General Introduction

• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was an ancient Greek philosopher, regarded as the father of the science of politics.

• He was a distinguished disciple of Plato (427-347 B.C.) and the tutor of Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.).

• Aristotle’s father was a court physician to the King of Macedon, Alexander’s grandfather, which influenced Aristotle’s use of biological and medical analogies in ethics and politics.

• At the age of thirty, Aristotle went to Athens to study philosophy under Plato.

• Plato was impressed by Aristotle’s talent and called him the brain of his academy.

• Despite this, Aristotle later developed his thought independently and criticized Plato’s radical views.

• Both Aristotle and Plato shared concerns about the instability of Greek city-states, attributing it to moral anarchy.

• Both believed the state arises for the sake of life and continues for the sake of good life.

• Both emphasized the need for proper education of citizens and rulers, and supported assigning manual labor to slaves.

• Aristotle sought to build his philosophy on a scientific foundation, while Plato relied largely on speculative methods.

• Aristotle identified various branches of philosophy and prescribed appropriate methods of inquiry for each.

• He argued that standards of proof in deductive logic and mathematics are not suitable for studying nature or moral/political inquiry.

• Aristotle’s contributions cover:
  (a) Logic
  (b) Natural philosophy
  (c) Metaphysics
  (d) Philosophy of Mind
  (e) Ethics and Politics
  (f) Literary Criticism (including Poetics and Rhetoric)

• In ethics and politics, Aristotle believed understanding the natural and essential aims of human beings reveals the guiding principles of moral and political practice.

• His treatises on Ethics and Politics provide an elaborate description of these principles.

Deductive Logic

Deductive logic refers to the method of drawing conclusions on the basis of ‘general to particular’. In this method, the inquirer first grasps a general rule and then proceeds to observe particular cases for the verification or falsification of that rule.

Nature of Politics

Politics as the ‘Master Science’

• Plato combined knowledge from philosophy, ethics, education, psychology, sociology into a unified system in his work Republic.

• Aristotle distinguished between different branches of knowledge: physics, biology, meteorology, natural history, aesthetics, rhetoric, poetics, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and politics, writing separate treatises on each.

• Before Aristotle, all branches of knowledge were considered part of philosophy; Aristotle introduced classification of knowledge, paving the way for their independent development.

• Aristotle laid the foundations of the science of politics, making significant contributions through his work Politics.

• His works on Ethics and Rhetoric address important political problems such as justice, law, equality, and classification of constitutions.

• Aristotle regarded politics as the ‘master science’ or ‘master art’ because it concerns the end (purpose) of human life, while other sciences provide the means to achieve this end.

• Politics regulates relationships within human society and enables men to control their destiny.

• All other branches of knowledge serve as instruments organizing political life.

• Politics comprehends all activities, rules, regulations, organizations, and institutions designed to secure a good life.

• Aristotle proposed a hierarchy of ends where the ends of all sciences and arts ultimately merge into the end of politics:

  • Physical exercise promotes health;

  • Household management aims at increasing wealth;

  • Wealth and health are means to good life;

  • Art of bridle-making improves horse-riding efficiency;

  • Horse-riding is useful for chivalry and war;

  • Victory in war glorifies the state—the prime concern of politics.

• Politics determines which sciences and arts should be taught to citizens, all contributing to the comprehensive view of good life.

• All sciences and arts are subordinate to politics.

• Aristotle’s politics concerns not only duties of citizens but also all social relations involving authority, e.g.,

  • Husband’s control over wife;

  • Father’s control over children;

  • Master’s control over slaves;

  • Education methods;

  • Worship, festivals, sports, military training.

• Aristotle rejected the notion that all authority types are identical:

  • Authority of husband, father, master is personal or despotic rule;

  • Statesman’s authority is rule according to political principles.

• In Aristotle’s time, social and political life were intermingled; no separate study was needed.

• Although state management was superior, Aristotle dealt extensively with household management as essential for good life.

• Aristotle’s scope of politics was very broad, aligned with the ancient Greek notion of politics.

• Political participation was limited to a small group of freemen, roughly one-third of the population; slaves and aliens had no political role.

• Women among freemen had no political rights or decision-making role.

• Aristotle’s notion of politics differs from the modern view, where political rights extend to all members of society.

• Today, politics concerns a specific aspect of social life, not total control over it.

• Many social spheres such as religion, education, art, and literature are considered autonomous and separated from politics.

• Aristotle’s concept of political authority is not suitable for modern society.

The supreme good… must be the object of the most authoritative of the sciences-some science which is a master craft. But such is manifestly the science of politics; for it is this that ordains which of the sciences are to exist in states, and what branches of knowledge the different classes of citizens are to learn, and up to what point. – Aristotle (The Nicomachean Ethics)