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  • Essay / Aristotle's views on who should exercise authority in government

    Aristotle's politics diverge from the Republic created by his predecessor Plato. Unlike Plato's desire to position political systems and individuals so as to emulate a higher form of virtue, Aristotle emphasized practicality. His philosophical work is grounded in our state of nature rather than abstractions that we must manifest and reproduce. Aristotle was one of the first Western philosophers to take this position and therefore dismantled and rebuilt the political foundation left by Plato. Before discussing the text, it is important to provide some context on Aristotle, as it provides a framework from which he positions different types of people within his philosophical work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Aristotle was the son of a wealthy upper-class physician in ancient Greece and a student of Plato. Along with politics, the one expected to exercise authority and government would come from a similar, if not identical, background. With this knowledge, the following analysis can be understood through Aristotle's particular prism, allowing for a precise assessment of the conclusions and their origins. When faced with a household or an individual, Politics positions the city-state as the foundation from which other aspects of politics develop. Aristotle states: "A city-state is one of those things which exist by nature, that a human being is by nature a political animal, and that anyone who does not have a city-state, not by chance but by nature, is either a poor specimen. or superhuman. As human beings, we are social creatures, so this social nature inadvertently creates the framework for the city-state, while our rationality engenders the politics necessary to navigate within the city-state. As this political entity forms, we move to the home where each individual begins to become accustomed to the virtue of a ruler and a ruled: "For a man rules his wife and his children by times as free people, but not in the same way. : instead, he rules his wife as a statesman does, and his children as a king does. "Aristotle posits that men are naturally more suited to rule than women, however, by governing as a statesman, the man recognizes that his wife is fully developed in her position within the home. Children, on the other hand, are ruled like a king because they are young and not fully developed, while the father is fully developed and better equipped to rule As children grow up, in Aristotle's context, especially boys who become. develop as men, learn from the home how to be governed and how to govern by being initiated into the duality of this virtue In transition outside the home, Aristotle establishes that the ruling class is the authoritative element that governs for the. common good However, when private interests take priority, the ruling class distorts the constitution on which it governs and thus produces deficient political systems as follows: a tyranny of a royalty, an oligarchy of an aristocracy. and a democracy of a political regime. Aristotle goes on to say that these transitions are the case because "tyranny is ruled by one person for the benefit of the monarch, oligarchy benefits the rich, and democracy benefits the poor." But none is intended for their common benefit. » Aristotle conceived and believed in the concept of Eudaimonia or the “Good Life”. A good life is a life of happiness, independence,.