The politics of Aristotle by Aristotle & Barker Ernest Sir 1874-1960 tr

Author:Aristotle & Barker, Ernest, Sir, 1874-1960, tr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political science
Publisher: New York, Oxford University Press
Published: 1958-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

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CONFLICTING CLAIMS

\

III. 12. a superior flute-player who was far inferior in birth and

beauty, although either of these may be a greater good

than the art of flute-playing, and persons gifted with these

qualities may excel the flute-player in a greater ratio

than he excels them in his art, still he ought^to have the

best flutes given to him, unless the advantages of wealth 12831

I and birth contribute to excellence in flute-playing, which

Differenccstftfiey do not. Moreover upon this principle any good 6

haveno 7 / ma y_ be compared with any other. For if a given height,

common / then height in general may be measured either against

d height or against freedom. Thus if A excels in height

more than B in virtue, and height in general is more

excellent than virtue, all things will be commensurable

[which is absurd]; for if a certain magnitude is greater

than some other, it is clear that some other will be equal.

What kinds But since no such comparison can be made, it is evident 7

ority gto a that there is good reason why in politics men do not

claim to g roum j their claim to office on every sort of inequality

political power?

\y

13-

any more than in the arts. For if some be slow, and others swift, that is no reason why the one should have little and the others much; it is in gymnastic contests that such excellence is rewarded. Whereas_the rival**

claim s of candida t es for office can only be Based on po45£ss!on 01 elements tfhich enter i nto th e co mpositi on of a stated [such as wealth, vi rtue, etc.] And therefore tne noble, or iree-T>om, or rich, may with good reason claim office; for holders of offices must be freemen and tax-payers: a state can be no more composed entirely of poor men than entirely of slaves. But if Wfiflhfr an^ \ * freedom are necessary elements T justice and y affigOTfe - equally - s o *; for without the former a state cannot exist ^ at all, without the latter not well.

If the existence of the state is alone to be considered, then it would seem that all, or some at least, of these claims are just; but, if we take into account a good life, as I have already said b , education and virtue have

» Cp. iv. 4. §§ 12-16.

*> Cp. c. 9.§§i4, 15.

superior claims. As, however, those who are equal in III. 13. one thing ought not to be equal in all, nor those who are unequal in one thing to be unequal in all, it is certain that all forms of government which rest on either V

2 of these principles are perversions. All men have a claim The claims

of wealth,

: of birth, J f

in a certain sense, as I have already admitted, but they have not an absolute claim. The rich claim because they have a greater share in the land, and land is the common element of the state; also they are generally more trustworthy in contracts. The free claim under the.

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