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

9O ETHICS AND 'POLITICS: THE GREEKS
and was in the small City States of Greece to a greater
degree than it has ever been since, government by the
masses, has for its object not the promotion of the good
life, but the distribution of equal political rights to all men,
irrespective of their virtue or capacity. Oligarchy, or
the rule of the lew, distributes power in the community
to men's stakes in it. A man's stake in the com-
according
munity depends upon the amount of his property. Oli-
garchy, then, is a form of government by the propertied
classes. Many will hold that the so-called democracies
of modern times are, in the terms of this definition, only
oligarchies in disguise. Neither form of government
complies with Aristotle's specification; neither, indeed,
professes to comply with his specification for excellence
in the State, that is to say, the promotion "of noble
actions 91
by
the citizens.
Aristotle's ideal State is, therefore, one in which the
"best men", and the "best men" only, possess the full
rights of citizenship. They may be many, or they may be
few; they may or may not be under the rule of a monarch,
chosen as bring the "best of the best", but they must
themselves be the " best." For an elucidation of the meaning
of the word "best", we must once again await the con-
clusions of Aristotle's ethical theory.
A distinctive feature of the good State so conceived is
its smallncss, for, the smaller the State, the more inten-
sively will its members, in Aristotle's view, be able to
devote themselves to the cultivation of the good life. The
State, therefore, must be as small as is compatible with its
complete independence.
Like Plato, Aristotle attaches great importance to
education. The object of education is so to train the citizen
that he will revere the constitution of flic State, obey its
laws, and resist attempts to change them. That all its
citizens should be trained to adopt this attitude is a
matter of first-rate importance to the State. Hence the
State must control education, which will be compulsory
for all citizens.