Aristotle (364-322 BC)
Biographical Data
Aristotle was born
in Stagira, in Thrace, to a well-connected family, since his father was the
personal physician to Amyntas II, king of Macedonia. Aristotle went to Athens
in his youth and was a pupil of Plato for about twenty years. After that, he
spent several years at the court of Hermias, Prince of Atarneas, inAsia Minor.
When Hermias was overthrown, Aristotle fled the country.
Subsequently he was
then invited to the court of the Macedonian king Philip, where he became tutor
to King Philip’s son Alexander, who later became Alexander the Great.
Shortly after Alexander
became king of Macedonian, Aristotle returned to Athens, where he founded a
school called the Lyceum. The system of thought he instituted there became
known as the "Peripatetic," given the penchant for teachers and
students to walk around during their lectures.
Aristotle is often called
the father political science, which is justified not only by the vastness of
his political writings, but also by the influence of his ideas. His analysis is
deep, thorough, and complete, encompassing both Greek philosophy and known
history.
In addition, he was
an astute observer of competing governments within Greeks and barbarian cities
and nations.
Political Writings
The Politics
All human associations
and relations are formed with the aim of achieving some good. The Greek
city-state, or polis, is the environment which fosters human relations, by
means of its institutions such as families, demes, the agoras, trade
associations, private property, and elected government. Aristotle concludes
that “man is a political animal,” who can only achieve the good life by living
as citizens in an orderly state.
After discussing
various theoretical and actual models current at his time, Aristotle attacks
Plato’s Republic and Laws, without
much success. In addition, he criticizes other contemporary philosophers
and the constitutions of Sparta, Crete, and Carthage.
Nichomachean Ethics
The Nichomachean
Ethics is a treatise in ethics; but the end of the book Aristotle declared that
the inquiry into ethics necessarily follows into politics.
The Rhetoric
Aristotle considered
rhetorical skills: the ability to compose, give speeches, and make persuasive
arguments, one of the most important skills a successful politician could
possess. In his famous book The Rhetoric,
Aristotle outlines the three basic elements of the rhetorical arts: logos
(logic), pathos (emotion), and ethos (truth).
Other Writings
The majority of the
other writings of Aristotle has come to us in fragmentary form and
disorganized, from which many scholars deduce that the oldest manuscripts may
actually be lecture notes taken by students.
Aristotle's
writings cover a wide range: logic and metaphysics, mathematics and physics,
natural sciences, rhetoric and poetry, ethics and politics. Having achieved a
wealth of knowledge, and refined his deductive reasoning method, Aristotle took
on his old master, Plato, criticizing his theories, fallacies, and
shortcomings.
Aristotle’s prose
and style is straight forward, unadorned, and even a bit terse. His
observations are often historical and whenever possible based on experience.
Aristotle’s Bridge to Immortality
‘The philosopher’s influence
transcends his own time, with flourishes and rebirths along the centuries. In the
13th century Thomas Aquinas re-energized Aristotle’s political
ideas, influencing Christian doctrine, western civilization, and received
knowledge in general.
His ideas on fundamental
questions of political theory are: the nature, origin and end of the state; the
justification of slavery; the definition of citizenship; nature of political
power; forms of state, and administrations; the merits of common property and
individual property and the issue of limiting the size of the individual
property; and how to guarantee political stability.
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