GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

CHAPTER IV: THE MORAL AND
POLITICAL THEORY OF
ARISTOTLE 1
Introductory. It is not easy
to summarize Aristotle's
contribution to moral and political theory. Not only are
some of his conclusions inconsistent, at times even contra-
dictory, but the salient features of his proposals are closely
modelled on those of Plato, and it is difficult to do them
justice without running the risk of repetition.
Aristotle has a habit of starting, and starting avowedly,
from positions which are the antitheses of those of Plato,
yet ending in conclusions which are scarcely, if at all,
distinguishable from those ofUs predecessor. The statement
just made would seem to impute a charge of inconsistency.
The charge must on occasion be admitted. For example,
the Jficomachaean Ethics, usually known simply as the
Ethics, which, many would hold, is Aristotle's most important
work on philosophy, seems at first sight to contain two
fundamentally different accounts of the nature of the good
life for the individual. The charge, however, in so fkr as
it can be substantiated, is a purely
formal one. Aristotle
never revised the Ethics, and loose ends have been left
which revision would almost certainly have tidied. It is
difficult to believe that the founder of logic, had he had
time or occasion to revise his own work, would have failed
to notice the inconsistencies upon which readers have
been so quick to seize.
As to the apparent lack of originality, it is never more
$han apparent. Although Aristotle's main conclusions,
both in regard to ethics and politics, differ little from those
of Plato, he gives them a different emphasis, uses different
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