Politics by Aristotle (FULL Audio Book) book 7

book seven sections 133 of politics by Aristotle this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org politics by Aristotle translated by Benjamin Jowett book seven sections one through three book seven one he who would duly inquire about the best form of a state ought first to determine which is the most eligible life while this remains uncertain the best form of the state must also be uncertain for in the natural order of things those may be expected to lead the best life who are governed in the best manner of which their circumstances admit we ought therefore to ascertain first of all which is the most generally eligible life and then whether the same life is or is not the best for the state and for individuals assuming that enough has already been said in discussions outside the school concerning the best life we will now only repeat what is contained in them certainly no one will dispute the propriety of that partition of goods which separates them into three classes viz external goods goods of the body and goods of the soul or deny that the happy man must have all three for no one would maintain that he is happy who has not in him a particle of courage or temperance or justice or prudence who is afraid of every insect which flutters pass him and who will commit any crime however great in order to gratify his lust of meat or drink who will sacrificed his dearest friend for the sake of half a farthing and is as feeble and false in mind as a child or madman these propositions are almost universally acknowledged as soon as they are uttered but men differ about the degree or relative superiority of this or that good something that a very moderate amount of virtue is enough but set no limit to their desires of wealth property power reputation and the to whom we reply by an appeal to facts which easily proved that mankind do not acquire or preserve virtue by the help of external goods but external goods by the help of virtue and that happiness whether consisting in pleasure or virtue or both is more often happy with those who are most highly cultivated in their mind and in their character and have only a moderate share of external goods then among those who possess external goods to a useful extent but are deficient in higher qualities and this is not only a matter of experience but if reflected upon will easily appear to be in accordance with reason for whereas external goods have a limit like any other instrument and all things useful are of such a nature that where there is too much of them they must either do harm or at any rate to be of no use to their possessors every good of the soul the greater it is is also greater use if the epithet useful as well as Noble is appropriate to such subjects no proof is required to show that the best state of one thing in relation to another corresponds in degree of excellence to the interval between the natures of which we say that these very states are States so that if the soul is more noble than our possessions or our bodies both absolutely and in relation to us it must be admitted that the best state of either has a similar ratio to the other again it is for the sake of the soul that goods external and goods of the body are eligible at all and all wise men ought to choose them for the sake of the soul and not the soul for the sake of them let us acknowledge then that each one has just so much of happiness as he has a virtue in wisdom and a virtuous and wise action God is a witness to us of this truth for he is happy and blessed not by reason of any external good but in himself and by reason of his own nature and harrion of necessity lies the difference between good fortune and happiness for external goods come of themselves and chance is the author of them but no one is just or temperate by or through chance in like manner and by a similar train of argument the happy state may be shown to be that which is best and which acts rightly and rightly it cannot act without doing right actions and neither individual nor state can do right actions without virtue and wisdom thus the courage justice and wisdom of a state have the same form and nature as the qualities which give the individual who possesses them the name of just wise or temperate thus much may suffice by way of preface for I could not avoid touching upon these questions neither could I go through all the arguments affecting them these are the business of another science let us assume then that the best life both for individuals and States is the life of virtue when virtue has external Goods enough for the performance of good actions if there are any who controvert our assertion we will in this treatise pass them over and consider their objections hereafter to their remains to be discussed the question whether the happiness of the individual is the same as that of the state or different here again there can be no doubt no one denies that they are the same for those who hold that the well-being of the individual consists in his wealth also think that riches make the happiness of the whole state and those who value most highly the life of a tyrant deemed that City the happiest which rules over the greatest number while they who approve an individual for his virtues say that the more virtuous the city is the happier it is two points here present themselves for consideration first which is the more eligible life that of a citizen who is a member of a state or that of an alien who has no political ties and again to which is the best form of Constitution or the best condition of a state either on the supposition that political privileges are desirable for all or for maturity only since the good of the state and not of the individual is the proper subject of political thought and speculation and we are engaged in a political discussion while the first of these two points has a secondary interest for us the latter will be the main subject of our inquiry now it is evident that the form of government is best in which every man whoever he is can act best and live happily but even those who agree in thinking that the life of virtue is the most eligible raise a question whether the life of business and politics is or is not more eligible than one which is wholly independent of external goods I mean then a contemplative life which by some is maintained to be the only one worthy of a philosopher for these two lives the life of a philosopher and the life of the Statesman appear to have been preferred by those who have been the most keen in the pursuit of virtue both in our own and in other ages which is the better is a question of no small moment for the wise man like the wise state will necessarily regulate his life according to the best end there are some who think that while a despotic rule over others is the greatest injustice to exercise a constitutional rule over them even though not unjust is a great impediment to a man's individual well-being others take an opposite view they maintain that the true life of man is the practical and political and that every virtue admits of being practiced quite as much by statesmen and rulers as by private individuals others again are of opinion that arbitrary and tyrannical rule alone consists with happiness indeed in some states the entire aim both of the laws and of the Constitution is to give men despotic power over their neighbors and therefore although in most cities the law may be said generally to be in a chaotic state still if they aim at anything they aim at the maintenance of power thus and Lakha daemon and creat the system of education and the greater part of the laws are framed with a view to war and in all nations which are able to gratify their ambition military power is held in esteem for example among the Scythian Xand Persians and Thracians and Celts in some nations there are even laws tending to stimulate the warlike virtues as at Carthage where we are told that men obtained the honor of wearing as many armlets as they have served in campaigns there was once a law in Macedonia that he who had not killed an enemies should wear a halter and among the Scythian 'he's no one who had not slain his man was allowed to drink out of the cup which was handed round at a certain feast among the iberian 'he's a warlike nation the number of enemies whom a man has slain is indicated by the number of obelisks which are fixed in the earth round his tomb and there are numerous practices among other nations of a like-kind some of them established by law and others by custom yet to a reflecting mind it must appear very strange that the Statesman should be always considering how he can dominate and tyrannize over others whether they will or will not how can that which is not even lawful be the business of the Statesman or the legislator unlawful it certainly is to rule without regard to justice for there may be might wear there is no right the other Arts and Sciences offer no parallel a physician is not expected to persuade or coerce his patients nor a pilot the passengers in his ship yet most men appear to think that the art of despotic government is statesmanship and what men affirm to be unjust and inexpedient in their own case they are not ashamed of practicing towards others they demand just rule for themselves but where other men are concerned they care nothing about it such behavior is irrational unless the one party is and the other is not born to serve in which case men have a right to command not indeed all their fellows but only those who are intended to be subjects just as we ought not to hunt mankind whether for food or sacrifice but only the animals which may be hunted for food or sacrifice this is to say such wild animals as are edible and surely there may be a city happy and isolation which we will assume to be well governed for it is quite possible that a city thus isolated might be well administered and have good laws but such a city would not be constituted with any view to war or the conquest of enemies all that sort of thing must be excluded hence we see very plainly that warlike pursuits although generally to be deemed too honorable are not the supreme end of all things but only means and the good lawgiver should enquire how states and races of men and communities may participate in a good life and in the happiness which is attainable by them his enactments will not always be the same and where there are neighbors he will have to see what sort of studies should be practiced in relation to their several characters or how the measure is appropriate in relation to each are to be adopted the end at which the best form of government should aim may be properly made a matter of future consideration 3 now let us address those who while they agree that the life of virtue is the most eligible differ about the manner of practicing it for some renounce political power and think that the life of the free man is different from the life of the Statesman and the best of all but others think the life of the Statesman best the argument of the latter is that he who does nothing cannot do well and that virtuous activity is identical with happiness to both we say you are partly right and partly wrong first-class are right in affirming that the life of the freeman is better than the life of the despot for there is nothing grand or noble in having the use of a slave insofar as he is a slave or in issuing commands about necessary things but it is an error to suppose that every sort of rule is despotic like that of a master over slaves for there is as great a difference between the rule over Freeman and the rule over slaves as there is between slavery by nature and freedom by Nature about which I have said enough at the commencement of this treatise and it is equally a mistake to place inactivity above action for happiness is activity and the actions of the just and wise are the realization of much that is noble but perhaps someone on accepting these premises may still maintain that supreme power is the best of all things because the possessors of it are able to perform the greatest number of noble actions if so the man who is able to rule instead of giving up anything to his neighbor ought rather to take away his power and the father should make no account of his son nor the son of his father nor friend of friend they should not bestow a thought on one another in comparison with his higher object for the best is the most eligible and doing eligible and doing well is the best there might be some truth in such a view if we assume that robbers and plunderers attain the chief good but this can never be their hypothesis is false for the actions of a ruler cannot really be honorable unless he is as much superior to other men as a husband is to a wife or a father to his children or a master to his slaves and therefore he who violates the law can never recover by any success however great what he is already lost in departing from virtue for equals the honorable and the just consists in sharing alike as just and equal but that the unequal should be given to equals and the unlight to those who are like is contrary to nature and nothing which is contrary to nature is good if therefore there is anyone's superior in virtue and in the power of performing the best actions him we ought to follow and obey but he must have the capacity for action as well as virtue if we are right in our view and Happiness is assumed to be virtuous activity the active life will be the best both for every city collectively and for individuals not that a life of action must necessarily have relation to others as some persons think nor are these ideas only to be regarded as practical which are pursued for the sake of practical results but much more the thoughts and contemplations which are independent and complete in themselves since virtuous activity and therefore a certain kind of action is an end and even in the case of external actions the directing mind is most truly set to act neither again is it necessary that states which are cut off from others and choose to live alone should be inactive for activity as well as other things may take place by sections there are many ways in which the sections of a state act upon one another the same thing is equally true of every individual if this were otherwise god in the universe who have no external actions over and above their own energies would be far enough from perfection hence it is evident that the same life is best for each individual and for States and for mankind collectively end of book seven sections one through three you since four through nine of politics by aristotle this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org politics by Aristotle translated by Benjamin Jowett book seven sections four through nine for thus far by way of introduction in what has proceeded I have discussed other forms of government in what remains the first point to be considered is what should be the conditions of the ideal or perfect state for the perfect state cannot exist without a due supply of the means of life and therefore we must presuppose many purely imaginary conditions but nothing is impossible there will be a certain number of citizens a country in which to place them and the like as the Weaver or shipbuilder or any other artisan must have the material proper for his work and in proportion as this is better prepared so will the result of his art be nobler so the statesman or legislature must also have the materials suited to him first among the materials required by the statesman is population he will consider what should be the number and character of the citizens and then what should be the size and character of the country most people think that a state in order to be happy ought to be large but even if they are right they have no idea what is a large and what a small State for they judge the size of the city by the number of the inhabitants whereas they ought to regard not their number but their powered a city - like an individual has a work to do and that city which is best adapted to the fulfilment of its work is to be deemed greatest in the same sense of the word great in which Hippocrates might be called greater not as a man but as a physician than someone else who was taller and even if we reckon greatness by numbers we ought not to include everybody for there must always be in cities Malta of slaves and sojourners and foreigners but we should only include those who are members of the state and who form an essential part of it the number of the latter is a proof of the greatness of the city but a city which produces numerous artisans and comparatively few soldiers cannot be great for a great city is not to be confounded with a populace one moreover experience shows that a very populous city can rarely if ever be well governed since all cities which have a reputation for good government to have a limit of population we may argue on grounds of reason and the same result will follow for lies order and good law is good order but a very great multitude cannot be orderly to introduce order into the unlimited is the work of a divine power of such a power as holds together the universe beauty is realized in number and magnitude and the state which combines magnitude with good order must necessarily be the most beautiful to the size of States there is a limit as there is to other things plants animals implements for none of these retain their natural power when they are too large or too small but they either wholly lose their nature or are spoiled for example a ship which is only a span long will not be a ship at all nor a ship a quarter of a mile long yet there may be a ship of a certain size either too large or too small which will still be a ship but bad for sailing in a like manner a state when composed of too few is not as a state ought to be self-sufficient one of too many those self-sufficing in all mere necessities as a nation may be it is not a state being almost incapable of constitutional government for who can be the general of such a vast multitude or who the Herald unless he have the voice of a stent or a state then only begins to exist when it has attained a population sufficient for a good life in the political community it may indeed if it's somewhat exceeds this number be a greater state but as I was saying there must be a limit what should be the limit will be easily ascertained by experience for both governors and governed have duties to perform the special functions of a governor to command and to judge but if the citizens of a state are to judge and to distribute offices according to merit then they must know each other's characters where they do not possess this knowledge both the election to offices and the decision of lawsuits will go wrong when the population is very large they are manifestly settled at haphazard which clearly ought not to be besides in an over populous state foreigners and medics will acquire the rights of citizens for who will find them out clearly then the best limit of the population of a state is the largest number which suffices for the purposes of life and can be taken in at a single view enough concerning the size of a state 5 much the same principle will apply to the territory of the state everyone would agree in praising the territory which is most entirely self-sufficient and that must be the territory which is all producing for to have all things and to what nothing is sufficiency in size and extent it should be such as may enable the inhabitants to live at once temperately and liberally in the enjoyment of leisure whether we are white or wrong and laying down this limit we will inquire more precisely hereafter when we have occasion to consider what is the right use of property and wealth a matter which is much disputed because men are inclined to rush into one of two extremes some into meanness others into luxury it is not difficult to determine the general character of the territory which is required there are however some points on which military authorities should be heard it should be difficult of access to the enemy and easy of egress to the inhabitants further we require that the land as well as the inhabitants of whom we were just now speaking should be taken in at a single view for a country which is easily seen can be easily protected as to the position of the city if we could have what we wish it should be well situated in regard both to sea and land this then is one principle that it should be a convenient Center for the protection of the whole country the other is that it should be suitable for receiving the fruits of the soil and also for the bringing in of timber and any other products that are easily transported six whether a communication with the sea is beneficial to a well-ordered state or not is a question which has often been asked it is argued that the introduction of strangers brought up under other laws and the increase of population will be adverse to good order the increase arises from there using the sea and having a crowd of merchants coming and going and is a nimac 'el to good government apart from these considerations it would be undoubtedly better both with a view to safety and the provision of necessaries that the city and territories should be connected with the sea the defenders of a country if they are to maintain themselves against an enemy should be easily received both by land and by sea and even if they are not able to attack by sea and land at once they will have less difficulty in doing mischief to their assailants on one element if they themselves can use both moreover it is necessary that they should import from abroad what is not found in their own country and that they should export what they have in excess for a city ought to be a market not indeed for others but for herself those who make themselves a market for their world only do so for the sake of revenue and if a state ought not to desire profit of this kind it ought not to have such an Emporium nowadays we often see in countries and cities dock yards and harbors very conveniently placed outside the city but not too far off and they are kept in dependence by walls and similar fortifications cities thus situated manifestly reap the benefit of intercourse with their ports and any harm which is likely to accrue may be easily guarded against by the laws which will pronounce and determine who may hold communication with one another and who may not there can be no doubt that the possession of a moderate naval force is advantageous to a city this city should be formidable not only to its own citizens but to some of its neighbors or if necessary able to assist them by sea as well as by land the proper number or magnitude of this naval force is relative to the character of the state for if her function is to take a leading part in politics her naval power should be commensurate with the scale of her enterprises the population of the state need not be much increased since there is no necessity that the sailors should be citizens the Marines who have the control and command will be freemen and belong also to the infantry and wherever there is a dense population of pareo Chi and husbandmen there will always be sailors more than enough of this we see instances at the present day the city of heraclea for example although small in comparison with many others can man a considerable fleet such are our conclusions respecting the territory of the state its harbors its towns its relations to the sea and its maritime power 7 having spoken of the number of the citizens we will proceed to speak of what should be their character this is a subject which can be easily understood by anyone who casts his eye on the more celebrated states of Hellas and generally on the distribution of races in the habitable world those who live in a cold climate and in Europe are full of spirit but wanting in intelligence and skill and therefore they retain comparative freedom but have no political organization and are incapable of ruling over others whereas the natives of Asia are intelligent and inventive but they are wanting its spirit and therefore they are always in a state of subjection and slavery but the Hellenic race which is situated between them is likewise intermediate in character being high-spirited and also intelligent hence it continues free and is the best governed of any nation and if it could be formed into one state would be able to rule the world there are also similar differences in the different tribes of Hellas for some of them are of a one-sided nature and are intelligent or courageous only while in others there is a happy combination of both qualities and clearly those on whom the legislator will be most easily led to virtue may be expected to be both intelligent and courageous some say that the Guardians should be friendly towards those whom they no fierce towards those whom they do not know now passion is the quality of the soul which baguettes friendship and enables us to love notably the spirit within us is more stirred against our friends and acquaintances then against those who are unknown to us when we think that we are despised by them for which reason archeologists complaining of his friends very naturally addresses his soul in these words for surely thou art plagued on account of friends the power of command and the love of freedom are in all men based upon this quality for passion is commanding and invincible nor is it right to say that the guardians should be fierce towards those whom they do not know for we ought not to be out of temper with anyone and a lofty spirit is not fierce by nature but only when excited against evildoers and this as I was saying before is a feeling which men show most strongly towards their friends if they think they have received wrong at their hands as indeed is reasonable for besides the actual injury they seem to be deprived of a benefit by those who owe them one hence the saying cruel is the strife of brethren and again they who love in excess also hate in excess thus we have nearly determined the number and character of the citizens of our state and also the size and nature of their territory I say nearly for we ought not to require the same my newness in theory as in the facts given by perception 8 as another natural compounds the conditions of a composite whole are not necessarily organic parts of it so in a state or in any other call nation forming a unity not everything is apart which is a necessary condition the members of an association have necessarily some one thing the same and common to all in which they share equally or unequally for example food or land or any other thing but when there are two things of which one is a means and the other an end they have nothing in common except that the one receives what the other produces such for example is the relation which workmen and tools stand to their work the house and the Builder have nothing in common but the art of the Builder is for the sake of the house and so states require property but property even though living beings are included in it is no part of a state for a state is not a community of living beings only but a community of equals aiming at the best life possible now whereas happiness is the highest good being a realization and perfect practice of virtue which some can attain while others have little or none of it the various qualities of men are clearly the reason why there are various kinds of states and many forms of government for different men's seek after happiness in different ways and by different means and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government we must see also how many things are indispensable to the existence of a state for what we call the parts of a state will be found among the indispensable --zz let us enumerate the functions of a state and we shall easily elicit what we want first there must be food secondly arts for life requires many instruments thirdly there must be arms for the members of a community have need of them and in their own hands too in order to maintain Authority both against disobedient subjects and against external of silence fourthly there must be a certain amount of revenue both for internal needs and for purposes of war fifthly or rather first there must be a care of religion which is commonly called worship sixthly and most necessary of all there must be a power of deciding what is for the public interest and what is just in men's dealings with one another these are the services which every state may be said to need for a state is not a mere aggregate of persons but a union of them sufficing for the purposes of life and if any of these things be wanting it is as we maintain impossible that the community can be absolutely self-sufficing a state then should be framed with a view to the fulfillment of these functions there must be husband men to procure food and artisans and a warlike in a wealthy class and priests and judges to decide what is necessary and expedient 9 having determined these points we have in the next place to consider whether all ought to share in every sort of occupation shall every man be at once husbandmen artisan counselor judge or shall we suppose the several occupations just mentioned assigned to different persons or thirdly shall some employments be assigned to individuals and others common to all the same arrangement however does not occur in every Constitution as we were saying all may be shared by all or not all by all but only by some and hence arise the differences of constitutions foreign democracies all share in all in oligarchies the opposite practice prevails now since we are here speaking of the best form of government ie that under which the state will be the most happy and Happiness as has been already said cannot exist without virtue it clearly follows that in the state which is best governed and possesses men who are just absolutely and not merely relatively to the principle of the Constitution the citizens must not lead the life of mechanics or tradesmen for such a life is ignoble and inimical to virtue neither must they be husband men since leisure is necessary both for the development of virtue and the performance of political duties again there is in a state a class of warriors and another of counsellors who advise about the expedient and determined of law and these seem in an especial manner parts of a state now should these two classes be distinguished or are both functions to be assigned to the same persons here again there is no difficulty in seeing that both functions will in one way belong to the same in another to different persons to different persons insofar as these ie the physical and the employments are suited to different Prime's of life for the one requires mental wisdom and the other strength but on the other hand since it is an impossible thing that those who are able to use or to resist force should be willing to remain always in subjection from this point of view the persons are the same for those who carry arms can always determine the fate of the Constitution it remains therefore that both functions should be entrusted by the ideal Constitution to the same persons not however at the same time but in the order prescribed by nature who has given to young men's strength and to older men wisdom such a distribution of duties would be expedient and also just and is founded upon a principle of conformity to merit besides the ruling class should not be the owners of property for they are citizens and the citizens of a state should be in good circumstances whereas mechanics or any other class which is not a producer of virtue have no share in the state this follows from our first principle for happiness cannot exist without virtue and a city is not to be termed happy in regard to a portion of the citizens but in regard to them all and clearly property should be in their hands since the husbandmen will of necessity be slaves or barbarian pareo chief of the classes enumerated there remain only the priests and the manner in which their offices to be regulated is obvious no husbandmen or mechanic should be appointed to it for the gods should receive honor from the citizens only now since the body of the citizen is divided into two classes the Warriors and the councilors it is beseeming that the worship of the god should be duly performed and also provided in their service for those who from age have given up active life to the old men of these two classes should be assigned the duties of the priesthood we have shown what are the necessary conditions and what the parts of estate husbandmen craftsmen and laborers of all kinds are necessary to the existence of States but the parts of the state are the Warriors and counsellors and these are distinguished severally one from another the distinction being in some cases permanent in others not end of book seven sections four through nine since 10 through 12 of politics by Aristotle this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org politics by Aristotle translated by Benjamin Jowett book seven sections 10 through 12 10 it is not a new or recent discovery of political philosophers that the state ought to be divided into classes and that the Warriors should be separated from the husbandmen this system has continued in Egypt and Crete to this day and was established as tradition says by a law of Sesostris in Egypt and of Minos in Crete the institution of common tables also appears to be of ancient date being in Crete as old as the reign of Minos and in Italy far older the Italian historians say that there was a certain italo's king of a nutria from whom the Anoat reans were called italians and who gave the name of Italy to the promontory of Europe lying within the silic and lament at gulfs which are distant from one another only half a day's journey they say that this attalos converted the own utterance from shepherds into husbandmen and besides other laws which he gave them was the founder of their common meals even in our day some who are derived from him retained this institution and certain other laws of his on the one side of Italy towards Terranea dwelt the opechee who are now as of old called us awnings and on the side towards yo PG a-- and the Ionian Gulf in the district called Cerebus the chonies who are likewise of own Etrian race from this part of the world originally came the institution of common tables the separation into case from Egypt for the reign of Sesostris is a far greater antiquity than that of Minos it is true indeed that these and many other things have been invented several times over in the course of Ages or rather times without number for necessity may be supposed to have taught men the end engines which were absolutely required and when these were provided it was natural that other things which would adorn and enrich life should grow up by degrees and we may infer that in political institutions the same rule holds Egypt witnesses to the antiquity of all these things for the Egyptians appear to be of all people the most ancient and they have laws and irregular Constitution existing from time immemorial we should therefore make the best use of what has already been discovered and tried to supply defects I have already remarked that the land ought to belong to those who possess arms and have a share in the government and that the husbandmen ought to be a class distinct from them and I have determined what should be the extent in nature of the territory let me proceed to discuss the distribution of the land and the character of the agricultural class for I do not think that property ought to be common as some maintain but only that by friendly consent there should be a common use of it and that no citizens should be in want of subsistence as two common meals there is a general agreement that a well-ordered city should have them and we will hereafter explain what are our own reasons for taking this view they ought however to be open to all the citizens and yet it is not easy for the poor to contribute the requisite sum out of their private means and to provide also for their household the expense of religious worship should likewise be a public charge the land must therefore be divided into two parts one public and the other private and each part should be subdivided part of the public land being appropriated to the service of the gods and the other part used to defray the cost of the common meals while of the private land part should be near the border and the other near the city so that each citizens having two Lots they may all of them have land in both places there is justice and fairness in such a division and it tends to inspire unanimity among the people in their border wars where there is not this arrangement some of them are too ready to come to blows with they're neighbors while others are so cautious that they quite lose the sense of honor wherefore there is a law in some places which forbids those who dwell near the border to take part in public deliberations about wars with neighbors on the ground that their interest will pervert their judgment for the reasons already mentioned then the land should be divided in the manner described the very best thing of all would be that the husbandmen should be slaves taken from among men who are not all of the same race and not spirited for if they have no spirit they will be better suited for their work and there will be no danger of their making a revolution the next best thing would be that they should be periodic or and race and of a like inferior nature some of them should be the slaves of individuals and employed in the private estates of men a property the remainder should be the property of the state and employed on the common land I will hereafter explain what is the proper treatment of slaves and why it is expedient that liberties should be always held out to them as the reward of their services 11 we have already said that the city should be open to the land and to the sea and to the whole country as far as possible in respect of the place itself our wish would be that its situation should be fortunate in four things the first health this is a necessity cities which lie towards the east and are blown upon by wind's coming from the east are the healthiest next in healthfulness are those which are sheltered from the north wind for they have a milder winter the side of the city should likewise be convenient both for political administration and for war with a view to the latter it should afford easy egress to the citizens and at the same time be inaccessible and difficult of capture to the enemies there should be a natural abundance of Springs and fountains in the town or if there is a deficiency of them great reservoirs may be established for the collection of rainwater such as will not fail when the inhabitants are cut off from the country by war special care should be taken of the health of the in high which will depend chiefly on the healthiness of the locality and of the quarter to which they are exposed and secondly on the use of pure water this latter point is by no means a secondary consideration for the elements which we use most and often as for the support of the body contribute most to the health and among these are water and air wherefore in all wise states if there is a want of pure water and the supply is not all equally good the drinking water ought to be separated from that which is used for other purposes as to strongholds what is suitable two different forms of government varies thus an Acropolis is suited to an oligarchy or a monarchy but a plain to democracy neither to an aristocracy but rather a number of strong places the arrangement of private houses is considered to be more agreeable and generally more convenient if the streets are regularly laid out after the modern fashion which hippodamus introduced but for security in war the antiquated mode of building which made it difficult for strangers to get out of a town and for assailants to find their way in is preferable a city should therefore adopt both plans a building it is possible to arrange the houses irregularly as husbandmen plant their vines and what are called clumps the whole town should not be laid out in straight lines but only certain quarters and regions the security and beauty will be combined as two walls those who say that cities making any pretension to military virtue should not have them are quite out of date in their notions and they may see the cities which prided themselves on this fancy confuted by facts true there is little courage shown in seeking for safety behind a rampart when an enemy is similar in character and not much superior in number but the superiority of the besiegers may be and often is too much both for ordinary human valor and for that which is found only in a few and if they are to be saved and to escape defeat and outrage the strongest wall will be the truest soldierly precaution more especially now that missile and siege engines have been brought to such perfection to have no walls would be as foolish as to choose a site for a town in an exposed country and to level the heights or as if an individual were to leave his house unwalled lest the inmates should become cowards nor must we forget that those who have their cities surrounded by walls may either take advantage of them or not but cities which are unwalled have no choice if our conclusions are just not only should cities have walls but care should be taken to make them ornamental as well as useful for warlike purposes and adapted to resist modern inventions for as the assailants of a city do all they can to gain an advantage so the defenders should make use of any means of defense which have already been discovered and should devise and invent others for when men are well prepared no enemy even thinks of attacking them 12 as the walls are to be divided by guard houses and towers built at suitable integrals and the body of citizens must be distributed at common tables the idea will naturally occur that we should establish some of the common tables in the guard houses these might be arranged as has been suggested while the principle common tables of the magistrates will occupy a suitable place and there also will be the buildings appropriated to religious worship except in the case of those rights which the law or the Pythian Oracle has restricted to a special locality the site should be a spot seen far and wide which gives due elevation to virtue and towers over the neighborhood below this spot should be established an Agora such as that which the Thessalians call the Freeman's Agora from all this trade should be excluded and no mechanic husbandmen or any such person allowed to enter unless he be summoned by the magistrates it would be a charming use of the place if the gymnastic exercises of the elder men were performed there for in this noble practice different ages should be separated and some of the magistrates should stay with the boys while the grown-up men remained with the Magister for the presence of the magistrates is the best mode of inspiring true modesty and ingenious fear there should also be a traitor's Agora distinct and apart from the other in a situation which is convenient for the reception of goods both by sea and land but in speaking of the magistrates we must not forget another section of the citizens viz the priests for whom public tables should likewise be provided in their proper place near the temples the magistrates who deal with contracts indictments summonses and the like and those who have the care of the Agora and of the city respectively ought to be established near an Agora and in some public place of meeting the neighborhood of the traders Agora will be a suitable spot the upper Agora we devote to the life of leisure the other is intended for the necessities of trade the same order should prevail in the country for their to the magistrates called by some inspectors of forests and by others wardens of the country must have guard houses and common tables while they are on duty temples should also be scattered throughout the country dedicated some to God's and some to heroes but it would be a waste of time for us to linger over details like these the difficulty is not in imagining but carrying them out we may talk about them as much as we like but the execution of them will depend upon fortune wherefore let us say no more about these matters for the present end of book seven sections 10 through 12 you since 13 and 14 of politics by Aristotle this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org politics by Aristotle translated by Benjamin Jowett book seven sections thirteen and fourteen thirteen returning to the Constitution itself let us seek to determine out of what and what sort of elements the state which is to be happy and well governed should be composed there are two things in which all well-being consists one of them is the choice of a right end and aim of action and the other the discovery of the actions which are meant towards it for the means and the end may agree or disagree sometimes the right end is set before men but in practice they fail to attain it and in other cases they are successful in all the means but they propose to themselves a bad end and sometimes they fail in both take for example the art of medicine physicians do not always understand the nature of health and also the means which they use may not affect the desired end in all arts and sciences both the end and the means should be equally within our control the happiness and well-being which all men manifestly desire some have the power of attaining but to others from some accident or defect of nature the attainment of them is not granted for a good life requires a supply of external goods in a less degree when men are in a good state in a greater degree when they are in a lower state others again who possess the conditions of happiness go utterly wrong from the first in the pursuit of it but since our object is to discover the best form of government that namely under which a city will be best governed and since the city is best governed which has the greatest opportunity of obtaining happiness it is evident that we must clearly ascertain the nature of happiness we maintain and have said in the ethics if the arguments there adduced are of any value that happiness is the realization and perfect exercise of virtue and this is not conditional but absolute and I used the term conditional to express that which is indispensable and absolute to express that which is good in itself take the case of just actions just punishments and chastisements do indeed spring from a good principle but they are good only because we cannot do without them it would be better that neither individuals nor state should need anything of the sort but actions which aim at honor and advantage are absolutely the best the conditional action is the only choice of a lesser evil whereas these are the foundation and creation of good a good man may make the best even of poverty and disease and the other ills of life but he can only obtain happiness under the opposite conditions for this also has been determined in accordance with ethical arguments that the good man is he for whom because he is virtuous the things that are absolutely good are good and it is also plain that his use of these Goods must be virtuous in the absolute sense of good this makes men fancy that external goods are the cause of happiness yet we might as well say that a brilliant performance on the lyre was to be attributed to the instrument and not to the skill of the performer it follows then from what has been said that some things the legislature must find ready in his hand in a state others he must provide and therefore we can only say may our state be constituted in such a manner as to be blessed with the goods of which fortune disposes for we acknowledge her power whereas virtue and goodness in the state are not a matter of chance but the result of knowledge and purpose a city can be virtuous only when the citizens who have a share in the government are virtuous and in our state all the citizens share in the government let us then enquire how a man becomes virtuous for even if we could suppose the citizen body to be virtuous without each of them being so yet the latter would be better for in the virtue of each the virtue of all is a vault there are three things which make men good and virtuous these are nature habit rational principle in the first place everyone must be born a man and not some other animal so - he must have a certain character both of body and soul but some qualities there is no use in having at birth for they are altered by habit and there are some gifts which by nature are made to be turned by habit into good or bad animals lead for the most part a life of nature though in lesser particulars some are influenced by habit as well man has rational principle in addition and man only wherefore nature habit and rational principle must be in harmony with one another for they do not always agree men do many things against habit and nature if rational principle persuades them that they ought we have already determined what natures are likely to be most easily molded by the hands of the legislature and else is the work of Education we learn some things by habit and some by instruction 14 since every political society is composed of rulers and subjects let us consider whether the relations of one to the others should interchange or be permanent for the education of the citizens will necessarily vary with the answer given to this question now if some men excelled others in the same degree in which gods and heroes are supposed to excel mankind in general having in the first place a great advantage even in their bodies and secondly in their minds so that the superiority of the governors was in disputed and patent to their subjects it would clearly be better that once for all the one class should rule and the other serve but since this is unattainable and Kings have no marked superiority over their subjects such as selects affirms to be found among the Indians it is obviously necessary on many grounds that all the citizens alike should take their turn of governing and being governed equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons and no government can which is not founded upon justice for if the government must be unjust everyone in the country unites with the governed in the desire to have a revolution and it is an impossibility that the members of the government can be so numerous as to be stronger than all their enemies put together yet that governors should Excel their subjects is undeniable how all this is to be effected and in what way they will respectively share in the government the legislature has to consider the subject has been already mentioned Nature herself has provided the distinction when she made a difference between old and young within the same species of whom she fitted the one to govern and the other to be governed no one takes offense at being governed when he is young nor does he think himself better than his governor's especially if he will enjoy the same privilege when he reaches the required age we conclude that from one point of view governors and governed are identical and from another different and therefore their education must be the same and also different for he who would learn to command well must as men say first of all learned to obey as I observed in the first part of this treatise there is one rule which is for the sake of the rulers and another rule which is for the sake of the ruled the former is a despotic the latter of free government some commands differ not in the thing commanded but in the intention with which they are imposed where for many apparently menial offences are an honor to the free youth by whom they are performed for actions do not differ as honorable or dishonorable in themselves so much as in the end and intention of them but since we say that the virtue of the citizen and ruler is the same as that of the good man and that the same person must first be a subject and then a ruler the legislator has to see that they became good men and by what means this may be accomplished and what is the end of the perfect life now the soul of man is divided into two parts one of which has a rational principle in itself and the other not having a rational principle in itself is able to obey such a principle and we call a man in anyway good because he has the virtues of these two parts in which of them the end is more likely to be found is no matter of doubt to those who abduct our division for in the world both of nature and of art the inferior always exists for the sake of the better or superior and the better or superior is that which has a rational principle this principle too and our ordinary way of speaking is divided into two kinds for there is a practical and a speculative principle this part then must evidently be similarly divided and there must be a corresponding divisions of actions the actions of the naturally better part are to be preferred by those who have it in their power to attain to two out of the three or to all four that is always to everyone the most eligible which is the highest attainable by him the whole of life is further divided into two parts business and leisure war and peace and of actions some aim at what is necessary and useful and some at what is honorable and the preference given to one or the other class of actions must necessarily be like the preference given to one or the other part of the soul and its actions over the other there must be war for the sake of peace business for the sake of leisure things useful and necessary for the sake of things honorable all these points the Statesman should keep in view when he frames his laws he should consider the parts of the soul and their functions and above all the better and the end he should also remember the diversities of human lives and actions for men must be able to engage in business and go to war but leisure and peace are better they must do what is necessary and indeed what is useful but what is honorable is better on such principles children and persons of every age which requires education should be trained whereas even the Hellenes of the present day who are reputed to be best governed and the legislators who gave them their constitutions do not appear to have framed their governments with a regard to the best end or to have given them laws and education with a view to all the virtues but in a vulgar spirit have fallen back on those which promised to be more useful and profitable many modern writers have taken in a similar view they commend the lack of demonium Constitution and praised the legislator for making conquest and war his sole aim a doctrine which may be refuted by argument and has long ago been refuted by facts for most men desire Empire in the hope of accumulating the goods of fortune and on this ground fibrin and all those who have written about the lack of demonium Constitution have praised their legislator because the lack of demony ins by being trained to meet dangers gained great power but surely they are not a happy people now that their empire has passed away nor was there legislate or right how ridiculous is the result if when they are continuing in the observance of his laws and no one interferes with them they have lost the better part of life these riders further err about the sort of government which the legislatures should approve for the government of freemen is nobler and implies more virtue than despotic government neither is a city to be deemed happy or a legislature to be praised because he trains his citizens to conquer and obtain dominion over their neighbors further there is a great evil in this on a similar principle any citizens who could should obviously try to obtain the power in his own state the crime which the lack of demony ins accused King Pausanias of attempting although he had so great honor already no such principle and no law having this object is either statesmen like or useful or right for the same things are best both for individuals and for States and these are the things which the legislator ought to implant in the minds of his citizens neither should men study war with a view to the enslavement of those who did not deserve to be enslaved but first of all they should provide against their own enslavement and in the second place obtained Empire for the good of the Gov and not for the sake of exercising in general despotism and in the third place they should seek to be masters only over those who deserve to be slaves facts as well as arguments prove that the legislatures should direct all his military and other measures to the provision of leisure and the establishment of peace for most of these military states are safe only while they are at war but fall when they have acquired their empire like unused iron they lose their temper in time of peace and for this the legislator tourists of Lane he never having taught them how to lead the life of peace end of book 7 section 13 and 14 then sections 15 through 17 of politics by Aristotle this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org politics by Aristotle translated by Benjamin Jowett book seven sections 15 through 17 15 since the end of individuals and of States is the same the end of the best man and of the best Constitution must also be the same it is therefore evident that there ought to exist in both of them the virtues of leisure for peace as has often been repeated is the end of war and leisure of toil but leisure and cultivation may be promoted not only by those virtues which are practiced in leisure but also by some of those which are useful to business for many necessaries of life have to be supplied before we could have leisure therefore a city must be temperate and brave and able to endure for truly as the proverb says there is no leisure for slaves and those who cannot face danger like men are the slaves of any invader courage and endurance are required for business and philosophy for leisure temperance and justice for both and more especially in times of peace and leisure for war compels men to be just and temperate whereas the enjoyment of good fortune and the leisure which comes with peace tend to make them insolent those then who seem to be the best off and to be in the possession of every good have special need of justice and temperance for example those if such there be as the poets say who dwell in the islands of the blest they above all will need philosophy and temperance and justice and all the more the more leisure they have living in the midst of abundance there is no difficulty in seeing why the state that would be happy and good ought to have these virtues if it be disgraceful in men not to be able to use the goods of life it is peculiarly disgraceful not to be able to use them in time of leisure to show excellent qualities in action and war and when they have peace and leisure to be no better than slaves wherefore we should not practice virtue after the manner of the lack of demony ins for they while agreeing with other men in their conception of the highest Goods differ from the rest of mankind in thinking that they are to be obtained by the practice of a single virtue and since they think these Goods and the enjoyment of them greater than the enjoyment derived from the virtues and that it should be practiced for its own sake is evident from what has been said we must now consider how and by what means it is to be obtained we have already determined that nature and habit and rational principle are required and of these the proper nature of the citizens has also been defined by us but we still have to consider whether the training of early life is to be that of rational principle or habit for these two must Accord and when in accord they will then form the best of harmonies the rational principle may be mistaken and fail in attaining the highest ideal of life and there may be alike evil influence of habit this much is clear in the first place that as in all other things birth implies an antecedent beginning and that there are beginnings whose end is relative to a further end now in men rational principle and mind are the end towards which nature strives so that the birth and moral discipline of the citizens ought to be ordered with a view to them in the second place as the soul and body are two we see also that there are two parts of the soul the rational and the irrational and to corresponding States reason and appetite and as the body is prior in order of generation to the soul so the irrational is prior to the rational the proof is that anger and wishing and desire are implanted in children from their very birth but reason and understanding are develop as they grow older wherefore the care of the body ought to precede that of the soul and training of the appetite of part should follow nonetheless our care of it must be for the sake of the reason and our care of the body for the sake of the soul sixteen since the legislature should begin by considering how the frames of the children whom he is rearing may be as good as possible his first care will be about marriage at what age did his citizens marry and who are fit to marry in legislating on this subject he ought to consider the persons and the length of their life that their Procrit of life may terminate at the same period and that they may not differ in their bodily powers as will be the case if the man is still able to beget children while the woman is unable to bear them or the woman able to bear while the man is unable to beget for from these causes arise quarrels and differences between married persons secondly he must consider the time at which the children will succeed to their parents there ought not to be too great an interval of age for then the parents will be too old to derive any pleasure from their affection or to be of any use to them nor ought they be to nearly of an age to youthful marriages there are many objections the children will be wanting in respect to the parents who will seem to be their contemporaries and disputes will arise in the management of the household thirdly and this is the point from which we degress t' the legislator must mould to his will the frames of newly born children almost all these objects may be secured by attention to one point since the time of generation is commonly limited within the age of seventy years in the case of a man and a 50 in the case of a woman the commencement of the union should conform to these periods the union of male and female when too young is bad for the procreation of children in all other animals the offspring of the young are small and in developed and with a tendency to produce female children and therefore also in man as proved by the fact that in those cities in which men and women are accustomed to marry young the people are small and weak in childbirth also younger women suffer more and more of them die some persons say that this was the meaning of the response once given to the tro Zenon's the oracle really meant that many died because they married too young it had nothing to do with the in gathering of the harvest it also conduces to temperance not to Mary too soon for women who marry early are apt to be wanton and in men to the bodily frame is stunted if they marry while the seed is growing for there is a time when the growth of the seed also ceases or continues to but a slight extent women should marry when they are about eighteen years of age and men at seven and thirty then they are in the prime of life and the decline in the powers of both will coincide further the children if their birth takes place too soon as may reasonably be accepted will secede in the beginning of their prime when their fathers are already in the decline of life and have nearly reached their term of threescore years and ten thus much of the proper age for marriage the season of the year should also be considered according to our present custom people generally limit marriage to the season of winter and they are right the precepts of physicians and natural philosophers about generation should also be studied by the parents themselves the physicians give good advice about the favorable conditions of the body and the natural philosophers about the winds of which they prefer the north to the south what Constitution and the parent is most advantageous to the offspring is a subject which we will consider more carefully when we speak of the education of children and we will only make a few general remarks at present the constitution of an athlete is not suited to the life of a citizen or to health or to the procreation of children any more than the valetudinarian or exhausted Constitution but one which is an amine between them a man's Constitution should be inert to labor but not to labor which is excessive or of one sort only such as is practiced by athletes he should be capable of all the actions of a free man these remarks apply equally to both parents women who are with child should be careful of themselves they should take exercise and have a nourishing diet the first of these precautions the legislator will easily carry into effect by requiring that they shall take a walk daily to some temple where they can worship the gods who over birth their minds however unlike their bodies they ought to keep quiet for the offspring derived their natures from their mothers as plants do from the earth as to the exposure and rearing of children let there be a law that no deformed child shall live but that on the ground of an excess in the number of children if the established customs of the state forbid this for an hour state population has a limit no child is to be exposed but when couples have children in excess let abortion be procured before sense and life have begun what may or may not be lawfully done in these cases depends on the question of life and sensation and now having determined at what ages men and women are to begin their union let us also determine how long they shall continue to beget and bear offspring for the state men who are too old like men who are too young produced children who are defective in body and mind the children of a very old men are weakly the limit then should be the age which is the prime of their intelligence and this in most persons according to the notion of some poets who measure life by periods of seven years is about fifty at four or five years later they should cease from having families and from that time forward only cohabit with one another for the sake of health or for some similar reason as to adultery let it be held disgraceful in general for any man or woman to be found in any way unfaithful when they are married and called husband and wife if during the time of burying children anything of the sort occur let the guilty person be punished with a loss of privileges in proportion to the offence 17 after the children have been born the manner of rearing them may be supposed to have a great effect on their bodily strength it would appear from the example of animals and of those nations who desire to create the military habit that the food which has most milk in it is best suited to human beings but the less wine the better if they would escape diseases also all the motions to which children can be subjected at their early age are very useful but in order to preserve their tender limbs from Distortion some nations have had recourse to mechanical appliances which straighten their body to accustom children to the cold from their earliest years is also an excellent practice which clearly conduces to health and hardens them for military service hence many barbarians have a custom of plunging their children at birth into a cold stream others like the Celts clothed them in a light wrapper only for human nature should be early habituated to endure all which by habit it can be made to endure but the process must be gradual and children from their natural warmth may be easily trained to bear cold such care should attend them in the first stage of life the next period lasts to the age of five during this no demand should be made upon the child for study or labour lest its growth be impeded and there should be sufficient motion to prevent the limbs from being inactive this can be secured among other ways by amusement but the amusement should not be vulgar or tiring or effeminate the directors of education as they are termed should be careful what tales or stories the children here for all such thing are designed to prepare the way for the business of latter life and should be for the most part imitations of the occupations which they will hereafter pursue in earnest those are wrong who in their laws attempt to check the loud crying and screaming of children for these contribute towards their growth and in a manner exercise their bodies straining the voice has a strengthening effect similar to that produced by the retention of the breath and violent exertions the directors of Education should have an eye to their bringing up and in particular should take care that they are left as little as possible with slaves for until they are seven years old they must live at home and therefore even at this early age it is to be expected that they should acquire a taint of meanness from what they hear and see indeed there is nothing which the legislators should be more careful to drive away than indecency of speech for the light utterance of shameful words leads soon to shameful actions the young especially should never be allowed to repeat or hear anything of the sort a freemen who has found saying or doing what is forbidden if he'd be too young as yet to have the privilege of reclining at the public tables should be disgraced and beaten and an elder person degraded as his slavish conduct deserves and since we do not allow improper language clearly we should also banish pictures or speeches from the stage which are indecent let their rulers take care that there be no image or picture representing unseemly actions except in the temples of those gods at whose festivals the law permits even rivalry and whom the law also permits to be worshipped by persons of mature age on behalf of themselves their children and their wives but the legislator should not allow youth to be spectators of imb or of comedy until they are of an age to sit at the public tables and to drink strong wine by that time education will have armed them against the evil influences of such representations we have made these remarks in a cursory manner they are enough for the present occasion but hereafter we will return to the subject and after a fuller discussion determine whether such liberties should or should not be granted and in what way granted if at all Theodorus the tragic actor was quite right in saying that he would not allow any other actor not even if he were quite second-rate to enter before himself because the spectators grew fond of the voices which they first heard and the same principle applies universally to association with things as well as with persons for we always like best whatever comes first and therefore youth should be kept strangers to all that is bad and especially to things which suggests vice or hate when the five years have passed away during the two following years they must look upon the pursuits which they are hereafter to learn there are two periods of life with reference to which education has to be divided from 7 to the age of puberty and onwards to the age of 1 and 20 the poets who divide ages by sevens are in the main right but we should observe the divisions actually made by nature for the deficiencies of nature are what art and education seek to fill up let us then first inquire if any regulations are to be laid down about children and secondly whether the care of them should be the concern of the state or a private individuals which latter is in our own day the common custom and in the third place what these regulations should be end of book seven sections 15 through 17

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Published: Tue Jan 22 2013