To him, ethics and politics are matters of rational judgment, stemming from the natural inclinations of individual humans. This notion is reflected in Aristotle's analysis of the constitutional doctrines of some 158 cities. Essentially, he recognized that every state -- necessarily city states -- exist in unique sets of circumstances that act upon the universal forms of ethics in ways that alter their particular manifestations. Aristotle does, however, put forward his conception of the most realistically achievable form of government that would simultaneously facilitate mankind's natural pursuit of rational happiness. He writes, "We must consider then not only what form of government is best, but also what is possible and easily attainable by all," (Aristotle 321). He concludes, broadly, that democratic and oligarchic governments are the most dangerous, and that a monarchy in the hands of a just ruler would be the most just and efficient. He also makes the same warning heard from later philosophers -- like Machiavelli -- against tyrannies: "Tyranny... is monarchy exercising the rule of a master over political society," (Aristotle 323). In this way, all three major forms of government have their drawbacks, but since human beings are posed with these problems, they must be guided by their reasoning to arrive at practical solutions. Ultimately, the most obvious solution, to Aristotle, is to accept the chance that...
Today, of course, most people in the West imagine the ancient Greeks as having devised the first form of government resting upon acceptable philosophical conceptions of justice and equality. However, classical democracy functioned very differently than our modern versions of democracy; also, they both suffer from problems and imperfections that could, possibly, have been eliminated under Plato's philosopher king. Still, Aristotle's objections to democracy -- as it being too inclusive -- fail to coincide with most currently accepted beliefs about justice. Furthermore, democracy has proven, in modern times, to be relatively stable. So, in the end, most people today are likely to find Pericles' idealistic vision of democracy appealing, while still recognizing that Plato and Aristotle's lines of reasoning retain some merit.
Works Cited
Aristotle. Politics. New York: Gramercy Books, 1971.
Plato. Plato: Republic. Translated by G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1992.
Thucydides. "Pericles: The Funeral Oration." World Civilizations: Ancient Greece, 1996. Available:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PERICLES.HTM.
