Politics
Politika
The city-state exists by nature to enable the good life, not merely survival, and the best constitution is not a single ideal form but whatever mixed arrangement of rule best fits a given population's actual character and circumstances.
- the city as a natural community for the good life
- man as a political animal
- empirical classification of constitutions
- a mixed constitution over one ideal form
- critique of Plato's Republic on practicality
Aristotle's Politics begins from the claim that the polis is a natural community, existing not merely so people can live but so they can live well, and that man is by nature a political animal. Building on an empirical survey of over a hundred actual Greek constitutions, most now lost, Aristotle classifies governments by whether they serve the common good or the rulers' private interest, and argues, against Plato's Republic, that no single best constitution suits every city; the best practical constitution mixes elements of oligarchy and democracy to fit a given population. Later books examine revolution and constitutional instability, the education of citizens, and household economics, including a much-debated defense of natural slavery.
Commentary
Readers' notes on this work. No account needed - be scholarly, or at least civil.
Loading commentary…