Aristotle's Politics- Tentative Response

Tentative Response Prompt 5

It should be of no surprise that Aristotle is heavily interested in the way a society is run in his Politics. In his description of the different types of leadership, he provides three solutions that he finds ideal and three perversions of these ideals. He terms the three “correct constitutions” to be “monarchy, aristocracy, [and] polity,” with the deviations being “tranny, oligarchy, and democracy” respectively (Book IV, 27-28). Aristotle is critical of these three deviations, as he characterizes them as systems of power that favor one particular group instead of for the common good of the entire community.

In effect, he argues that tyranny is “for the benefit the monarch, oligarchy is for the benefit of the rich, and democracy is for the benefit for the poor” (Book III, 6-7). Because these seek to fulfill means of groups other than the betterment of the polity, they are seen as bad. One solution that Aristotle provides is a mixture of aristocracy and democracy, to avoid a position where the lower classes unfairly do what they want by leaving voting power into the hands of the primary engine of the economy, which would be the head of the households.