luxuriously, and the Thracian Seuthes attacked Amadocus when he was his general.103 (25) Some also attack for several of these reasons, for example, both out of contempt and through profit, as Mithridates attacked Ariobarzanes.104 The attempt is made for this reason above all by those who are bold in their nature and hold a military prerogative from their monarchs; courage coupled with power produces boldness, and it is on account of both of these that they attack, on the assumption that they will conquer easily. One of the fundamental works of Western political thought, Aristotles masterwork is the first systematic treatise on th. By contrast, it is clear that Alexander became increasingly disinclined to treat Greece or Greeks on a privileged basis, whether out of a high-minded devotion to Cynic principles or a fascination with the trappings of oriental despotism. CUSTOM (ethos): the custom of a city or the habit of an individual; also translated habit. The related verb ethizein is rendered to habituate. D DEFINING PRINCIPLE (horos): principle, standard, limit, characteristic feature. For example, the warriors, farmers, and artisans could be the same persons, and all lay claim even to virtue, and suppose themselves capable of ruling in most offices. Thus there are also some who blame him for dissolving the other elements of the existing regime by giving authority to the court, which was to be chosen from all by lot. After a survey of ancient ideas on the mixed constitution (the framework for thinking about the stability of political communities in the ancient world), I show how Cicero adapted these ideas to analyze the Roman situation of his time. 69. Man is an object of several of these sciences under a variety of aspects. (2) One should legislate with respect to this community with a view to the partners themselves and the length of time of their lives together, in order that they arrive together in terms of their ages at the same juncture and their capacities not be dissonant, the male still being capable of generation and the female not capable, or the female capable and the male not; for these things create conflicts and differences among them. Many of those who want to set up aristocratic regimes as well [as polities] thoroughly err not only by the fact that they distribute more to the well off, but also by deceiving the people. Property is also used to translate ktsis; see POSSESSION. The identification has been made by Wilhelm Oncken, Die Staatslehre des Aristoteles (Leipzig, 1875, 2:267), and Maurice Defourny, Aristote:tudes sur la politique (Paris, 1932, 534 ff.). (5) Hence in all sensible cities, if all the springs are not similar or those of such a sort are not ample, a distinction should be made between those for sustenance and those for other needs. 38. During the age following up to five years, which one should not apply to any sort of learning or to necessary exertions, so that their growth is not impeded, they should engage in enough movement that they avoid bodily idleness. 7. 12 Diehl. But if something of this sort is the case, for the sake of what would they have to learn it themselves, and not have a share in the learning and the pleasure through others performing it, like the kings of the Persians and the Medes? (7) For having them take part in the greatest offices is not safe: through injustice and imprudence they would act unjustly in some respects and err in others. 43. 5. The second Book of the Politics has been object of multiple considerations, but it has called the attention of the scholars mainly because of its detailed criticism of Plato's political projects, especially the Republic. (6) Those who govern themselves in this way must necessarily be finely governed. (15) How then will they calculate the votes? Oxford. This, therefore, is fitting for children in infancy, while education is a rattle for the young when they are bigger. Nor, similarly, if certain persons dwelled in separate places, yet were not so distant as to have nothing in common, but had laws not to commit injustice toward one another in their transactionsfor example, if one were a carpenter, one a farmer, one a shoemaker, one something else of this sort, and they were ten thousand in number, yet had nothing in common except things of this sort, exchange and alliance; not even in this way would there be a city. (7) Since some have written on these mattersas Chares of Paros and [1259a] Apollodoros of Lemnos on farming both of grain and fruit, for example, and others on other thingsthey may be studied there by anyone concerned with them; but, in addition, what has been said in various places concerning the ways some have succeeded in getting goods should be collected.49 (8) For all these things are useful for those who honor the art of getting goods. Prior to the twentieth century, a number of editors concluded that the order of books 46 and 78 should be reversed, and actually printed the text accordingly.39 The main obstacle to doing so is that the final sentence of Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics seems to refer to our Politics in a way that supports the order of these books as found in the manuscript tradition. 41. (9) But the multitude must be free persons acting in no way against the law, except in those cases where it necessarily falls short. Amphipolis had been originally settled by Athenians, who remained few in comparison with inhabitants drawn from the region. Oxford, 1982. Homer thus spoke finely of Zeus when he addressed as father of men and gods the king of them all. It lies across the entire sea, and most of the Greeks are settled around the sea: it is not far distant from the Peloponnese on the one side, and on the other from the part of Asia around Cape Triopium and Rhodes. 52. Nic. thornton lockwoodis Assistant Professor of Philosophy atQuinnipiac University. 2930, 3.14.34. I follow the text of Dreizehnter (apart from his unnecessary supplement) rather than the reconstruction of Rassow, but suspect a lacuna following to men at the end of b31; I have supplied what I take to be the sense. The decisive factor, however, was the broad movement of thought inspired by Machiavelli and developed by such figures as Bacon, Hobbes, Locke, and Montesquieu, which would revolutionize mens understanding of politics and profoundly shape the character of modern societies. [Text] Saunders, Trevor. In the epic language of the quotation, singing (aeidein) almost certainly refers to the recitation of poetry (to a simple musical accompaniment) by a professional bard (aoidos), but Aristotle seems to use the quotation in support of the view that singing in the ordinary sense is most pleasant. [Translation] Keyt, David. 78). (25) The teaching of music is fitting in relation to the nature of those of such an age, for on account of their age the young do not voluntarily put up with anything that is not sweetened, but music by nature belongs among the sweetened things. 110. The reference to retailers of stories (hoi mythologountes) would seem to be particularly to Ctesias, the historian of the Persian court (see FGH 688F1.2327 for his account of Sardanapalos). (4) Further, those who are well off are held to possess already the things for the sake of which the unjust commit injustice; this is why they are referred to as gentlemen and notables. Charondas and Zaleucus (seventh century BC) were sometimes connected with the circle of Pythagoras. But in all arts and sciences both of these should be kept in hand, the end and the actions directed to the end. 22. If so, the other is as well. Lygdamis became tyrant of Naxos around 540 BC; see Herodotus 1.61 and 64, Ath. loop: true, Though subject to renewal every year, the office accumulated considerable power, particularly in the field of foreign policy, during the tenure of Lysander late in and after the Peloponnesian War. 71. For the safety of the ship in its voyage is the task of all of them, and each of the sailors strives for this. The related verb ktasthai is rendered to acquire or to possess; ktsis is rendered property. POWER (dynamis): the capacity or potential of a thing in a general sense (dynamis derives from the common verb dynasthai, to be able); the nature or character of a thing as expressed in its potential; power in a specifically political and military sense; a military force; also rendered capacity. Dynastoi, a term referring to exceptionally wealthy and powerful men, is translated the powerful; cf. Any leader is then adequate to make revolution, particularly when the leader comes from the oligarchy itself, as happened in Naxos in the case of Lygdamis, [1305b] who later became tyrant of the Naxians.43 (2) Factional conflict that has its beginning point from others44 also involves several varieties.