Aristotle's Best Regime: Kingship, Democracy, and the Rule of Law by Clifford Angell Bates Jr

Author:Clifford Angell Bates Jr. [Bates, Clifford Angell Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780807128336
Google: EAm-uIJErAAC
Goodreads: 1077723
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: 2002-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

THE FIVE CLAIMS TO RULE

Politics 3.10 begins with an inquiry into the authoritative element of the polis (3.10.1281a14), which is the outcome of the revision of what truly defines a regime. What defines a regime is the claim that the authoritative element advances as to what is just. What defines a regime is not the typology of Politics 3.7 that looked at the number of those who rule (the quantitative claim) and their relationship to the common advantage (the qualitative claim). That typology collapses at Politics 3.8 where the qualitative claim is said to be accidental.

Politics 3.10 sets up five possible choices concerning the nature of the authoritative element in the polis, whereas in 3.9 only two choices are presented (oligarchy and democracy). So two regime types and their claims now become five: 1) the multitude, 2) the wealthy, 3) the respectable, 4) the one who is best of all, and 5) the tyrant. As mentioned earlier, the best few is replaced by the respectable, indicating that either aristocracy is the generic name for the best regime or aristocracy is a political impossibility. The former seems more true than the latter. But these five types correspond to five of the six regimes of Politics 3.7. The sixth, or the missing one is the so-called “polity” or “mixed regime.”5 The correspondence of the list here and the five regimes are 1) the multitude = democracy, 2) the wealthy = oligarchy, 3) the respectable = (perceived) aristocracy, 4) the one who is best of all = universal kingship, 5) the tyrant = tyranny.

It is important to note that tyranny is listed as a possibly choiceworthy authoritative element, whereas rule by the best few is not. This is disturbing to most readers, because tyranny is shown to be a choiceworthy regime, but the best, “who are few,” is not. Although Aristotle does say that it is difficult, although not impossible, for the many to be virtuous (3.7.1279a38–b1), here the virtuous few—expressed as the few best—is not mentioned as a choice-worthy possibility for the authoritative element of a political community. The only claim that addresses the issue of virtue or the rule of the best is the authoritative rule of the one who is best of all (3.10.1281a14). Aristotle says that all the possibilities presented here involve difficulties (3.10.1281a15), which sets up the tension between the competing claimants for rule in the polis. Yet the remnant of 3.10 is a debate between a democrat and an oligarch (see Strauss 1978, 21). One must examine this debate, because in doing so one is ushered to the first peak in the argument in Politics 3 concerning what is best, which is the rule of the many.

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