Aristotle's concept of the state

Authors

Keywords:

Government, state, virtue, democracy, authority, politeia, golden mean

Abstract

In contrast to a little bit utopian standpoint offered by Plato in his teachings about the state or politeia where rulers aren`t “in love with power but in virtue”, Aristotle's teaching on the same subject seems very realistic and pragmatic. In his most important writing in this field called "Politics", Aristotle classified authority in the form of two main parts: the correct authority and moose authority. In this sense, correct forms of government are 1.basileus, 2.aristocracy and 3.politeia. These forms of government are based on the common good. Bad or moose forms of government are those that are based on the property of an individual or small governmental structures and they are: 1.tiranny, 2.oligarchy and 3.democracy. Also, Aristotle's political thinking is not separate from the ethical principles so he states that the government should be reflected in the true virtue that is "law" or the "golden mean".

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References

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Aristotle's concept of the state

Published

23-03-2017

How to Cite

Olivera Z., M. (2017). Aristotle’s concept of the state. SOCRATES, 4(4), 13–20. Retrieved from https://www.socratesjournal.com/index.php/SOCRATES/article/view/254