Aristotle argues that the state exists for the sake of living well and that its form must be judged by the virtue of its citizens. The deck covers his account of the state's origins, the classification of constitutions, education's political role, and his treatment of ideal versus actual states.
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Chapter 1 · Question
How does the introduction relate the Politics to the Ethics?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The author states the Politics is the second part of a treatise whose first part is the Ethics: it looks back to the Ethics as the Ethics looks forward to it. Aristotle did not separate the spheres of statesman and moralist; the Ethics describes the character needed for the good life, and its practical application appears as the legislator's task of framing a society that makes the good life possible.
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Section 14 cards
How does the introduction relate the Politics to the Ethics?
The author states the Politics is the second part of a treatise whose first part is the Ethics: it looks back to the Ethics as the Ethics looks forward to it. Aristotle did not separate the spheres of statesman and moralist; the Ethics describes the character needed for the good life, and its practical application appears as the legislator's task of framing a society that makes the good life possible.
Chapter 1
How does the introduction define the state and the legislator's aim?
The author says that for Aristotle the state is 'a community of well-being in families and aggregations of families for the sake of a perfect and self-sufficing life.' Politics is not a struggle for power or a device for elementary tasks like order and security. The legislator is a craftsman whose material is society and whose aim is the good life.
Chapter 1
How does the introduction contrast Aristotle's method with Plato's idealism?
The author argues Plato's Republic is impracticable: Plato turned from existing politics, and his ideal city is a pattern laid up in heaven, for gods or children of gods, not men as they are. Aristotle, lacking Plato's poetic enthusiasm, sees good in imperfect things and takes men as he finds them, constructing his ideal from careful study of facts, including one hundred and fifty-eight constitutions.
Chapter 1
Why does the introduction say the Greek legislator was not talking in the air?
The author explains that although modern nation states 'grow,' the smaller self-conscious Greek city had rigid constitutions changed only when the whole people commissioned a lawgiver. Students of the Academy were actually called on to give constitutions to Greek states; the lawgiver was a state doctor prescribing for an ailing constitution, not an ordinary politician. The Greeks thought administration democratic and law-making the work of experts.
Chapter 1
Section 23 cards
How does Aristotle view the state's origin and purpose?
The author explains that Aristotle regards the state as a community existing for the sake of the good life, and as prior to the family and village in nature, though later in time. Only in the consciously organized state can man understand his past struggles. The natural or ideal state is thus the starting point of political inquiry, and imperfect states embody some conception of the good.
Chapter 2
What does Aristotle see as the cause of imperfect states?
The author states that Aristotle treats imperfect or perverted states as resulting from misconception and ignorance rather than perverse will. Oligarchs and democrats go wrong in their conception of the good, falling short through misunderstanding of the end or ignorance of means. Yet if they are states at all, they embody some common conception of the good and some justice.
Chapter 2
Why does Aristotle assign education such political importance?
Because Aristotle believes a constitution is only the outward expression of the common aspirations and beliefs of its members, the author explains that he gives education paramount political importance. Education is the great instrument by which the legislator ensures future citizens share the common beliefs that make the state possible. The Greeks, with their small states, grasped this dependence of constitution on people more clearly than we can.
Chapter 2
Section 34 cards
What two ideals does Aristotle waver between in his account of the ideal state?
The author argues Aristotle wavers between the ideal of an aristocracy and the ideal of constitutional government, a mixed constitution. Aristocracy rests on virtue and the principle of 'tools to those who can use them'; the mixed constitution gives weight to virtue, wealth, and mere number. Aristotle admits constitutional government, with ruling and being ruled by turns, as an alternative to aristocracy.
Chapter 3
Why does Aristotle hold that absolute government is not properly political?
Aristotle holds that absolute government is not properly political because government is not like a shepherd ruling sheep but the rule of equals over equals. He admits democrats are right that equality is a necessary element of the state, though they neglect other necessary elements. Hence ruling and being ruled over by turns is essential to constitutional government.
Chapter 3
On what basis is the proper relation between virtue, wealth, and numbers determined?
The author argues the proper relation between the claims of virtue, wealth, and numbers is based not on their relative importance in the good life but on the strength of the parties representing them. The mixed constitution is practicable where the middle class is strong, since only the middle class can mediate between rich and poor, and it is stable if it represents the actual balance of power between classes.
Chapter 3
What does the author identify as Aristotle's failure regarding ideal and actual states?
The author argues Aristotle's failure is not being both idealist and realist but keeping these tendencies too far apart. He thinks too much of his ideal state as a fixed type reached once for all by knowledge, to which actual states approximate or from which they are perversions. The author argues the ideal should be seen as progressively revealed in history, a better that may itself be transcended.
Chapter 3
Section 44 cards
According to Aristotle, what error do those who equate political, regal, family, and herile government make?
The author argues they are mistaken in thinking these forms differ only in the number of people over whom power extends, not in their constitution. On that view a herile government has very few, a domestic more, a civil and regal still more, as if a large family were merely a small city and regal and political government differed only in whether one person or each member in turn holds office.
Chapter 4
How does Aristotle propose to investigate the primary parts of a city?
He says that just as in any other inquiry one must separate the different parts of which a thing is compounded until reaching the first elements, the most minute parts, so the same procedure will yield knowledge of the primary parts of a city. This lets us see wherein they differ from each other and whether the rules of art assist in examining each of them.
Chapter 4
What is the good that Aristotle says every society, and especially the city, aims at?
Every city is a society, and every society is established for some good purpose, since an apparent good is the spring of all human actions. This is especially true of the society that has for its object the best possible good, is itself the most excellent, and comprehends all the rest. That society is called a city and its society a political society.
Chapter 4
What does the chapter say about the relation between a large family and a small city?
The author argues there is a real difference, not merely one of size. Those who hold that a regal and a political government are the same, except that in the one a single person is continually at the head of public affairs while in the other each member in turn shares in governing, are mistaken. Treating a large family as a small city ignores the difference in constitution.
Chapter 4
Section 54 cards
According to Aristotle, why is man a political animal more than bees?
The author argues man is more social than bees or herding cattle because he alone has speech, not merely voice. Voice signals pleasure and pain and is shared with other animals, but speech expresses what is useful, hurtful, just, and unjust. Man alone perceives good and evil, just and unjust, and sharing these common sentiments forms a family and a city.
Chapter 5
What does Aristotle say about the natural relation of master and slave?
The author argues that some beings naturally command and others obey for mutual safety: one with a mind capable of reflection and forethought is naturally superior and governor, while one whose excellence is merely corporeal is naturally a slave. He claims this different state of master and slave is advantageous to both, and that nature makes separate instruments for separate purposes.
Chapter 5
How does Aristotle describe the origin and development of the city?
The author argues the domestic society of male and female exists for daily support, then many families form a village for lasting mutual advantage, and many villages joined form a city. The city is founded that we might live but continued that we may live happily, and is the end and perfection of government. Hence a city is a work of nature.
Chapter 5
Why does Aristotle claim the city is prior to the individual?
The author argues the whole is necessarily prior to the parts: remove the whole man and no foot or hand remains except by equivocation, like a stone hand, which is dead. Since an individual alone is not self-sufficient for a perfect government, he is to the city as parts are to a whole. One incapable of society, or so complete as not to need it, is like a beast or a god.
Chapter 5
Section 63 cards
What three parts does Aristotle say a complete family consists of?
Aristotle identifies the master and slave (herile), husband and wife (nuptial), and father and child (paternal) as the three distinct parts of a complete family. He treats the household as prior to the city, since every city is made up of families, and he proposes to examine each of these smallest parts in turn before discussing the art of acquiring property.
Chapter 6
How does Aristotle define a slave by nature?
Aristotle defines the natural slave as one who is by nature not his own but another's, and who, though a man, is a chattel and an instrument for use separate from the body. Such a person has just enough reason to apprehend that there is a rational faculty but is not endowed with its use, and is therefore fitted to be governed.
Chapter 6
What analogy does Aristotle use to justify rule and subjection?
Aristotle argues that soul rules body as master rules slave, and mind rules appetite with political or kingly power. He extends this to male over female and to tame animals over wild, claiming it is natural and advantageous for the inferior to be governed. He admits the rule does not always hold, since slaves sometimes have the bodies or souls of freemen.
Chapter 6
Section 74 cards
According to the chapter, what two ways may a man become a slave?
The chapter states a man may become a slave in two ways: by law, which is a compact whereby whatever is taken in battle is adjudged the conqueror's property, and by nature. Many conversant in law question the war-based right, arguing it is hard that a man be compelled by violence to be another's slave merely because the other had power to compel him.
Chapter 7
What difficulty do defenders of war-slavery face, and how do they try to escape it?
The chapter notes that if capture in war made a slave, men of the noblest families and descendants of slaves might become slaves if taken and sold. To avoid this, defenders say such persons should not be called slaves, but only barbarians should. The chapter says this merely reopens the question of who is a slave by nature.
Chapter 7
How does the chapter distinguish herile (masterly) from political government?
The chapter argues a herile and a political government are not the same, contrary to those who say all governments are alike: one is adapted to the nature of freemen, the other to slaves. Domestic government is a monarchy, as in every house, while a political state is government of free men and equals.
Chapter 7
What does the chapter say distinguishes the knowledge of a master from that of a slave?
The chapter says the slave's knowledge is like that taught by a slave at Syracuse for a fee, covering household tasks such as cookery and other services, some more honourable, some more necessary. The master's knowledge is to be able properly to employ slaves, since mastership is the employment, not mere possession; those free of such low attentions employ a steward and turn to public affairs or philosophy.
Chapter 7
Section 84 cards
How does Aristotle distinguish natural acquisition from the 'pecuniary' art?
Aristotle distinguishes natural acquisition, which is part of household and civic economy and aims at the necessities of a happy life, from the pecuniary art, which he says has no bounds to riches and wealth. The natural kind is limited, like the instruments of any art; the other arises from art and skill rather than nature.
Chapter 8
Why did barter and then money arise, according to Aristotle?
Aristotle says barter began in nature because some had a surplus and others too little of necessities. It could not exist in the first family society, where all things were held in common, but arose when the community grew and people separated. Barter then introduced money, since goods often had to be imported from far away and not everything useful is easy to carry.
Chapter 8
What are the two uses of a possession, illustrated by a shoe?
Aristotle says every possession has two uses, both belonging to the thing itself but not in the same manner: one is inseparable from it, the other is not. A shoe may be worn, or exchanged for something else. Exchanging it uses the shoe as a shoe, but not according to its original intention, since shoes were not first made to be exchanged.
Chapter 8
What does Aristotle argue about hunting, war, and natural slavery?
The author argues that nature makes nothing in vain, so plants exist for animals and animals for men, tame for use and wild mostly for provision or clothing. He therefore argues that what is gained in war is in a certain degree a natural acquisition, since hunting is part of it, and war against those intended by nature for slavery but unwilling to submit is by nature just.
Chapter 8
Section 94 cards
Why does Aristotle say usury is most reasonably detested?
The author argues usury is most reasonably detested because it increases fortune by money itself rather than employing money for its original purpose, exchange. He explains the Greek name tokos, meaning the breeding of money: as offspring resemble parents, so usury is money bred of money. Hence, of all forms of money-making, he calls it most against nature.
Chapter 9
How does Aristotle distinguish natural economy from unlimited money-getting?
The author argues natural economy, whose object is providing food, has bounds and is necessary and commendable. Money-getting through retail trade is unlimited, since money is its first principle and end, and no limits can be set to what is thereby acquired. He compares this to medicine: the art's aim has no limit, though the means employed are limited.
Chapter 9
Why do people hoard money without end, according to Aristotle?
The author argues people hoard without end because they are intent on living rather than living well. Since this desire is boundless, the means they aim at are boundless too. Others confine living well to sensual pleasure, which seems to depend on possessions, so they procure money excessively, even applying powers like courage to money-getting rather than their natural ends.
Chapter 9
What does Aristotle's Midas reference illustrate about wealth?
The author uses Midas, whose insatiable wish turned everything he touched to gold, to show that abundant money can still leave one in want. He notes that he who abounds in money often lacks necessary food, and no one with all his possessions who may perish with hunger is in good circumstances. Money is by nature of no value, made so only by compact.
Chapter 9
Section 104 cards
What three methods of gaining money by exchange does Aristotle identify?
Aristotle names merchandise, usury, and wage-earning for work done. Merchandise itself operates three ways: sending goods for sale by sea or land, or selling where they grow, differing in being more profitable or safer. Usury is the second method; the third is receiving wages, whether through some mean art or mere bodily labour. He also notes a third species between exchange and nature, dealing in earth's produce like timber and metallurgy.
Chapter 10
How did Thales profit from predicting the olive harvest?
Perceiving by astrology that olives would be plentiful, Thales gave earnest money in winter for all the oil works in Miletus and Chios at low prices, since no one bid against him. When the season came and many wanted the presses, he let them on his own terms and raised a large sum. The author says this showed it is easy for philosophers to be rich if they choose, but that is not what they aim at.
Chapter 10
What happened to the Sicilian who bought up all the iron?
He laid out deposited money buying all the iron from the merchants, so when dealers came from the markets only he had any to sell. By spending fifty talents he made a hundred, though he put no great advance on the price. When Dionysius heard, he let the man take his money but forbade him to stay in Sicily, judging him one who contrived means for getting money inconsistent with the tyrant's affairs.
Chapter 10
How does Aristotle say wives and children should be governed?
Aristotle says the government of wife and children should both be that of free persons, but not the same. The wife should be treated as a citizen of a free state, the children under kingly power. He argues the male is by nature superior to the female, except when something happens contrary to nature's usual course, and the elder and perfect is above the younger and imperfect. Paternal power rests on affection and seniority, a species of kingly government.
Chapter 10
Section 114 cards
For Aristotle, how do the virtues of ruler and ruled differ?
The author argues both ruler and ruled must be virtuous, but not identically: their virtues differ in kind, as reason governs the irrational soul. The ruler needs complete moral virtue because his work is architectonic, while the ruled need only the portion suited to their station. He grounds this in nature having planted governing and submitting principles in the soul.
Chapter 11
What does Aristotle say about the deliberative power of slave, woman, and child?
The author argues a slave has no deliberative faculty at all, a woman has one but it lacks authority, and a child has one that is imperfect. He extends this to moral virtues: all possess them, but differently, suited to each one's function. So the temperance, courage, and justice of a man and a woman are not the same, contrary to Socrates.
Chapter 11
How does Aristotle distinguish the virtue of a slave from that of an artisan?
The author argues a slave is connected to the master for life, while an artisan is not so nearly connected. The closer an artisan approaches the slave's situation, the more of the slave's virtues he needs, since a mean artisan is to a point a slave. But a slave is by nature what he is, which is not true of a shoemaker or other artist.
Chapter 11
Why does Aristotle say wives and children must be educated for the state?
The author argues every family is part of a city and each individual part of a family, so the virtue of the parts should correspond to the virtue of the whole. Since wives are half the free persons and children become the succeeding citizens, the community's wives and children should be instructed in a manner corresponding to the nature of the state.
Chapter 11
Section 124 cards
Why does Aristotle say making a city too unified destroys it?
The author argues a city must be a multitude of different sorts, not merely many people. Pushing unity too far reduces a city to a family and a family to one person, annihilating it. Since the good of anything is what preserves it, excessive unification is the city's destruction, not its greatest good.
Chapter 12
How does Aristotle distinguish a city from a confederacy?
The author argues a confederacy is valuable through numbers even when all members share the same calling, being formed for mutual defense like adding weight to a scale. A city, by contrast, requires inhabitants who differ in kind; if all were alike there could be no city. He notes the same distinction applies between a city and a nation like the Arcadians.
Chapter 12
What is Aristotle's objection to the word 'all' in Socrates' proposal?
The author argues 'all' is ambiguous: used distributively it means each individual, and then each would say 'this is my own son and wife,' which is impossible under common ownership. Used collectively, all saying the same thing would not produce concord. He calls this double meaning the cause of inconclusive syllogisms.
Chapter 12
Why does common ownership lead to neglect, according to Aristotle?
The author argues what is common to many receives least care, since people regard their own property more than what they share, and each is more negligent of what another oversees. He compares it to a household often worse served by many servants than few. With children common to all, none is treated as anyone's in particular, so all are neglected.
Chapter 12
Section 132 cards
What is Aristotle's verdict on whether property should be common in the best state?
The author argues that a system of private property with common use is superior. Each person attending to his own affairs prevents mutual complaints and increases industry, while virtue leads people to share with friends, as the proverb says all things are common among friends. He notes Sparta already lets citizens use each other's slaves, horses, and provisions.
Chapter 13
Why does Aristotle say a community of property is especially difficult?
He observes that those who labor together with common possession may not have equal proportions between labor and consumption, so hard workers with small shares will complain of those who take much and do little. He cites colonists who frequently dispute and come to blows over trifles, and notes that slaves employed in common household offices are corrected most often.
Chapter 13
Section 144 cards
Why does Aristotle say private property is best but its use should be common?
Aristotle argues property should be privately owned but used in common, with the legislator responsible for bringing citizens to this arrangement. He says people take pleasure in owning something of their own, and private property enables generosity and hospitality toward friends and guests. He also claims common ownership prevents the exercise of liberality, since liberality consists in giving away what is one's own.
Chapter 14
What two virtues does Aristotle claim a city with too much unity destroys?
Aristotle says excessive unification prevents the exercise of two principal virtues: modesty and liberality. Modesty applies to the female sex, requiring a man to abstain from another's woman, which presupposes separate households. Liberality depends on private property, since without it no one can appear liberal or perform generous actions, as liberality consists in imparting to others what is one's own.
Chapter 14
How does Aristotle respond to claims that common property prevents disputes?
Aristotle argues disputes, fraud, perjury, and flattery of the rich arise from human vice, not from private property. He claims those who hold things in common actually dispute more often than those with separate property, and that quarrels are fewer among the small number who share property. He concludes that when fully considered, communal ownership is impractical.
Chapter 14
What does Aristotle say about Socrates's error and the limits of unifying a city?
Aristotle says Socrates's mistake arose from a false starting principle. He admits a family and city should be one in some respects but not entirely, since beyond a certain point a city reduced to one ceases to be a city. Approaching that point makes it worse than none, like reducing a chorus to one voice or a verse to one foot. He says people should be unified by education.
Chapter 14
Section 154 cards
Why does Aristotle call Socrates' fixed magistracy hazardous?
Aristotle argues that having persons of the same rank always in office causes sedition, especially among those of courageous and warlike disposition. He says it is necessary for Socrates to frame his community this way because the golden particle mixed into the soul stays with the same person rather than moving between them.
Chapter 15
What defect does Aristotle find in Socrates' claim that the legislator should make all citizens happy?
Aristotle argues it is impossible for the whole city to be happy unless all, or the greater part, or some part is happy. Happiness is not like numerical equality that arises when numbers are added together; it must exist in each individual. If the military are not happy, who else is, since artisans and officeholders are not?
Chapter 15
How does Aristotle criticize Plato's Laws regarding the number of citizens and property?
Aristotle argues it is absurd to equalize property without providing for the increasing number of citizens. He says it is more necessary to regulate population so it does not exceed a certain number, accounting for children who die and women who are barren. Neglecting this brings poverty, and poverty causes sedition and evil.
Chapter 15
What does Aristotle say about the size of the territory needed for Plato's five thousand idle persons?
Aristotle says Socrates would need the country of Babylonia or something like it, of immeasurable extent, to support five thousand idle persons plus a greater number of women and servants. He argues that while anyone may frame a hypothesis as he pleases, it ought to be possible.
Chapter 15
Section 164 cards
How does Aristotle say the Lacedaemonian government is praised as a blend?
Some commend Lacedaemon as combining oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy: the kings represent the monarchical part, the senate the oligarchical, and the ephori the democratical, since they are taken from the people. Others say the ephori hold absolute power, and that the common meal and daily life represent the democratical form.
Chapter 16
Why does Aristotle argue Plato's Laws actually lacks a monarchical element?
The author argues Plato's state shows traces only of oligarchy and democracy, inclining toward oligarchy. Choosing magistrates by lot is common to both, but requiring a man of fortune to be in the assembly, elect magistrates, or manage public affairs while others are passed over favors oligarchy, as does wanting most of the rich in office with rank matching fortune.
Chapter 16
What flaw does Aristotle find in Plato's method of electing senators by class?
All are obliged to vote for senators of the first class, then the same number from the second and third, but the compulsion to vote does not extend to the third and fourth classes, and only the first and second must vote for the fourth. Aristotle says Plato is mistaken: the majority will always consist of the first rank, since many commoners will not attend.
Chapter 16
What does Phaleas of Chalcedon propose about property, and how does Aristotle criticize it?
Phaleas proposed equalizing fortunes, easier when a community is first settled: the rich give marriage portions but never receive, the poor receive but never give. The author argues equality of goods is not enough; citizens need similarity of sentiments through proper education, and inequality of honours also causes sedition, so Phaleas should specify what education he intends.
Chapter 16
Section 174 cards
According to Aristotle, what three causes drive men to crime, and what remedy suits each?
Aristotle identifies three disorders: stealing from necessity, remedied by supplying everyone a moderate subsistence that still requires their own industry; desiring luxuries, remedied by enjoining temperance; and seeking pleasure itself, remedied by pursuing it only in philosophy, since others need the assistance of men. He argues the greatest crimes stem from ambition, not necessity.
Chapter 17
Why does Aristotle say Phaleas's equal distribution of land is inadequate?
Aristotle argues Phaleas regulated only land, but a man's substance also includes slaves, cattle, money, and other chattels; equality must be established in all these, or some rule made, or they left entirely at large. He also argues equality of goods prevents sedition only slightly, since men of great abilities resent being leveled with the rest.
Chapter 17
How does Aristotle suggest a state should size its property against foreign dangers?
Aristotle argues property should suit both the state's needs and external dangers: not so much as to tempt a more powerful neighbor to invade while citizens cannot repel them, nor so little that the state cannot war against equals. He illustrates with Eubulus advising Autophradatus to weigh the siege's time and abandon it.
Chapter 17
What distinctive features did Hippodamus include in his planned state of ten thousand?
Hippodamus, son of Euruphon, a Milesian who devised town planning and separated the Pireus, divided citizens into artisans, husbandmen, and soldiers, and lands into sacred, public, and private. He proposed three kinds of laws (assault, trespass, death), an appeal court of old men, written tablets instead of votes, rewards for inventions, and public education for children of the fallen.
Chapter 17
Section 184 cards
Why does Aristotle object to Hippodamus dividing citizens into three parts?
The author argues the division makes husbandmen and artisans subordinate to the soldiery, effectively slaves to them. Since only soldiers hold honourable offices and magistracies, the other two parts share no government and cannot be expected to feel affection for it. He also asks why others should elect magistrates, and notes a fourth order would arise to cultivate lands, hostile to the state.
Chapter 18
What is Aristotle's objection to Hippodamus's method of having judges split cases?
The author argues this turns a judge into an arbitrator, since arbitration lets many confer together while judges are kept from communicating. He asks how verdicts are settled when one judge proposes twenty minae, another ten, another four, and another five, some awarding all damages and others nothing. He adds that a judge who simply acquits or condemns does not perjure himself, but one who condemns for more than he believes is guilty of perjury.
Chapter 18
What does Aristotle say about Hippodamus's proposal to honour informers?
The author argues that though the proposal is pleasing in speculation, the legislator should not settle it, because it would encourage informers and probably occasion commotions in the state. He notes the proposal also raises the further question of whether it is useful or hurtful to alter established law, even for the better, which he says cannot be determined immediately.
Chapter 18
Does Aristotle think laws should be altered for the better?
The author argues alteration is possible and sometimes beneficial, since the sciences of physic, gymnastic, and government all extend beyond ancient bounds, and old laws are simple and barbarous. But he urges great caution: law draws its strength from custom, which takes long to establish, so making it easy to abolish laws weakens their power. He says it is better to pass over some faults than to accustom people to disobedience.
Chapter 18
Section 194 cards
What two questions does Aristotle say arise about the Lacedaemonian and Cretan constitutions?
He asks first whether their laws promote the best possible establishment, and second whether anything in the founding principles or the executive part prevents the proposed form of government from actually being observed. He notes these questions apply to almost all states, not only Lacedaemon and Crete.
Chapter 19
Why does Aristotle say the Cretans avoided the slave revolts that struck Thessaly and Sparta?
He suggests that although the Cretans fought frequent wars with neighboring cities, none of those neighbors would ally with revolters, since they too had their own serfs and it would disadvantage them. By contrast, Sparta faced perpetual enmity with Argives, Messenians, and Arcadians, and Thessaly with neighboring peoples.
Chapter 19
What does Aristotle claim about Sparta's women and their effect on the state?
The author argues that neglecting women's regulation leaves half the city outside law. Spartan women, he says, lived in luxury and license, and many things were done by their authority. He claims they were useless in war and caused more disturbance than the enemy at the Theban invasion, and that this indulgence increased the love of money.
Chapter 19
How does Aristotle criticize Lycurgus's property laws in Sparta?
He says the division of property was unequal, letting land fall into few hands. Lycurgus rightly made buying and selling possessions infamous, but still allowed giving or bequeathing them, which produces nearly the same result. Women held about two-fifths of the land through inheritance and dowries, and though the country could support 1,500 horse and 30,000 foot, the number fell short of 1,000.
Chapter 19
Section 204 cards
Why does Aristotle criticize the election of ephori in Sparta?
Aristotle blames the method of choosing ephori: they are picked from the people at large, so a very poor person often wins the office and is easily bought. He cites many former cases and the recent affair at Andros, where corrupted ephori tried to ruin the city. Because their power was nearly tyrannical, kings flattered them, and the state shifted from aristocracy toward democracy.
Chapter 20
What does Aristotle say is the beneficial effect of common people being eligible for the ephorate?
He says the people are easy, knowing they are eligible for the first office in the state, and that this is of great service to Spartan affairs, whether it came from the legislator's intention or by chance. Each part of the government should be preserved: kings act for honour, the good for the senate, and the common people to support the ephori, of whom they consist.
Chapter 20
What defects does Aristotle find in the Spartan senate and its mode of election?
He says the senators' training is inadequate, yet they judge the greatest matters for life, though the mind ages as the body does. They have been guilty of bribery and partiality and are not answerable for their conduct. The mode of election is childish, and soliciting for office is wrong: anyone fit should serve whether he seeks it or not. The author argues the legislator filled the senate with ambitious men.
Chapter 20
What does Aristotle say about Sparta's constitution being oriented to war, and about its public meals?
He cites Plato's Laws to censure a constitution calculated only for war: it is excellent for making conquerors, but Sparta's destruction began with its victories, since citizens knew not how to be idle or do anything but war. He also says the common meals were badly established: members had to buy their portions, so the very poor could not attend, producing the opposite of the legislator's democratic intention.
Chapter 20
Section 214 cards
How does Aristotle compare the public meals of Crete and Lacedaemon?
The author argues Crete ordered its public meals better than Lacedaemon. At Lacedaemon each individual had to furnish an assessed contribution, and a law deprived those who could not pay of citizen rights. In Crete the community supplied the meals: corn, cattle, taxes and contributions from domestic slaves were divided and allotted to the gods, state needs and public meals, maintaining men, women and children from a common stock.
Chapter 21
What faults does Aristotle find with the Cretan kosmoi compared to the ephori?
The author argues the institution of the kosmoi was worse than that of the ephori, containing all the ephori's faults plus its own. In both, election is uncertain; but at Lacedaemon all citizens are eligible, so all share in the highest honours and wish to preserve the state. In Crete the kosmoi were chosen from certain families, and the senate from the kosmoi. Their lack of control, life tenure and discretion uncontrolled by written law are dangerous.
Chapter 21
Why does Aristotle say Crete avoided the slave revolts that plagued Lacedaemon?
The author argues Crete's island situation kept it free from foreign inroads, and the Cretans took no part in foreign affairs, so their domestic slaves remained quiet while the Helots perpetually revolted. He notes it was only lately that foreign troops attacked the island, and their ravages soon showed the ineffectiveness of Cretan laws. He also says the absence of insurrections is no proof of good government, since the kosmoi, living on a distant island, had little chance to be bribed.
Chapter 21
How does Aristotle judge the Carthaginian constitution against Lacedaemon?
The author argues Carthage seems well established and in many respects superior, resembling Lacedaemon, Crete and itself in different ways. Its government stays unaltered despite popular participation, without notable insurrections or tyranny. It has public tables like the Phiditia and a magistracy of one hundred and four, like the ephori but chosen from the better sort rather than all citizens. Its kings are not confined to one family nor chosen by seniority but by merit.
Chapter 21
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In Carthage, when the kings and senate disagree, who decides the matter?
The people are the final arbiters when the kings and senate disagree; they not only hear what the senate approves but determine upon it. When kings and senate are unanimous, they may choose whether to bring a matter before the people. Anyone who chooses has the right to speak against any proposal, a privilege not permitted in other cases.
Chapter 22
Why does Aristotle say Carthage's constitution is shifting toward oligarchy?
The author argues it shifts toward oligarchy because many favor requiring magistrates to be persons of fortune as well as family, since the poor cannot support the dignity of office or have leisure for public business. Choosing magistrates by wealth inclines a state to oligarchy, while choosing by ability inclines it to aristocracy; Carthage considers both for its highest offices.
Chapter 22
What fault does Aristotle find in Carthage electing the same person to several offices?
The author argues one business is best done by one person, and the legislator should not make the same person a musician and a shoemaker. Where the state is not small, it is more politic and more popular to let many share in government, since everything is better and sooner done when one thing only is allotted to one person, as in armies and navies.
Chapter 22
What does Aristotle say Solon intended versus what actually happened in Athens?
The author argues Solon did not intend the later pure democracy; he raised the people by giving them the supreme judicial department and the choice and audit of magistrates, but restricted election to persons of good account and property. The democracy grew by accident: the people, having won the naval victory over the Medes, assumed power under demagogues, and Ephialtes and Pericles later abridged the Areopagus.
Chapter 22
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What did Philolaus legislate concerning adoption, and why?
Philolaus gave the Thebans laws on many matters, including adoption, which they called adoptive laws. He did this in particular to preserve the number of families. The chapter presents this as his distinctive contribution as a legislator, alongside his law for the equal distribution of goods.
Chapter 23
What was Pittacus's law about a drunken man who beats someone?
Pittacus made a law that a drunken man who beat any person should be punished more than one who did so while sober. Since people are more apt to be abusive when drunk, he gave no weight to the excuse of drunkenness and considered only the common benefit. He authored laws but no form of government.
Chapter 23
According to Aristotle, what most characterizes a complete citizen?
The author argues that nothing more characterizes a complete citizen than having a share in the judicial and executive parts of government. Residence, legal privileges, and the status of sojourners, boys, old men, the banished, or the infamous do not suffice; the complete citizen is one with no deficiency to correct.
Chapter 23
How does Aristotle distinguish offices like juryman and assembly member?
Some offices are fixed to a time limit, others are not fixed, such as a juryman's and a member of the general assembly. Aristotle calls the objection that these are not offices a dispute about words, and proposes calling them indeterminate offices. He lays it down as a maxim that those who can exercise such power are citizens.
Chapter 23
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According to Aristotle, what makes a city the same or different over time?
The author argues a city's identity depends on its form of government, not its walls, place, or inhabitants. Since a city is a community of citizens, an altered constitution makes it a different city, just as the same performers form a different chorus when the dramatic species changes, or the same hands produce different harmonies.
Chapter 24
How does Aristotle define a citizen in this chapter?
He defines a citizen as one who has the right to share in the judicial and executive part of government in a city. This corrects the common definition of descent from citizens on both sides, which cannot apply to first founders. He notes the citizen's office varies with the government, since in some states the people have no assembly power.
Chapter 24
What problem does the descent-based definition of citizenship face?
The popular definition requires descent from citizens on both sides, but it cannot apply to the first founders or first inhabitants of a state, who could claim citizenship by neither father nor mother. Gorgias of Leontium joked that as a mortar-maker makes a mortar, a citizen-maker makes a citizen, which Aristotle calls a very simple account.
Chapter 24
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According to Aristotle, what do all citizens share despite differing roles?
Aristotle compares citizens to sailors: each has a distinct appointment (rower, steersman, boatswain), yet all share one common care, the safety of the community. Since the community of citizens composes the state, the virtue of a citizen necessarily has reference to the state.
Chapter 25
Why does Aristotle argue the virtue of a good citizen differs from that of a good man?
Because different constitutions require different actions for an excellent citizen, so citizen virtue cannot be perfect or single. A city is composed of dissimilar parts, like an animal of soul and body, and all citizens cannot share identical qualifications. The author argues it is impossible for every citizen to possess the good man's virtue.
Chapter 25
What does Aristotle say a good citizen must learn regarding ruling and obeying?
The author argues a good citizen must know how to command as well as obey, and that this is the virtue of an accomplished citizen. In political government over equals and freemen, men learn to command by first submitting to obey, as a general must have served under command.
Chapter 25
How does Aristotle distinguish the virtues of ruler and subject, and what example does he use?
He says the temperance and justice of one who commands differ from those of a freeman under command, so citizen virtue is of a different species in each situation. He compares this to the courage and temperance of a man and a woman, noting a man would seem a coward with only a woman's courage.
Chapter 25
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According to Aristotle, what distinguishes the virtue of a good man from that of an excellent citizen?
The author argues they are sometimes the same and sometimes not: in some states the virtue of a good man and an excellent citizen coincide, in others they do not. Even where they coincide, this holds not for every citizen but only for those who take the lead, or are capable of leading, in public affairs, either alone or with others.
Chapter 26
Why does Aristotle say the best-regulated states exclude mechanics from citizenship?
The author argues that the best-regulated states will not permit a mechanic to be a citizen, because one who lives the life of a mechanic or hired servant cannot acquire the practice of virtue. Where mechanics are admitted, the virtue described cannot be attributed to every citizen or freeman, but only to those disengaged from servile offices.
Chapter 26
What law did Thebes have about holding office, and what does it illustrate?
At Thebes there was a law that no one could share in the government until he had been ten years out of trade. It illustrates that states vary in which sorts of people they admit as citizens: an aristocracy, where honours go to virtue and dignity, cannot admit mechanics or hired servants, while an oligarchy, where office depends on fortune, excludes hired servants but admits rich mechanics.
Chapter 26
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According to Aristotle, what makes a government rightly established and just?
The author argues that governments are rightly established and strictly just only when they have a common good in view. Those that consult only the good of the rulers are founded on wrong principles, since they amount to tyranny over slaves, whereas a city is a community of freemen.
Chapter 27
What three correct forms of government does Aristotle identify, and by whom are they ruled?
Rule by one person for the common good is a kingdom; rule by a few for the common good is an aristocracy, so called because power is in the hands of the most worthy citizens or because it is best for the city; rule by the many for the public good is called a state, a name also used generally for all governments.
Chapter 27
Into what corrupt forms does each correct government degenerate, according to Aristotle?
A kingdom may degenerate into a tyranny, an aristocracy into an oligarchy, and a state into a democracy. Tyranny is monarchy aimed at the good of one man only; oligarchy considers only the rich; democracy considers only the poor. None of these corrupt forms has the common good in view.
Chapter 27
How does Aristotle distinguish oligarchy from democracy after raising objections?
He notes the objection that number alone cannot define them, since the many might be rich or the few poor. He concludes that whether supreme power is held by many or few is accidental: oligarchy is rule by the rich, democracy rule by the poor. Since the poor are always numerous and the rich few, wealth versus poverty is the real difference.
Chapter 27
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For what end does Aristotle say a city exists, beyond mere life?
Aristotle argues a city is not founded merely to preserve life, nor as an alliance for mutual defence or trade. It is a community of families and villages for the sake of a perfect and independent life—that citizens may live well and happily. Mutual safety and commerce are necessary consequences of a city, but they can exist without one.
Chapter 28
Why does Aristotle deny that shared commerce and defence treaties make one city?
He notes the Tyrrhenians, Carthaginians, and other nations with treaties regulating exports, imports, and mutual defence are not citizens of one city. Such pacts have no common magistrates and no care for each other's morals—only that no member of the confederacy is injured. Law as Lycophron defines it is a pledge of justice, not sufficient to make citizens good.
Chapter 28
What does Aristotle mean by comparing the many to a public supper?
He argues the supreme power should rest with the many rather than the few best, since collectively they may be better qualified. Each person contributes his share of virtue and wisdom, so together they resemble one man with many feet, hands, and intelligences. Public suppers exceed privately funded ones, and the public judges music and poetry best because each understands a part.
Chapter 28
What doubt does Aristotle raise about letting the majority rule?
He asks where supreme power should lie—majority, wealthy, virtuous few, one best man, or a tyrant—and finds difficulty in each. If the poor rule because they are many, they may divide the rich's property, judged just by the supreme power. Yet if the many seize everything, the city is destroyed; virtue cannot destroy what is virtuous, so such a law can never be right.
Chapter 28
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Why does Aristotle say the many should elect and censure officials but not hold office?
The author argues the multitude collectively has sufficient understanding to elect officers and review their conduct, and that mixing with higher ranks makes them serviceable, like certain foods that are unwholesome alone but healthful when combined. Yet because they lack property and do not act uniformly on virtue, they should be kept from the first offices, since iniquity leads them to do wrong and ignorance to mistake.
Chapter 29
What analogy does Aristotle use to show users can judge better than makers?
The author argues that in some arts the workman is not the only or best judge: the householder who inhabits the house judges it better than the builder, the steersman judges the tiller better than its maker, and the guest at a feast judges better than the cook. This supports letting the assembled people judge officials' conduct even without expert practice.
Chapter 29
How does Aristotle answer the objection that power should go to the morally excellent?
The author argues the power belongs not to the individual member but to the assembly, council, and people collectively, of which each citizen is a part as senator, adviser, or judge. Since the assembled many collectively hold more property than any one person or few who fill the great offices, it is right that the many hold the greatest powers, while treasurers and generals come from men of fortune and worth.
Chapter 29
What does Aristotle say about the relationship between a constitution and its laws?
The author states that the supreme power should be lodged in laws duly made, with magistrates authorized to decide cases general language cannot cover. But which laws are best founded remains a question: the laws of every state will necessarily resemble that state, being trifling or excellent, just or unjust, since laws must be framed correspondent to the constitution. A well-formed government will have good laws, a bad one bad.
Chapter 29
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Why does Aristotle reject claiming office from every kind of superiority?
The author argues it is contrary to common sense to base a right to office on every superiority whatsoever, since that would force all excellences into comparison with each other. Being slow or swift does not make one better qualified for office, though it matters in gymnastic races. Pretensions to state offices should rest on qualities useful to the state.
Chapter 30
What claims do the rich, the well-born, and the virtuous make to office?
The rich claim it because they hold the greatest landed property, the ultimate right to the soil vested in the community, and because their fidelity is generally most dependable. The free and well-born claim higher regard as citizens, since honourable descent is everywhere esteemed and noble birth is called the fountain of virtue. Virtue, especially justice, claims precedence as necessary to society.
Chapter 30
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According to Aristotle, what makes someone a citizen in general?
Aristotle defines a citizen as one who both shares in governing and, in turn, submits to being governed. He notes this condition differs across states, and that the best state is one enabling a person to choose and persevere in virtue throughout life, in both public and private affairs.
Chapter 31
Why does Aristotle say ostracism is founded on justice?
Aristotle argues that when citizens differ markedly in power, wealth, or connections, the reasoning behind ostracism is politically just, since equality is the aim of democratic government. He adds it is better for a legislator to design the state from the outset so this remedy is unnecessary, and to correct later problems by some such means.
Chapter 31
What does Aristotle say should be done with someone pre-eminent in virtue?
Aristotle says it seems wrong to banish such a person and wrong to govern him, comparing it to sharing power with Zeus. He concludes the natural course is for all to submit quietly to the rule of those eminently virtuous, letting them be perpetual kings in their states. He also notes such persons are not the object of law, being a law themselves.
Chapter 31
How does Aristotle illustrate the principle of leveling the eminent?
Aristotle recounts Periander's advice to Thrasybulus: he said nothing but struck off the taller ears of corn, leveling the crop, which Thrasybulus understood to mean removing the leading men. Aristotle notes this is practiced not only by tyrants but also in oligarchies and democracies, and even by the Persians against the Medes and Babylonians.
Chapter 31
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According to Aristotle, what distinguishes the guards of a king from those of a tyrant?
The author argues a king's guards are his citizens, while a tyrant's are foreigners. The king commands those who willingly obey according to law; the tyrant rules arbitrarily over those who do not consent. Thus the king is guarded by the citizens, the tyrant against them.
Chapter 32
What are the four sorts of kingly government Aristotle lists?
Aristotle lists: first, the heroic kingship over a free people, where the king was general, judge, and high priest; second, the barbarian hereditary despotic government regulated by laws; third, the aesumnetic, an elective tyranny; and fourth, the Lacedaemonian, essentially an hereditary generalship. He then adds a fifth, where one person has supreme power over all things.
Chapter 32
Why does Aristotle say the barbarians' despotic governments are not overthrown?
The author argues barbarians are by nature more prone to slavery than Greeks, and Asians more than Europeans, so they endure despotic rule without murmuring. Such governments are tyrannies but are customary and according to law, which keeps them stable rather than liable to overthrow.
Chapter 32
What question does Aristotle pose about being governed by a good man versus good laws?
He asks whether it is best to be governed by a good man or by good laws. Those favoring kingship say laws speak only generally and cannot fit particular circumstances, like the Egyptian physician allowed to alter treatment after the fourth day. Aristotle counters that the multitude judges many things better than one person and is less corruptible.
Chapter 32
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Why does Aristotle think the earliest governments were monarchies?
The author argues early monarchies arose because it was hard to find many people of eminent virtue, especially since the world was then divided into small communities. Kings were also appointed in return for benefits conferred on mankind, and such actions are peculiar to good men. When many equals in virtue later appeared, they rejected superiority and established a free state.
Chapter 33
According to Aristotle, how did oligarchies, tyrannies, and democracies arise in sequence?
The author argues that after the free state degenerated, people made property of the public, giving rise to oligarchies, since wealth was made meritorious and honors reserved for the rich. These turned to tyrannies, and tyrannies in turn gave rise to democracies, as the tyrants' power decreased through their rapacious avarice and the people grew strong enough to establish democracies.
Chapter 33
Why does Aristotle prefer law to the rule of the best man?
The author argues law is reason without desire, while passion influences even the best men in power. He rejects the medical analogy, noting officials act through hatred or favor, whereas physicians earn money by curing. He also says the moral law is superior to the written law, and that two men of worth are better than one, citing Homer.
Chapter 33
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Why does Aristotle prefer many judges over one for unwritten cases?
Aristotle argues that although anyone deciding by legal principles decides justly, it is absurd to think one person sees better with two eyes or hears better with two ears than many do with many. He notes absolute monarchs themselves acquire many eyes, ears, hands and feet by entrusting friends with part of their power, since friends of the monarch are friends of his government.
Chapter 34
According to Aristotle, what kinds of people are naturally suited to each form of government?
Aristotle says some men are naturally formed to be under a master, others under a king, others to be citizens of a free state. Kingly government suits those accustomed by nature to submit to a family eminent in virtue; aristocracy suits those fit to bear the rule of free men; a free state suits a warlike people formed to govern and be governed by laws admitting the poorest citizen to honours according to worth.
Chapter 34
When does Aristotle say kingly power over all is right?
Aristotle holds that when a whole family or an individual so excels in virtue as to exceed all others in the community, it is right that kingly power be in them, or that the individual be king and lord of all. He says it would not be right to kill, banish, or ostracise such a person for superior merit, nor to let him rule only in turn, since what is highest should not be lowest.
Chapter 34
What does Aristotle say makes a good man and a good citizen or king?
Aristotle concludes that the best regular government is administered by the best men—one man, one family, or a number excelling in virtue who can govern and be governed so as to make life most agreeable. He states that education and morals are almost the whole of what makes a good man, and the same qualities make a good citizen or good king.
Chapter 34
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What three tasks must a true legislator or politician master regarding constitutions?
The author argues a legislator must know: (1) the best form of government absolutely, free from external obstruction; (2) which species is adapted to particular persons and circumstances, since many cannot enjoy the best form; and (3) an imaginary or inferior form—how to discern it at its beginning and how to preserve it once established.
Chapter 35
According to Aristotle, what is the relationship between laws and the constitution?
The author argues laws should be framed to suit the state that is governed by them, not the state to the laws. Government is the ordering of a state, especially the regulation of magistrates and placement of supreme power; laws are distinct, directing magistrates' conduct and punishment of offenders. So founders of laws must attend to the number and kinds of government.
Chapter 35
Which excess is worst, and which is least harmful, among the three deviations?
The author argues tyranny is the worst excess, being most contrary to a free state, because the excesses of the best and most holy are worst—kingship degenerating into tyranny. Next most hurtful is oligarchy, since aristocracy differs much from it; democracy is least harmful. He rejects the earlier writer's view that democracy is worst of good constitutions and best of bad ones.
Chapter 35
Why must a legislator know the many species of democracy and oligarchy?
The author argues it is false that there is only one species of democracy or of oligarchy; there are many. A legislator must know their differences, how great they are, and whence they arise, and must perceive which laws suit each government, since the same laws cannot serve all oligarchies and democracies. Correcting an established government is as hard as forming a new one.
Chapter 35
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According to Aristotle, why are there many different forms of government?
The author argues that each state consists of many parts—families, rich, poor, and the middle class, plus distinctions of arms, occupation, family, and merit. Since government is the ordering of magistracies shared according to these differences, there must necessarily be as many forms of government as there are ranks and situations in the society.
Chapter 36
How does Aristotle criticize the common definition of democracy and oligarchy?
The author argues it is wrong to define democracy simply as rule by the majority, since in oligarchies too the supreme power rests with the majority. Nor is oligarchy simply rule by the few. Rather, democracy is rule by the free, oligarchy by the rich; the many or few follow incidentally because the poor are many and the rich few.
Chapter 36
What hypothetical does Aristotle use to show numbers alone don't define a democracy?
He asks us to suppose a people of thirteen hundred, of whom one thousand are rich and refuse the three hundred poor any share in government, though the poor are free and equal in everything else. No one, he argues, would call this a democracy; likewise, few poor ruling many rich would not be an oligarchy.
Chapter 36
What analogy does Aristotle draw between forms of government and music?
The author compares the best form of government to the most harmonious music, oligarchic and despotic rule to the more violent tunes, and democracy to the soft and gentle airs. He also notes some reduce all musical modes to the Doric and Phrygian, just as many reduce all governments to democracy and oligarchy.
Chapter 36
Section 374 cards
What parts make up a city, according to Aristotle in this chapter?
Aristotle lists husbandmen, mechanics, exchange-men (buyers, sellers, merchants, victuallers), hired labourers, men-at-arms, the rich who serve in costly public offices, and officeholders such as senators and judges. He argues a city needs these parts to be self-sufficient, happy, and just, since what cannot defend itself is unworthy of the name of a city.
Chapter 37
How does Aristotle criticize Plato's four-part city in the Republic?
Aristotle says Socrates speaks elegantly but not correctly in making a city of weavers, husbandmen, shoe-makers, and builders, then adding smiths, herdsmen, merchants, and victuallers as an appendix. He objects that this treats a city as established for necessity rather than happiness, omits the military until territory grows, and leaves out judges and councillors.
Chapter 37
What is the most pure democracy, according to Aristotle?
The most pure democracy is the one named principally for the equality prevailing in it: the law directs that the poor be in no greater subjection than the rich, and that supreme power be lodged with neither but shared by both. Aristotle adds that since the people are the majority and their vote is law, such a state must be a democracy.
Chapter 37
How does Aristotle compare a lawless democracy to a tyranny?
Where the people govern and not the law, everything is decided by majority vote rather than law, and demagogues abound. Aristotle says such a people and a tyrant have the same manners and both hold despotic power over better persons; their decrees resemble edicts, demagogues resemble flatterers, and the two support each other, keeping supreme power in the people's votes rather than the laws.
Chapter 37
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According to Aristotle, what must be supreme for a state to be free?
The author argues that law ought to be supreme over all things; where the government is not in the laws, there is no free state. Particular incidents arising should be determined by the magistrates or the state. He therefore claims that a democracy centering all power in the votes of the people cannot properly be called a democracy, since its decrees cannot be general in their extent.
Chapter 38
What distinguishes the fourth and last species of democracy?
It arose when cities grew large and public revenue became considerable. The populace, on account of their numbers, were admitted to share in public affairs, and the poorest received wages for attending, so they had more leisure than the rich, who often stayed away. Thus the supreme power was lodged in the poor, and not in the laws.
Chapter 38
What is the fourth species of oligarchy, called a dynasty?
It occurs when power is in the same hands as the third sort but is not under the control of law. Aristotle says this corresponds exactly to a tyranny in monarchies and to the last-mentioned species of democracy. In it, men are supreme rather than the law.
Chapter 38
Why may a state's laws and its actual government diverge after a revolution?
The author observes that a free state with supreme power in the laws may not be democratic yet be governed as if it were, due to established manners and customs. Conversely, laws may countenance a more democratic form while the state inclines to oligarchy. This chiefly happens after an alteration of government, because people do not easily change and love their ancient customs; the ancient laws remain while power lies with those who brought about the revolution.
Chapter 38
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According to Aristotle, what alone has a right to be called an aristocracy?
A state governed by the best men upon the most virtuous principles, not upon any hypothesis even good men may propose. Only there is a man at once a good man and a good citizen; in other states men are good only relative to those states. Aristotle also notes other states called aristocracies that blend rich, virtuous, and citizens at large, like Carthage.
Chapter 39
What is a free state, and what is the best proof of a happy mixture?
A free state is a mixture of democracy and oligarchy. The best proof of a happy mixture is when a person may properly call the same state both a democracy and an oligarchy, because both are well blended. Aristotle illustrates with Lacedaemon, which some call democratic for its shared upbringing and public tables, others oligarchic for choosing officers by vote.
Chapter 39
What are the three ways two states may be blended into a free state?
First, adopt rules common to both, like jury pay in democracies and fines for absent rich jurors in oligarchies. Second, take a medium between each state's methods, such as a census between the democracy's none and the oligarchy's high one. Third, adopt different laws from each, e.g. choosing magistrates by vote like an oligarchy but admitting no census like a democracy.
Chapter 39
What does Aristotle say makes a well-composed state preserve itself?
Its means of preservation must be in itself, not without — not owing to the forbearance of neighbours, which may happen to a bad government. Rather, every member of the community must not be willing that there should be the least alteration in their constitution. Aristotle says a state well composed of two others ought to resemble both and neither.
Chapter 39
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How does Aristotle distinguish the third and truest form of tyranny?
Aristotle says the third kind, most properly called tyranny, is the opposite of kingly power: one rules over equals and superiors without being accountable for his conduct, aims at his own advantage rather than the governed, and therefore rules by compulsion, since no freemen willingly submit to such government.
Chapter 40
Why does Aristotle argue the middle class produces the best political community?
The author argues citizens of moderate fortune are most obedient to reason, least inclined to covet others' goods or be coveted, and so live free from danger. He cites Phocylides wishing for the middle state, and claims the best states have the middle rank larger and more respectable than either extreme, or at least than either alone.
Chapter 40
What happens to states when the middle rank is too small?
Aristotle says that when the number of middling citizens is too small, whichever group is more numerous, rich or poor, overpowers them and takes public affairs, producing democracy or oligarchy. Disputes between rich and poor end with the victor establishing a constitution favoring its own principle, not a free state.
Chapter 40
Which lawgivers does Aristotle cite as evidence for the middle rank?
Aristotle offers as proof that the best lawgivers were themselves of the middle rank, naming Solon, evident from his poems; Lycurgus, noting he was not a king; and Charondas, adding that most others were likewise. He uses this to support his claim that the middle state is best for communities.
Chapter 40
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Why, according to Aristotle, have conquerors rarely established a middle-class constitution?
Conquerors in Greece set up democracies or oligarchies to mirror their own cities' governments, not what served the state. The author argues this is why supreme power has seldom been placed among the middling rank, and only one conqueror preferred that order. Most cities' inhabitants, he says, customarily do not desire equality but either aspire to rule or, when conquered, submit.
Chapter 41
What does Aristotle mean by quality and quantity in a city, and what follows from their balance?
Quality means liberty, riches, education, and family; quantity means relative populousness. These may sit in different parts of the city, but quantity must not overbalance quality. When the poor greatly outnumber the proper proportion, democracy arises—of husbandmen if they dominate (the best), of mechanics and hired laborers if they do (the worst). When the rich and noble prevail by quality, oligarchy ensues.
Chapter 41
Why should a legislator focus on the middle rank, according to the chapter?
The author argues every legislator should especially regard those of the middle rank: in an oligarchy the laws should target them, in a democracy they should be entrusted with power. When their number exceeds the other two groups, or at least one, they give the constitution stability, since rich and poor will not conspire against them, each refusing to serve the other. The middle rank is the arbitrator both parties can trust.
Chapter 41
How do oligarchies and democracies rig attendance rules, and what blend does Aristotle recommend?
Oligarchies use five devices—assemblies, offices, courts, arms, and gymnastic exercises—to undermine the people: the rich are fined for non-attendance while the poor are excused or lightly fined, so the poor avoid enrollment and the rich comply. Democracies pay the poor to attend but give the rich nothing. The author says a proper blend extends both pay and fine to every member, so all share rather than part only.
Chapter 41
Section 423 cards
In early Greek states after kingship, which military group first held power and why?
The author says the earliest post-kingly Greek states were governed by the military, first of all the horse. At that time the strength and excellence of the army depended on cavalry, since heavy-armed foot were useless without proper discipline and the art of tactics was not known to the ancients. When cities grew larger and relied more on foot soldiers, greater numbers shared in citizenship.
Chapter 42
What three things must a careful legislator consider in every state?
The author names three: first, the public assembly; second, the officers of the state — who they ought to be, what power they should be entrusted with, and how they should be appointed; third, the judicial department. He says these are of great consequence to all, and that attending to them properly is necessary for the state to be happy.
Chapter 42
Which arrangement of deliberative power does Aristotle call the most pure democracy?
The fourth method: every person deliberates upon every subject in public assembly, where the magistrates can determine nothing of themselves and have only the privilege of giving their opinions first. The author says this is the method of the most pure democracy, analogous to proceedings in a dynastic oligarchy and a tyrannic monarchy.
Chapter 42
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In an oligarchy, how does Aristotle suggest giving the people a role without letting them disrupt government?
The author suggests oligarchies either summon some common people to the council or establish a court of pre-advisers (guardians of the laws) who propose measures for later enactment. The people may vote on proposed bills but may not propose anything contrary, or may give advice while magistrates retain the power of determining, giving them a place in administration without power to cause disorder.
Chapter 43
According to Aristotle, how should the power of pardoning and condemning differ in oligarchies versus democracies?
The author argues oligarchies should follow the opposite practice to democracies: the people should be allowed to pardon but not to condemn, with the cause referred back to the magistrates. In republics the contrary holds—the power of pardoning rests with the few, while condemning is always referred to the people at large.
Chapter 43
What does Aristotle say distinguishes a magistrate from other officeholders like priests, heralds, and ambassadors?
The author notes not everyone chosen by vote or lot counts as a magistrate: priests differ from civil magistrates, and choregi, heralds, and ambassadors are elected but not magistrates. Most properly, magistrates are members of the deliberative council, decide causes, or hold command—command being especially peculiar to magistrates. He adds the verbal question is of little consequence.
Chapter 43
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How does Aristotle distinguish magistrates across democracy, oligarchy, and aristocracy?
Aristotle asks whether the same magistrates suit every state or vary with the constitution. He suggests offices go to the well educated in an aristocracy, the rich in an oligarchy, and freemen in a democracy, and that the same office may need great powers in one state and small powers in another. Certain magistrates, like the pre-advisers, are peculiar to particular states.
Chapter 44
Why does Aristotle say the pre-advisers are peculiar to an oligarchy?
Aristotle says the pre-advisers must always be few, and being few they are peculiar to an oligarchy; a senate is proper to a democracy instead. Where both offices exist, the pre-adviser's is superior, holding oligarchical power while the senate holds democratical power. The senate's power is lost in democracies where the people assemble and decide everything themselves.
Chapter 44
In how many ways does Aristotle say magistrates differ, and what are they?
Aristotle says magistrates differ in three ways, whose blending produces all imaginable varieties: first, who appoints the magistrates; second, who is appointed; third, the mode of appointment. Each of these differs in three manners, since either all citizens, some of the whole body, or some of a particular order may appoint, and this by vote or lot.
Chapter 44
What are the eight courts Aristotle lists for the judicial part of government?
Aristotle lists eight courts: inspection of magistrates after leaving office; punishment of those who injure the public; causes where the state is a party; appeals between magistrates and private persons over fines; disputes over contracts of great value; judging between foreigners; and murder, which has different species — malice prepense, chance-medley, and justifiable homicide where the fact is admitted but legality disputed.
Chapter 44
Section 454 cards
According to Aristotle, what causes sedition in states?
The author argues inequality is always the occasion of sedition, though not when those who are unequal are treated in a manner corresponding to that inequality. He notes kingly power is unequal when exercised over equals. He identifies two kinds of equality—in number and in value—and says those who aim after equality cause seditions, since each side wrongly extends equality or superiority in one respect to all respects.
Chapter 45
Which form of government does Aristotle call safer and less liable to sedition?
The author argues democracy is safer and less liable to sedition than oligarchy. In oligarchy sedition may arise from two causes: the few in power may conspire against each other or against the people. In a democracy there is only one cause—the people against the few who aim at exclusive power—and there is no instance worth speaking of of the people being seditious against themselves.
Chapter 45
How does Aristotle classify courts by who judges all causes?
The author argues that appointing all the community to judge all causes suits a democracy; appointing certain persons to judge all causes suits an oligarchy; and appointing the whole community to judge some causes but particular persons in others suits an aristocracy or free state. He derives four sorts of judges from combinations of selection by vote or by lot, whether drawn from all the people or only part.
Chapter 45
What two kinds of alterations does Aristotle say men propose in governments?
The author argues alterations are of two kinds: either changing the established state into another form, such as erecting an oligarchy where there is a democracy, or the reverse; or, without objecting to the established government, choosing to have the sole management themselves, in the hands of a few or one. Men also raise commotions over the degree of power, extending or contracting it, or altering a particular magistracy.
Chapter 45
Section 464 cards
According to Aristotle, what are the three general aspects of sedition inquiry?
Aristotle says we must distinguish three things: the situation of those who begin a sedition, the causes for which they do so, and the beginnings of political troubles and mutual quarrels. He frames the whole inquiry as a search for the causes of seditions and revolutions in governments, beginning from first principles.
Chapter 46
What two aims make people seditious, and which is just?
The author argues people aim either at equality or at superiority. Those who are inferior are seditious to become equal, which is just; those who are equal are seditious to become superior, which is unjust. He says those aiming at equality revolt when they see their equals with more, and those seeking superiority revolt when they have only equal or less than inferiors.
Chapter 46
What does Aristotle identify as the causes for which men are seditious?
Aristotle states the causes are profit and honour, and their contraries: men raise commotions to avoid dishonour or loss of fortune by fines, either on their own account or their friends'. He distinguishes these from the original causes that dispose men to such things, which he counts as seven in one manner and more in another.
Chapter 46
How does disproportionate increase cause revolutions, and what is Aristotle's body analogy?
The author argues that as a body of many parts must grow proportionably to preserve symmetry, so a city's parts must not grow out of proportion. If the foot were four cubits long and the rest two palms, the creature would change form. Likewise the number of poor in democracies and free states may grow unnoticed, and revolutions also arise by accident, as at Tarentum and Argos.
Chapter 46
Section 474 cards
According to Aristotle, what is the immediate cause of seditions in government?
Aristotle argues that seditions do not arise from little things but from them: the immediate cause is always something of moment. Trifling quarrels, especially between persons of the first distinction in the state, can have the greatest consequences, because disputes among men of note involve the whole city. He therefore urges everyone to guard against the consequences at the beginning of such disputes.
Chapter 47
What Syracusan example does Aristotle give of a trivial quarrel causing revolution?
Aristotle cites the Syracusians: two young men in office quarrelled over a love affair. One, while absent, had his mistress seduced by the other; in revenge he persuaded his friend's wife to live with him. The whole city took sides, and the government was overturned. Aristotle uses this to show that mischief lies in the beginning of such disputes.
Chapter 47
How does Aristotle say a government may be changed when a part of the city gains power?
Aristotle argues that when magistrates or any part of the city acquire great credit or increased power, the government may change into an oligarchy, democracy, or free state. He cites the Areopagus at Athens gaining credit in the Median war, the commonalty strengthened by the victory at Salamis, the Argive nobles after Mantinea, and Syracuse turning its free state into a democracy after defeating the Athenians.
Chapter 47
By what two methods does Aristotle say revolutions in governments are brought about?
Aristotle states that revolutions are brought about in two ways: by violence or by fraud. Violence may compel submission to the change when it is made. Fraud works in two ways: the people, first deceived, willingly consent to an alteration and are afterwards forced to abide by it, as when the Four Hundred claimed the king of Persia would supply money; or they are first persuaded and afterwards consent to be governed.
Chapter 47
Section 484 cards
According to Aristotle, what causes revolutions in democracies?
The author argues democracies are most subject to revolutions from the dishonesty of demagogues. Demagogues either inform against men of property, driving them to unite through common fear, or set the common people against them. He cites Cos, Rhodes, Heraclea, Megara, and Cume as examples where such demagogue behavior subverted popular government.
Chapter 48
How did demagogues at Rhodes and Megara undermine their democracies?
At Rhodes, demagogues distributed bribes to prevent the people from paying the trierarchs what was owed, so the harassed trierarchs conspired and destroyed the popular state. At Megara, demagogues drove out the nobles to procure money by confiscations; the numerous exiles returned, won a battle, and established an oligarchy.
Chapter 48
Why did ancient tyrannies arise from democracies more often than in Aristotle's time?
The author argues that formerly the same person was both demagogue and general, so democracies changed into tyrannies; most ancient tyrannies arose this way. Then demagogues came from the soldiery and were not powerful by eloquence. Now oratory is cultivated and able speakers are demagogues, but they lack military capacity, so they cannot impose themselves as tyrants, except in one or two trifling instances.
Chapter 48
What remedy does Aristotle propose against demagogues making the people superior to the laws?
When there is no census regulating the election of magistrates, demagogues seeking office flatter the people and try to make them superior even to the laws. To prevent this entirely, or at least in great measure, the author argues magistrates should be elected by the tribes, and not by the people at large.
Chapter 48
Section 494 cards
What two main causes does Aristotle give for revolutions in oligarchies?
The author identifies two chief causes: ill-treatment of the people, which makes every individual ripe for sedition (especially if an oligarch becomes their leader, as Lygdamis at Naxus), and quarrels among the oligarchs themselves. Seditions from different causes differ; sometimes the rich excluded from a very narrow administration raise disputes until admitted, as happened at Massilia, Ister, and Heraclea.
Chapter 49
How do the two kinds of demagogues in oligarchies differ?
The author distinguishes two sorts: one flatters the few who hold power, like Charicles over the Thirty at Athens and Phrynichus over the Four Hundred; the other shares in the oligarchy yet flatters the people, like the state-guardians at Larissa, elected by the people. The latter arises where magistrates are chosen by soldiers or the people rather than electing themselves, as at Abydos.
Chapter 49
Why does war endanger an oligarchy, according to the chapter?
In war, distrust of citizens forces the oligarchy to employ mercenary troops; whoever commands them often assumes tyranny, as Timophanes did at Corinth. If several generals are appointed, they may establish a dynasty. Sometimes fear of this compels the oligarchs to let the people share in government because they must use them. In peace, mutual distrust leads them to entrust the state's guardianship to mercenaries and a general who becomes arbiter, as at Larissa.
Chapter 49
How can a growing city accidentally change its oligarchy or free state?
Where senators, judges, and magistrates are chosen by a property census, the highest census is often fixed at first, so few qualify. When the city grows rich through peace or other good fortune, everyone's fortune may equal the census, letting the whole community share in office. This change sometimes happens little by little and insensibly, sometimes quickly.
Chapter 49
Section 504 cards
Why does Aristotle say aristocracies and free states are mostly destroyed?
The author argues they are mostly destroyed from want of a fixed administration of public affairs. The cause arises first from a lack of due mixture of the democratic and oligarchic parts in a free state; in an aristocracy from the same causes, and also from virtue not being properly joined to power, but chiefly from the undue mixture of the democratic and oligarchic parts.
Chapter 50
What happened at Thurium when the magistrates were elected by a high census?
The census was altered to a lower one and the magistrates were subdivided into more courts. But the nobles possessed all the land contrary to law, making the state too much of an oligarchy, which let them encroach on the rest of the people. These, once inured to war, got the better of their guards and expelled everyone possessing more than he ought.
Chapter 50
How did the law requiring five years of military service lead to Thurium's government being subverted?
Young men of martial disposition, esteemed by their officers, despised the public managers and sought to abolish the law so one person could remain perpetually in military command, believing the people would appoint them. The counselors first opposed, then agreed, expecting to keep other affairs. Later they could restrain nothing, and the government became a dynasty of the innovators.
Chapter 50
According to Aristotle, which state is more secure, and why?
The author argues that a state inclining most to democracy, called a free state, is more secure than one inclining to oligarchy, called an aristocracy, because the wider the foundation the securer the building, and it is ever best to live where equality prevails. The only firm state is where everyone enjoys the equality he has a right to and possesses what is his own.
Chapter 50
Section 514 cards
According to Aristotle, what small illegality most threatens a well-tempered government?
The author argues that in well-tempered governments nothing should be done contrary to law, and this matters most in small matters. An illegality that approaches insensibly approaches secretly, like small repeated family expenses consuming an income. The understanding is deceived by the false argument that if every part is little, the whole is little—though the whole of many small parts is large.
Chapter 51
How does Aristotle say aristocracies and oligarchies can be kept firm?
The author argues they often endure not from the stability of their forms but from wise conduct by magistrates: never injuring those outside office, bringing the most consequential of them into office, not disgracing those desirous of honour, not encroaching on private property, and treating equals equally. He adds that short terms of office, such as six months, help prevent corruption into dynasties.
Chapter 51
What does Aristotle recommend when money increases but the census stays the same?
The author recommends taking a general account of total money in former times and comparing it with the present—yearly where the census is yearly, otherwise every three or five years. If the total is much larger or smaller than when the census was established, a law should extend or contract the census accordingly. Otherwise a dynasty arises in oligarchies and free states, or free states turn into democracies.
Chapter 51
What general rule does Aristotle give about honours and excessive power?
The author argues that in all governments no one should acquire a rank far superior to the rest, and that moderate honours for a continuance are better than great ones for a short time, since prosperity spoils those who cannot bear it. If great honours are conferred, they should be removed by degrees. Above all, law should ensure no one has too much power through fortune or friends.
Chapter 51
Section 524 cards
What three qualifications does Aristotle require for holders of the highest offices?
Aristotle lists three: first, affection for the established constitution; second, abilities fully equal to the duties of the office; third, virtue and justice suited to the particular state, since justice differs between states and so must have different species. He notes doubt arises when no single person has all three.
Chapter 52
When a good general is a bad man, which quality should be preferred and why?
Aristotle says weigh which quality is rarer. For a general, prefer courage to virtue, since fewer can command an army than are good men. For protecting the state or managing finances, reverse the rule: these need greater virtue than most possess, but only knowledge common to all.
Chapter 52
Why does Aristotle warn against extending a constitution's principle to excess?
He compares it to a nose: slight deviations toward hook or flat can still be beautiful, but excess destroys the part's nature until it is hardly a nose. So oligarchy or democracy may vary somewhat from perfect form and still be well constituted, but pushed too far the government worsens and finally no government remains.
Chapter 52
What does Aristotle call the greatest safeguard of the state, and what mistake do democracies make about liberty?
He says educating children for the constitution contributes most to preserving the state; laws fail if citizens are not raised in its principles. Pure democracies err by defining liberty as everyone doing as they please, following inclination. Aristotle argues no one should think subjection to government is slavery; it is protection.
Chapter 52
Section 534 cards
According to Aristotle, what two forms of government does a tyranny combine?
Aristotle says a tyranny partakes of the worst species of oligarchy and democracy, making it the worst government man can submit to, since it is composed of two bad forms and retains all the corruptions and defects of both. A kingdom, by contrast, partakes of aristocracy.
Chapter 53
From what different classes does Aristotle say kingdoms and tyrannies arise?
Aristotle argues a kingdom is formed to protect the better sort against the multitude, with kings chosen for superior virtue, noble descent, or beneficent actions. A tyrant, by contrast, is chosen out of the meanest populace as an enemy to the better sort, so the common people are not oppressed by them; most tyrants, he says, were demagogues who gained credit by oppressing the nobles.
Chapter 53
How does Aristotle distinguish the aims and guards of a king versus a tyrant?
Aristotle states a king desires to be guardian of his people, securing property holders and preventing injury to the people generally; his object is virtue and honour, and his guards are citizens. A tyrant has no regard for the common good except his own advantage, aims at pleasure and wealth, and his guards are foreigners.
Chapter 53
What causes does Aristotle give for conspiracies against monarchies?
Aristotle attributes plots against monarchy to injustice received, fear, and contempt, with injurious contempt having the most influence, and sometimes to loss of private fortunes. Plots either target the ruler's person, arising from hatred and revenge, or the government itself. He cites the plot against Pisistratus's children over the insult to Harmodius's sister as an example of revenge.
Chapter 53
Section 543 cards
According to Aristotle, what two main causes drive conspiracies against tyrants?
The author argues that hatred and contempt are the two chief causes inducing men to conspire against tyrants. Hatred he calls inseparable from tyranny, while contempt often destroys tyrants who fall into effeminate living. He adds that anger sometimes motivates conspirators more powerfully than hatred, though hatred is stronger since anger involves grief that blocks reason.
Chapter 54
What does Aristotle identify as the principal internal causes of a kingdom's subversion?
The author argues kingdoms are seldom destroyed by outward attack and are generally stable, but have many internal causes of subversion. Two are principal: when those in power excite a sedition, and when they try to establish a tyranny by assuming greater power than the law allows. He adds that hereditary kingdoms fall when rulers are contemptible or insolent without despotic power.
Chapter 54
How does Aristotle distinguish a kingly government from a tyranny?
The author argues a kingly government is voluntarily submitted to, with supreme power granted on great occasions, and a king rules only while people willingly obey. Where many are equal and none is fit to govern, they will not willingly submit; if someone takes power by force or fraud, that is a tyranny, whose submission is involuntary. He notes kingdoms are rare in his own times, replaced by monarchies and tyrannies.
Chapter 54
Section 554 cards
How did Theopompus increase the duration of the Spartan kingdom?
Theopompus took something away from the royal power by establishing the ephori, and by this moderation the kingdom lasted longer. When his wife asked if he was ashamed to hand down a reduced kingdom, he replied that he gave his children one more lasting, making it in some measure not less but bigger.
Chapter 55
What three ends does Aristotle say tyranny pursues in its citizens?
The author argues tyranny aims at three things: that citizens be poor and abject in spirit, that they have no confidence in one another, and that they be totally without means of doing anything. All tyrannical plans tend to one of these ends, so the people may have neither mutual confidence, power, nor spirit.
Chapter 55
What is the second, contrary method of preserving a tyranny?
The author argues the second method is nearly opposite: make the government almost kingly while preserving power, so subjects submit willingly or not. The tyrant should appear attentive to public affairs, moderate in pleasures, respectful to men of merit, and religious without hypocrisy, since a king is preserved by friends and a tyrant by none.
Chapter 55
Why does Aristotle say a tyrant cannot trust friends?
The author argues a king is preserved by his friends, but a tyrant can place no confidence in friends, since everyone desires to destroy him and friends chiefly have the power to do so. He adds that tyrants love flatterers and the worst of wretches, and hate men of worth as encroaching on their despotism.
Chapter 55
Section 564 cards
Why did the tyranny of Orthagoras's family at Sicyon last longer than other tyrannies?
The author says it lasted longer than any other tyranny because the rulers used their power with moderation and were in many respects obedient to the laws. Clisthenes was an able general, so he never fell into contempt, and he took care that his government should be popular in many particulars.
Chapter 56
How long did the Cypselid tyranny at Corinth last, and why?
It lasted seventy-seven years and six months: Cypselus ruled thirty years, Periander forty-four, and Psammetichus three. The author attributes this to Cypselus being a popular man who governed without guards; Periander ruled like a tyrant but was an able general.
Chapter 56
How does Aristotle criticize Plato's account of constitutional change?
The author argues Plato's account is faulty: Socrates gives only the general cause that nothing is immutable, without saying what changes the best government undergoes. He also objects that Plato treats each kind of oligarchy and democracy as if there were only one sort, and that tyrannies do not change as Plato's circle requires.
Chapter 56
What examples does Aristotle give of one tyranny changing into another form?
He says tyranny often changed into another tyranny, as at Sicyon from Myron's to Clisthenes'; into an oligarchy, as Antileo's at Chalcis; into a democracy, as Gelo's at Syracuse; or into an aristocracy, as Charilaus's at Lacedaemon and at Carthage. He uses these to show tyranny is not a fixed stage in a cycle.
Chapter 56
Section 571 cards
What does Aristotle call the foundation of a democratical state, and what are its two parts?
Aristotle says the foundation of a democracy is liberty, which democrats claim is the end of every democracy. Its two parts are: governing and being governed in turn, with equality measured by numbers rather than worth; and living as one likes, since he who must live as he likes not is a slave. Hence rotation in command and equality.
Chapter 57
Section 582 cards
How does Aristotle propose resolving disputes between rich and poor in a state?
He proposes deciding by the combined census of each side: if ten rich and twenty poor exist, and six rich plus fifteen poor agree on a measure while four rich and five poor oppose it, the side whose combined census is greater determines the law. If the two sides are equal, he compares it to a court dividing equally, settled by lot or similar method.
Chapter 58
What does Aristotle say is unjust about both oligarchic and democratic justice?
The author argues both propositions are unjust. Oligarchic justice, based on property value, would give supreme power to a single individual richer than the rest, creating tyranny. Democratic justice by mere numbers would wrong the few rich by confiscating their property. He says both sides claim the majority's approval should be established, but neither claim is fully correct.
Chapter 58
Section 594 cards
Which democracy does Aristotle rank best, and who composes it?
Aristotle ranks the most ancient democracy, composed of the first in order—chiefly husbandmen—as the best. Because their property is small, they cannot constantly hold assemblies, are busy with their own business, do not covet others' goods, and prefer their work to state affairs, since most people desire riches more than honour.
Chapter 59
What powers should the people retain in the best democracy?
The people at large should have deliberative power, the right to elect magistrates, to sit in judgment on all causes, and to censure magistrates after they leave office. The chief magistrates should be chosen according to a census varying with office, or by ability. Aristotle argues such a state is well constituted, since the best fill offices with the people's approval.
Chapter 59
What is the second-best democracy, and why does Aristotle praise it?
Next to husbandmen comes the democracy of shepherds and herdsmen, who share much with husbandmen and are well suited by their way of life to make good soldiers—stout in body and able to stay in the open air all night. Aristotle says the generality composing other democracies—mechanics, exchange-men, hired servants—are much worse, since they readily attend the assembly.
Chapter 59
How do demagogues preserve the last and worst democracy?
In the last and worst democracy, which gives every citizen a share in every part of the administration, leaders enlarge the people by enfranchising many, including those born naturally and those with either parent a citizen. Aristotle says they should stop once the common people surpass the nobles and middle rank; going further makes the state disorderly and provokes resentment, as at Cyrene.
Chapter 59
Section 604 cards
What does Aristotle say legislators should aim for in a government, rather than making it too perfect?
The author argues legislators and supporters of such a government should not make it too great a work or too perfect, but should aim only to render it stable. Even a badly constituted state can last a few days, so they should procure its safety by avoiding what is hurtful and framing written and unwritten laws that chiefly tend to the state's preservation.
Chapter 60
What law does Aristotle recommend regarding confiscations to prevent demagogues from flattering the people?
The author argues those who care for the state's welfare should enact a law preventing forfeitures from being divided among the people or paid into the treasury, instead setting them apart for sacred uses. Then the community would be less ready to condemn those they judge when they get nothing by it, while the punishment for the bad remains the same.
Chapter 60
According to Aristotle, what should a true patriot in a democracy ensure about the majority, and how should surplus public money be used?
The author argues the true patriot in a democracy should ensure the majority are not too poor, since poverty causes rapacity in that government, and should aim for perpetual plenty. Money saved from the public should be divided at once among the poor, if possible enough for each to buy a little field, or at least the implements of trade and husbandry.
Chapter 60
How does Aristotle say the best-framed oligarchy should be structured with censuses?
The author argues the first and best-framed oligarchy approaches what is called a free state, with two different census, one high and one low. Ordinary officers are chosen from those within the lower census, supreme magistrates from the higher, and no one within the census should be excluded from a part of the administration, regulated so the commonalty included is superior to those with no share.
Chapter 60
Section 614 cards
According to Aristotle, which military groups support democracy versus oligarchy?
Aristotle argues that light-armed troops and sailors contribute to supporting a democracy, while horsemen (who require considerable fortune) favor a powerful oligarchy, and heavy-armed troops favor a weaker oligarchy since they are made up of men of substance rather than the poor.
Chapter 61
What remedy does Aristotle propose for the disadvantage of heavy troops against light-armed in sedition?
Aristotle says the remedy is learned from skilful generals, who always mix a proper number of light-armed soldiers with their horse and heavy-armed. He notes that forming an oligarchy's troops from light-armed men is to form it against itself, since the lighter troops can match horse and heavy-armed in insurrection.
Chapter 61
How does Aristotle say admission of the people to government should be regulated?
Aristotle says admission should either be regulated by a census, or allowed as at Thebes to those who have ceased from mechanic employment for a certain time, or as at Massalia where they are chosen according to their worth, whether citizens or foreigners.
Chapter 61
Why should magistrates make sacrifices and erect public structures on entering office?
Aristotle argues magistrates should make magnificent sacrifices and erect public structures so the people, partaking of entertainment and seeing the city ornamented, may view the government's stability with pleasure, and the nobles will have their generosity recorded. He criticizes current oligarchs who seek gain over honour, calling such oligarchies little democracies.
Chapter 61
Section 624 cards
Which magistrates does Aristotle call most necessary, and why is their office problematic?
Aristotle says the office charged with executing sentences, collecting fines, and guarding prisoners is the most necessary but most difficult, since no one will undertake its odium without profit. He argues it should not be held by one person or permanently assigned, but rotated among the young, because worthy men decline it and worthless men cannot be trusted to guard others.
Chapter 62
How does Aristotle propose to reduce the hatred attached to executing judgments?
The author argues that passing sentence and executing it should be separated: one official judges, another carries out the sentence, as the eleven did at Athens with prisoners. Different magistrates hear different causes, and the young should hear cases of the young. Separating these offices makes the laws easier to enforce, since those who merely execute avoid the general hatred directed at those who both condemn and punish.
Chapter 62
What does Aristotle identify as the first necessary magistrate, and why?
He says the first necessity is regulators of the markets, a magistrate to inspect contracts and preserve order. Almost every city must have buyers and sellers supplying mutual wants, and this exchange is what most produces the comforts of life, for the sake of which men seem to have joined in one community. Related offices oversee public and private buildings, highways, and boundary markers.
Chapter 62
Which magistrates does Aristotle assign to aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy?
Aristotle states that three magistrates receive supreme power in some states: guardians of the laws, preadvisers, and senators. Guardians of the laws suit an aristocracy, preadvisers an oligarchy, and a senate a democracy. He also notes that offices like governors of the women suit wealthy states with leisure, since the poor employ wives and children in servile work for lack of slaves.
Chapter 62
Section 634 cards
What three kinds of goods must conspire for a man to be happy?
Aristotle divides what is good relative to man into three sorts: external goods, goods of the body, and goods of the soul. He says all must conspire to make a man happy, since no one would call a man happy who lacked fortitude, temperance, justice, or prudence, however many external advantages he held.
Chapter 63
According to Aristotle, do external goods produce virtue or does virtue produce them?
The author argues that external goods do not produce virtue; rather, virtue produces them. He claims experience shows this, and that external goods have a boundary like a machine, so their excess is hurtful or at best useless, while every good quality of the soul grows more useful as it increases.
Chapter 63
How much happiness does a person enjoy, and what is the example given?
Aristotle asserts that everyone enjoys as much happiness as he possesses virtue and wisdom and acts according to their dictates. He supports this with the example of God, who is completely happy not from any external good but in Himself and because such is His nature.
Chapter 63
What does Aristotle conclude about the happiest city and the happiest life?
The author concludes that the happiest city is the best and acts best, since no one can do well who acts not well, and deeds of man or city cannot be praiseworthy without virtue and wisdom. He supposes a man's happiest life, as individual and citizen, is a life of virtue with the enjoyments virtue usually procures.
Chapter 63
Section 644 cards
According to Aristotle, what determines whether a person's and a city's happiness are the same?
Aristotle argues happiness of the individual and the city are the same in kind: whoever places happiness in riches will judge a rich city happiest; whoever prizes tyrannical power over others will call the city with many subjects happiest; whoever approves virtue will think the most virtuous city happiest. The standard of happiness one holds for a man carries over to the city.
Chapter 64
What two questions does Aristotle identify as requiring consideration in this passage?
He distinguishes two questions: first, whether the most eligible life is that of a citizen participating in the community or that of a stranger without public affairs; second, what form of government is preferable and what disposition of the state is best, including whether the whole community or only some should share in administration. He says the first is not his present business; the second is.
Chapter 64
What does Aristotle say is the proper role of war for a well-governed city?
Aristotle argues war is commendable not as a final end but as a means to procure peace; a well-governed city could be happy with good laws even if isolated and its constitution not framed for conquest. The legislator should examine the state and the people's nature so they may partake of good life and its resulting happiness.
Chapter 64
How does Aristotle criticize those who think a despotic government over others is acceptable?
Aristotle argues such people want to be wisely governed themselves but think it of no consequence whether others are; they would not allow despotic rule over themselves yet do not blush to exercise it over others. He says despotic power is absurd except where nature has framed one party for dominion and the other for subordination, and one should not hunt men.
Chapter 64
Section 654 cards
What do the two parties in this chapter agree and disagree about?
Both agree a life of virtue is most eligible but differ on its use. Some disapprove of all political government, holding the truly free man's life distinct from the citizen's and most eligible; others think the citizen's life is best and that virtuous activity and happiness are the same. The author says each party is partly right and partly wrong.
Chapter 65
Why does Aristotle reject the claim that submission to all governments is slavery?
He grants that the free man's life is better than the slave's, since servile employments commanded of a slave contain nothing virtuous. But he denies that obeying every government is slavery: the rule of freemen differs from the rule of slaves no more than freedom differs from slavery in nature. Preferring doing nothing to virtuous activity is also wrong, since happiness consists in action.
Chapter 65
What is Aristotle's response to those who would seize supreme power?
Some argue supreme power is best because it commands many useful services, so one should seize it even against father, son, or friend. The author replies this would only hold if the supreme good belonged to those who plunder and use violence, which is unlikely. Such seizure is honorable only if the ruler is by nature as superior as man to woman, father to child, master to slave.
Chapter 65
What does Aristotle conclude about the happiest life for individuals and states?
Happiness consists in virtuous activity, so an active life is happiest for both the community and the individual. Activity need not refer to others: studies whose end is in oneself, improving judgment and understanding, are practical, and those who contrive plans are more truly said to act than the workmen who execute them. States avoiding intercourse with others need not be inactive, since citizens may interact mutually.
Chapter 65
Section 663 cards
How does Aristotle say a city's greatness should be judged?
The author argues a city's greatness should be estimated by its strength and its power to accomplish its object, not by the multitude of inhabitants. He compares Hippocrates, a greater physician though not a greater man than someone larger in body. He adds that a city's numbers should count only those who are truly part of it, not slaves, sojourners, and foreigners.
Chapter 66
Why does Aristotle say a very numerous population is hard to govern?
The author argues good law is a certain good order, and too large a multitude cannot achieve it except under divine power. Magistrates cannot judge cases justly or issue orders properly without knowing the characters of fellow citizens, which is impossible in a huge body. He also notes no well-governed state opens citizenship to an indiscriminate multitude.
Chapter 66
What qualities should a city's territory and situation have?
The author argues the soil should be self-sufficient, supplying all the necessaries of life so inhabitants live content, and extensive enough for them to live at ease with freedom and temperance. The country should be difficult of access to enemies but easy for inhabitants, and the city ideally placed on the seaside, able to assist all places and receive imports and materials.
Chapter 66
Section 674 cards
What does Aristotle say about a city's maritime commerce?
The author argues a city should trade to supply its own needs, not to serve as an open market for everyone else, since that is done for gain and is improper for a well-established state. Yet a coastal location is better for safety and for importing goods the country lacks and exporting its surplus.
Chapter 67
How does Aristotle propose handling harmful contact with harbor visitors?
He notes that docks and harbors can be walled and fortified so the city gains any benefit of intercourse while harm is restrained. A law can declare and appoint whom the state will allow to have intercourse with each other and whom not, keeping outsiders at a regulated distance.
Chapter 67
What naval force does Aristotle consider appropriate for a state?
He says a naval power is necessary to some degree, for the city's own sake and to appear formidable to neighbors or assist them by sea and land. How great it should be depends on the state's condition: if vigorous enough to lead other communities, its force should match its actions.
Chapter 67
How does Aristotle characterize the natural dispositions of cold, Asian, and Greek peoples?
The author argues cold northern peoples have courage but lack understanding and arts, so they keep liberty but cannot rule neighbors; Asians are quick and skilled but deficient in courage, so they are conquered and enslaved; Greeks, placed between, share both qualities, remain free, govern best, and could command the world if they agreed on one policy.
Chapter 67
Section 684 cards
According to Aristotle, is property a part of the state?
No. Aristotle argues that property is necessary for a state but is not a part of it, just as an instrument used by a workman is not part of the workman or the house. He compares this to the builder and the house: the art is employed on the house, but nothing is common between them.
Chapter 68
What six things does Aristotle say are necessary for a city to exist?
Food, arts (crafts and instruments), arms, revenue, a religious establishment, and a court to judge criminal and civil causes. He calls these absolutely necessary in every state, since a city is a community formed for self-sufficiency and self-protection, not an accidental gathering.
Chapter 68
In the best-governed state, what does Aristotle say citizens must not do?
The author argues that in the best-governed states, citizens of genuine virtue should not be permitted to practice mechanic employment or trade, since these are ignoble and destructive to virtue. They also should not be husbandmen, so they have leisure to cultivate virtue and serve the state.
Chapter 68
How does Aristotle assign military, deliberative, and priestly roles by age?
He argues courage belongs to the young and judgment to the old, so the same persons may hold arms and rule when force is needed, but roles are divided according to nature. Priestly duties go to those in years, since priests must have nothing else to do.
Chapter 68
Section 694 cards
Which two places does Aristotle cite as preserving the separation of husbandmen and soldiers?
Aristotle says the custom of dividing a city by families into separate orders, keeping husbandmen and soldiers apart, is preserved in his day in Egypt and Crete. He attributes the Egyptian foundation to Sesostris and the Cretan to Minos, noting Sesostris is far more ancient than Minos. He also credits Egypt with the origin of separating citizens into families.
Chapter 69
According to Aristotle, who first established common meals, and where?
Aristotle reports that common meals are an ancient institution, established in Crete under Minos and at a still more remote period in Italy. He relates that Italus, king of Aenotria, made the Aenotrians husbandmen instead of shepherds, gave them new laws, and was the first to establish common meals; some of his descendants still observe them.
Chapter 69
How does Aristotle propose dividing the land of the city?
Aristotle argues land should be split into two parts: one belonging to the community, one to individuals. The public half is subdivided, half for worship of the gods and half to support common meals. Each individual's half is again split, one portion at the country's extremity and one near the city, so each person holds land in both places, promoting equality and harmony in war.
Chapter 69
Why does Aristotle favor giving each citizen land both near the border and near the city?
Aristotle says allotting each person land in both places is equal and right, and makes citizens act in concert with greater harmony in war with neighbors. When land is not so divided, one party neglects enemy inroads on the borders while the other takes them too seriously. He notes some places bar border inhabitants from voting on wars waged against them, lest private interest sway them.
Chapter 69
Section 704 cards
What site qualities does Aristotle rank first for a city's health?
Aristotle says health is the first thing to consult in a city's position. A city facing east and receiving the winds from there is esteemed most healthful; next is a northern position, as best in winter. He also stresses good drinking water, separating drinking water from water for other uses when supplies are not equally good.
Chapter 70
Why does Aristotle reject the view that a courageous people need no walls?
Aristotle argues those who say a courageous people should have no walls pay too much respect to obsolete notions, and he notes such people are continually confuted by facts. Since attackers are often too powerful for the few who oppose them, and siege machines have been ingeniously invented, he argues it is the part of a good soldier to seek safety under walls.
Chapter 70
What fortification does Aristotle say suits each form of government?
Aristotle states that what is proper for some governments is not proper for all: a lofty citadel suits a monarchy and an oligarchy, a city built upon a plain suits a democracy, and neither suits an aristocracy, which rather needs many strong places. He adds that walls should be an ornament to the city as well as a defense in war.
Chapter 70
How does Aristotle lay out the city's squares and public buildings?
Aristotle distinguishes a Square of Freedom, where nothing is bought or sold and no mechanic or husbandman enters unless commanded by magistrates, used for leisure and the gymnastic exercises of elders, from a separate market square for buying and selling, situated to receive goods by sea and land. Temples and magistrates' halls go in proper, well-fortified places.
Chapter 70
Section 714 cards
On what two things does Aristotle say the excellence of everything depends?
Aristotle says excellence depends on two things: that the proposed end or object be proper, and that the means to accomplish it be adapted to that purpose. These may agree or disagree—the end may be good while the means err, the means may be right while the end is bad, or both may be mistaken, as when a physician misjudges health or the treatment for it.
Chapter 71
How does Aristotle define happiness in this chapter?
Aristotle refers back to his treatise on Morals, stating that happiness consists in the energy and perfect practice of virtue—simply, not relatively. Simply good actions aim at honour or wealth; relatively good ones, like just punishments and restraints, are necessary to remove evils and are virtuous, though it is more desirable that neither states nor individuals need them.
Chapter 71
By what three means does Aristotle say men become worthy and good?
Aristotle says men are worthy and good in three ways: by nature, by custom, and by reason. One must first be born a human with body and soul, but birth alone is insufficient, since custom greatly alters natural capacities for better or worse. Other animals live chiefly by nature and little by custom, but humans alone have reason, so all three should be made to accord.
Chapter 71
Why does Aristotle say a state's being worthy and great is not only fortune's work?
Aristotle argues that while we wish for plenty of external goods, which he admits fortune partly controls, a state's being worthy and great comes from knowledge and judgment too. He compares it to lyre-playing: skill comes from the art, not the instrument. For a state to be worthy, its citizens in the administration must be worthy, which requires education.
Chapter 71
Section 724 cards
Why does Aristotle argue citizens should take turns governing and being governed?
The author argues that since people are not as superior to one another as gods are to men, ruling and being ruled should rotate. He holds that equals deserve equal shares, and that a state founded on injustice is hard to preserve because the many who desire change will outnumber the magistrates. Nature itself suggests this through the young obeying and the old commanding.
Chapter 72
How does Aristotle use the young and old to justify rotation of rule?
The author says nature directs us here: she makes some young and others old, and it suits the young to obey and the old to command. No young person resents being governed, especially since he expects to receive the same honors he now pays once he reaches the proper age. This supports his claim that citizens should both govern and be governed in turn.
Chapter 72
What end does Aristotle say the legislator should aim at, and whom does he criticize?
The author argues the legislator should aim at the noble and virtuous, not merely the useful and gainful, and should order education toward rest and peace rather than war. He criticizes Greek states and recent writers who praise Sparta's lawgiver for making war and conquest the end of government, arguing a government of freemen is nobler than despotic power.
Chapter 72
How does Aristotle divide the soul and rank its actions?
The author divides the soul into the part that has reason and the part that lacks reason but can obey it, and reason itself into the theoretic and the practical. The inferior exists for the superior, as in art and nature. He ranks war for the sake of peace, labor for rest, and the useful for the noble, and says the politician should legislate with these superior ends in view.
Chapter 72
Section 734 cards
According to Aristotle, what should be the ultimate object of a legislator's rules concerning war?
The author argues that all the attention a legislator pays to war, and all rules he lays down, should have rest and peace as their object. War's end is peace, as labour's end is rest. States preserved by war are often ruined after gaining supreme power, losing their edge in peace like a sword, and the fault lies with the legislator who never taught them how to be at rest.
Chapter 73
Why does Aristotle say bravery and patience are necessary, and what does the proverb about slaves mean?
The author argues a city ought to be temperate, brave, and patient. According to the proverb, "Rest is not for slaves," because those who cannot bravely face danger become slaves of those who attack them. Bravery and patience are therefore necessary for labour, while philosophy is for rest, and temperance and justice apply in both, chiefly in peace.
Chapter 73
Why does Aristotle say temperance and justice are especially needed in peace rather than war?
The author argues war obliges men to be just and temperate, but the enjoyment of pleasure and rest of peace is more apt to produce insolence. Those easy in their circumstances, enjoying everything that makes them happy, have great occasion for temperance and justice. He adds that if inhabitants of the happy isles exist, they would need even higher philosophy, temperance, and justice amid plenty.
Chapter 73
What three causes does Aristotle say education depends on, and in what order should body and soul be cared for?
The author assigns three causes on which education depends: nature, custom, and reason, which should harmonize, since reason may err and be corrected by custom. He argues the body is produced before the soul, and the not-reasoning part before the reasoning, since anger, will, and desire appear in children nearly at birth while reason comes with maturity. So the body demands care first, then appetites for the mind's sake.
Chapter 73
Section 743 cards
What does Aristotle claim are the harms of men marrying too young?
Aristotle argues the offspring of too-young fathers are imperfect, more likely female, and diminutive, since the parts of the young are imperfect in all animals. He cites cities where people marry very young as producing small, ill-framed people, and says women suffer more in childbirth and many die. He also says early marriage harms temperance and stunts men's growth.
Chapter 74
What does Aristotle say about the body and mind of a pregnant woman?
Aristotle advises pregnant women not to have too sparing a diet and to take sufficient exercise, which the legislator can secure by commanding daily worship of the gods presiding over matrimony. Contrary to the body, the mind should be kept as tranquil as possible, for as plants partake of the soil's nature, so the child receives much of the mother's disposition.
Chapter 74
What law does Aristotle propose about exposing or raising children?
Aristotle proposes a law that nothing imperfect or maimed shall be brought up, and the text breaks off at that point. He also argues children should not be conceived after the parents pass the age when the body remains in perfection, roughly fifty or a few years more, since children of too-old parents are weak in body and mind.
Chapter 74
Section 754 cards
How does Aristotle say young children should be fed and why?
Aristotle says an infant's bodily strength depends greatly on the quality of its food. He notes that people who want warlike children feed them chiefly milk, best suited to their bodies, and give no wine, to prevent distempers. He also recommends natural motion and, to prevent crooked limbs from extreme ductility, even mechanical devices, citing cold exposure among barbarians and Celts.
Chapter 75
What does Aristotle prescribe for children from birth to age five?
Aristotle says until five a child should be taught nothing at all, not even necessary labor, lest it hinder growth, but should be accustomed to enough motion to avoid a lazy body, partly through play. Play should be neither illiberal nor too laborious nor lazy, and should imitate later serious pursuits. He also says governors must watch stories and companions, keeping children from slaves, and that children are educated at home until seven.
Chapter 75
Why does Aristotle oppose laws banning boys' quarrels and disputes?
Aristotle argues that those who forbid boys' disputes and quarrels by law do wrong, since such conflicts contribute to growth, being a kind of bodily exercise. He claims the struggles of the heart and compression of the spirits give strength to those who labor, which happens to boys in their disputes. He also insists preceptors watch their manner of life and company, keeping them from slaves.
Chapter 75
What is Aristotle's argument that education should be public and state-controlled?
Aristotle argues no one should think a citizen belongs to himself alone but to the state, since each is a part of the state and each part should regard the good of the whole. He praises the Lacedaemonians for making education a public concern. He concludes there should be laws concerning education and that it should be public, since every city has one end in view.
Chapter 75
Section 764 cards
What four subjects does Aristotle say are usually taught to children?
Aristotle lists reading, gymnastic exercises, and music, with some adding painting as a fourth. He says reading and painting are useful in life, gymnastics produces courage, and music is questioned by some because most people now use it for pleasure—though the ancients included it because nature requires we learn to enjoy leisure honourably.
Chapter 76
Why did the ancients make music part of education, according to Aristotle?
Aristotle argues music is neither necessary nor useful like reading; it is the employment of rest. The ancients included it because nature requires we not only be properly employed but enjoy leisure honourably, and they thought music a proper employment for freemen. He cites Homer calling the bard to the feast and Ulysses praising song at the festal board.
Chapter 76
What makes a work or art 'mean' for Aristotle?
Aristotle says every work, art, or discipline is mean which renders the body, mind, or understanding of freemen unfit for the habit and practice of virtue. Arts that deform the body are called mean, as are employments exercised for gain, since they take off from the freedom of the mind and render it sordid.
Chapter 76
How does the reason for learning affect whether an art is illiberal?
Aristotle says there is a great difference in the reason for which one does or learns anything: it is not illiberal to engage in an art for oneself, one's friend, or in the cause of virtue, while doing it for the sake of another may seem to be acting the part of a servant and a slave. He notes the prevailing mode of instruction partakes of both.
Chapter 76
Section 772 cards
What fault does Aristotle find with states that focus children's education on wrestling?
The author argues that states most attentive to education wrongly emphasize wrestling, which both prevents bodily growth and harms the form. He contrasts this with the Lacedaemonians, who instead made children fierce through painful labor to inspire courage—a method he also criticizes as neither the only nor the principal thing needed in education.
Chapter 77
What does Aristotle recommend about gymnastic exercises and their timing?
The author argues gymnastic exercises are useful, but during youth only the gentlest should be used, omitting violent diet and painful exercises that stunt growth. He cites that scarcely two or three Olympic victors won as both boys and men. After three years from puberty for other education, youths may then submit to labor and regulated diet, since mind and body cannot labor at once.
Chapter 77
Section 784 cards
What three possible uses does Aristotle consider for music?
Aristotle asks whether music serves as amusement and refreshment (like sleep or wine), as a means of producing virtue by accustoming people to rejoice rightly, or as an aid to prudence in the conduct of life. He suggests all three may properly be allotted to it, since it partakes of them all.
Chapter 78
Why does Aristotle reject the idea that boys learn music merely for future amusement?
He argues that if the point were the pleasure of hearing others play later, boys need not learn it themselves—like the kings of the Medes and Persians who enjoy music performed by others. By that logic they should learn cookery too, which is absurd. He also notes learning is troublesome, not play.
Chapter 78
How does Aristotle argue music imitates and influences character?
He claims music and poetry most naturally imitate anger, mildness, courage, modesty and their contraries. Different harmonies affect hearers differently: the mixed Lydian causes grief, others soften the mind, the Doric fixes it firmly, and the Phrygian fills the soul with enthusiasm. Rhythm likewise settles or changes dispositions.
Chapter 78
What does Aristotle say about judging music without learning to perform it?
He raises the objection that the Lacedaemonians judge accurately what is good and bad in music without ever having learned it, and asks why others shouldn't do the same. He also notes the poets never depict Jupiter singing or playing, and performers are often treated as mean people.
Chapter 78
Section 794 cards
Why does Aristotle say children should learn music practically before judging it?
The author argues a person cannot be a good judge of what he himself cannot do, so children should practise music while young to become judges of the art. When grown older the practical part may be dropped, yet they will still judge what is excellent and take proper pleasure in it from the knowledge acquired in youth.
Chapter 79
What limits does Aristotle place on children's musical education?
Children should not be employed in disputed parts of music, nor perform pieces admired for difficulty and drawn from public games. They should learn enough to take proper pleasure from excellent music and rhythms, not merely what all animals, slaves and boys feel. Music must not prevent the business of riper years nor make the body effeminate and unfit for war or the state.
Chapter 79
Why does Aristotle reject the flute for educating the young?
The author argues the flute is not a moral instrument but one that inflames the passions, better used to animate the soul than to instruct. It also prevents the player from speaking, which is contrary to what education requires. He notes the forefathers forbade it to youth and freemen, though they first used it themselves, and later rejected it as dangerous.
Chapter 79
How does Aristotle distinguish free education from professional performance?
The author argues teaching a child to play like a master should be confined to prize candidates, who play to please hearers rather than improve in virtue. He says the practice of performing is unfit for freemen and should be left to those paid for it, since it gives sordid notions: the impertinent spectator makes artists change their music, so they regulate their bodies according to his motions.
Chapter 79
Section 804 cards
Into what three kinds do approved philosophers divide melody?
Melody is divided into moral, practical, and enthusiastic kinds, with a corresponding harmony naturally allotted to each. The author approves of this division and argues music serves many purposes: instruction, purification of the soul (explained further in his Poetics), and agreeable relaxation from mental uneasiness.
Chapter 80
Which harmony does Aristotle recommend for education, and why?
The author argues ethic melody and ethic harmony belong in education, namely the Doric, or whatever experts approve. Doric is most serious and fittest to inspire courage, and since the middle is commended between extremes, the young should be instructed in it. He notes Socrates was wrong to admit Phrygian alongside Doric.
Chapter 80
Why does Aristotle criticize Socrates' musical rules in Plato's Republic?
The author argues Socrates is very wrong to permit only Phrygian and Doric music, especially since he banishes the flute. Phrygian has the same power among harmonies that the flute has among instruments: both are pathetic and raise the mind, fitting bacchanal songs and violent emotions. The dithyrambic measure is Phrygian by general consent.
Chapter 80
What three boundaries of education does Aristotle name?
The author names moderation, possibility, and decorum as the three boundaries of education. Everyone should aim at what is both possible and proper, regulated by different times of life: the elderly cannot sing high notes and suit gentle harmony, while the Lydian seems best for a child's age as elegant and instructive.
Chapter 80
Section 814 cards
According to Aristotle, who is a citizen, and what must citizens know?
Aristotle asks who is a citizen (66, 68) and holds that a citizen should know both how to command and how to obey (73). Privileges of citizenship differ in different governments (68), and in the best states citizens ought not to follow merchandise (216).
Chapter 81
What does Aristotle say about the size and unity of a city?
The city may be too much one (27, 35), and it may be either too large or too small (209). The best city is composed of equals (126), and its greatness consists in something other than mere numbers (149). Aristotle also asks what should be its situation (211).
Chapter 81
What does Aristotle say about the community of wives, children, and goods?
Aristotle lists inconveniences of community of wives (27), of community of children (29, 30), with friendship weakened by it (31), and of community of goods (28), which he says is destructive of modesty and liberality (34). He calls the recommendations of such community deceitful (34).
Chapter 81
What does Aristotle say about the virtues of rulers and the governed?
Aristotle asks whether the virtues of governors and governed are the same or different (23), and whether they should be the same persons or different (227). He notes the courage of a man differs from a woman's (74), and that domestic employments of men and women are different (74).
Chapter 81
Section 824 cards
According to the index, what is the object of a kingdom and how is it bestowed?
The index lists the object of kingdoms at page 167 and how they are bestowed at page 168. It also notes causes of their dissolution and how they are preserved, both at page 173. These entries point to the discussion of kingly government, distinct from the earlier entries on what a kingdom is (page 78) and what the king's power should be (page 100).
Chapter 82
How was kingly power limited at Sparta in peace and war?
The index states that kingly power at Sparta was regulated by the laws in peace, but absolute in war (page 95). This contrasts with the general treatment of monarchies, which the index says may be elective or hereditary (page 95) and whose nature is discussed at pages 95–96. The Spartan arrangement thus combined legal restraint in peacetime with unchecked command in wartime.
Chapter 82
What does the index say about the kosmoi of Crete?
The kosmoi held power in Crete (page 58), and the index gives their number and says they were inferior to the ephori (page 58). They were allowed to resign their office before their term elapsed (page 59). The index also notes that kings formerly existed in Crete and that their power afterwards devolved to the kosmoi (page 58), and that justice's course was impeded in Crete (page 59).
Chapter 82
What does the index say about the middle rank of men?
The index states that the middle rank of men make the best citizens (page 127) and are most conducive to the preservation of the state (page 128). It adds that they should be particularly attended to by legislators (page 130). Related entries note that the medium of circumstances is best (page 126) and that legislators should fix a proper medium in property (page 46).
Chapter 82
Section 834 cards
According to the index, what is the source of sedition regarding private property?
The index states that private property not being regulated is the source of sedition, cited at page 42. It also notes Phaleas would have property equal, and that Plato would allow a certain difference in it. These entries summarize competing positions on regulating property as a remedy for civil unrest.
Chapter 83
What does the index say about the advantages of private property?
The index lists the advantages of having property private at page 34, and separately states property ought not to be common at page 219. It also addresses how property should be regulated and what quantity the public ought to have. The author treats private ownership as advantageous rather than endorsing common ownership.
Chapter 83
How does the index describe the virtue of a citizen?
The index states that the virtue of a citizen has reference to the state and is different in different governments, at page 71. It also raises whether the same virtues constitute a good man and a valuable citizen. So citizen virtue is relative to the constitution, not one fixed standard.
Chapter 83
What does the index say about tyranny and tyrants?
The index defines tyranny at page 79, says it is not natural at page 103, and that it contains all that is bad in all governments at page 125. It notes tyrants are usually chosen from a certain class, love the worst of men, and that many originally enjoyed only kingly power.
Chapter 83
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Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #6762 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-27. Cards reviewed 2026-10-27.
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