Aristotle vs. Plato: Comparing Justice and Revolution, Slides of History of Political Theory

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Aristotle

WESTERN AND EASTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT (BAL 2007) BA LLB SECTION 1 AND 2, 2021 DR MATHEW SINU SIMON

Aristotle’s Quotes

 “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”  “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”  “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”  “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”  “Happiness depends upon ourselves”  “Hope is a waking dream.”  “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives

• choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”

Introducing Aristotle

 He was a student at Plato's Academy for twenty years (367-347 BC), and later as the master of his own institution the Lyceum, for about twelve years or so.  Aristotle was close to the Macedonian King whose son, Alexander the Great was Aristotle's student for some time, much before the establishment of Lyceum 335 BC.  He has written about 150 treatises. His works can be classified under three headings: (1) dialogues and other works of a popular character; (2) collections of facts and material from scientific treatment; (3) systematic works.  Nicomachean ethics, Politics, Metaphysics, On the soul

His methodology

 His method of study is scientific, historical, comparative, inductive, and observation. His essay often begins with the words: 'Observation shows…  Empiricism was his merit.  His inductive style compels him to classify states as he observes them but he never loses sight of the best state that he imagines.  Considered history as a key to all the secrets, he takes recourse in the past to understand the present.

Aristotle’s critique of Plato – State

 His greatest complaint against Plato was that he made a departure from experience. Aristotle says: "Let us remember that we should not disregard the experience of ages; in the multitude of years these things, if they were good, would certainly not have been unknown...". He admitted Plato's works were "brilliant and suggestive" but were at the same time "radical and speculative”.  Aristotle criticised Plato's state as an artificial creation, built successively in three stages with producers coming first and thereafter followed by the auxiliaries and the rulers. As an architect, Plato built the state. Aristotle, the contrary, regarded tlie state as a natural organisation, the result of growth and evolution. He says that if the numerous forms of the society before society were natural, so was natural the state as well. With Plato, Aristotle does recognise the importance of the state for the individual, and also, like Plato, considers the state like a human organism, but unlike him, he docs not think of the state as a unity. For Aristotle, the state was a unity in diversity.

Aristotle’s critique of Plato – Justice

 Aristotle did not agree with Plato on the notion of justice, for he, unlike Plato, found justice more in the realms of enjoying one's rights rather than performing one's duties. For Aristotle, justice was a practical activity virtue and not doing things in accordance with one's nature.  Plato's justice was ethical in nature while that of Aristotle juridical or more specifically, legal in nature. Plato's justice was, as Aristotle believed, incomplete in so far as it dealt predominantly with duties, and more or less ignored rights. In other words, Aristotle labelled Plato's justice as moral in nature since it gave primacy to the performance of one's duties.

Aristotle’s critique of Plato – Laws

 Plato, in his Republic did not consider laws as important. He was of the opinion

that where the rulers were virtuous, there was no need of laws, and where they are not, there the laws were useless. Aristotle realised the significance of laws and

held the view that rule of law was any day better than the rule of men, howsoever

those rulers might be. Even Plato realized the utility of laws and revised his

position in his Laws.

Aristotle’s critique of Plato – Community

of wives

 Aristotle doubted if Plato's community of wives and property would help produce the desired unity. Rather, he regards these devices as impracticable for communism of propcsty created conflicts while that of the family led to a system where love and discipline within the family would evaporate. By providing communistic devices, Plato, Aristotle Felt, had punished the guardians and deprived them of intrinsic love among the members of the family.  Plato’s communism created a family of the state which, according to Aristotle, led

to a point where the state ceases to be a state. Sabine says: "A family is one thing

and a state is something different, and it is better that one should not try to age the other."

Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics

 Aristotle's basis of political theory is his ethics. In his work on ethics, he says emphatically that man is different from animal in so far as he is more active and more rational than animals. It is through his rationality, the element of reason in him, that man does what is in his interest or is in the interest of the community of which Ize is a part; he seeks what is good for him and for his fellow-beings. Men, Aristotle holds the view, and not animals, have had lessons of ethics.  Aristotle's political theory is intimately related to his ethical theory. His theory of justice, for example, is ethical-oriented. For Aristotle, justice is virtue, a complete virtue, morality personified and all that is good. This is his notion of justice in his Nicomachean Ethics. In his Politics, tile view about justice is distributive linked to the notion of proportionate equality which for Aristotle meant to treat equals equally, and unequals, unequally. Ethics is not only a basis for his political theory, it is its escort on inspiration as well. Nowhere in the discussion of his political ideas does Aristotle say anything which is not ethical

Aristotle Theory of Justice

 Aristotle believed that justice is the very essence of the state and that no polity can

endure for a long time unless it is founded on a right scheme of justice. "When

perfected, man is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.”  Justice is virtue, but it is more than virtue; it is virtue in action, i.e., virtue in practice. Reason is, for example, a virtue, but the reasonable/rational conduct is justice; truth is a virtue, but to be truthful is justice.

Aristotle’s theory of Revolution

 Revolution means, according to Aristotle, a change in the constitution, a change in the rulers, a change- big or small. For him, the change from monarchy to aristocracy, an example of a big change, is a revolution; when democracy becomes less democratic, it is also a revolution, though it is a small change.  (i) a change in the set of rulers; (ii) a change, political in nature: (iii) a palace revolution; (iv) political instability or political transformation; (v) a change followed by violence, destruction and bloodshed.  Causes of revolution: (1) that universal passion for privilege and prerogative which causes men to resent and rebel against condition which (unfairly in their opinion) place othcr men above or on a level with them in rank or wealth; (2) The overreaching insolence or avarice of rulers or ruling classes which causes men to react against them (3) The possession by onc or more individuals of power such as to excite fears that they design to act up a monarchy or oligarchy (4) The endeavours of men guilty of wrong doing to foment a revolution ; a smokescreen to conceal their own misdeeds or of men freeing the aggressions of others to start a revolution in order to anticipate their enemies;

Causes of Revolution

(5) The disproportionate increase of any part (territorial, social, economic or otherwise) of the state, causing other parts to resort to violence as means of offsetting this preponderance; (6) The dissension and rivalries of people of different races (7) The dynamics and family feuds and quarrels; (8) struggles for office and political power between rival classes and political factions or parties."