Plato And Aristotles Best Form Of Constitution Politics Essay

Plato And Aristotles Best Form Of Constitution Politics Essay Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the best form of government is rule by the best, or  Aristocracy. This word did not mean for them rule by the ruling class, as it did in early modern Europe; they really believed that only the smartest, most temperate, most mature, most reflective, most educated, and the bravest should be in charge of government, that is, only the best (the Greek word for best is  aristos  ). For Plato, the ideal city was one which mirrored the kosmos, on the one hand, and the individual on the other. As he described in  The Republic, the ideal city, or  polis, was one based on justice and human virtue. It was a form of social and political organization that allowed individuals to maximize their potentialities, serve their fellow citizens, and live in accordance with universal laws and truths. A citys constitution is the organisation of its magistracies or offices. Every ordered state has a constitution, since every such state has some organisation of magistracies (Aristotle, Politics 278 b9, 1289 b15, 1290 a8-9). In Aristotles teleological philosophy organisation is always for the sake of some end or purpose. The true end or purpose of the state, he says, is to help its members live, and to live a good life. Constitutions which aim at the good life for the citizens are true constitutions; those which aim at the good of the rulers only are perversions (Aristotle, Politics 1279 a17-21). There are echoes here of Plato; remember in  The Republic  Socrates argument with Thrasymachus, in which Socrates argued that government is an art the purpose of which is to further the good of the governed. Aristocracy. Rule by the best (aristos). In practice this usually meant rule by the well-born, those of noble family, who referred to themselves as the best people.   The generic name a constitution or polity (politeia, constitution). In modern English polity is not a common word, but when it is used it means form of government or type of constitution; thus one might speak of a democratic polity or a monarchical polity. Aristotle uses polity both in that way, as the generic name for a constitution of any sort,  and  as the name of one of the sorts. One of the kinds of polity is polity, i.e. the polity or form of government in which all citizens rule and is ruled in turn. The idea of polity is that all citizens should take short turns at ruling. It is an inclusive form of government: everyone has a share of political power. He sometimes calls it polity, sometimes political or constitutional government these are interchangeable.   Oligarchy, the generic name for rule by a few, is also the name of one kind of rule by the few, the perverted kind which seeks to further the interest of the wealthy few.   Democracy means literally rule by the people, but Aristotle and other ancient writers use it to mean rule exclusively by the poor in their own interest. Classification of Constitutions Good Bad One Kingship Tyranny Few Aristocracy Oligarchy Many Polity Democracy The good and bad columns come from Plato. This is the classification put forward by Plato. Plato used democracy for both kinds of rule by the many, because he saw little difference between good and bad rule by many. Democracy is too weak to do much good and at its worst too weak to do much harm, according to Plato. If, however, there be some one person, or more than one whose virtue is so preeminent that the virtues or the political capacity of all the rest admit of no comparison with his or theirs, then he or they should be supreme and not bound by laws (Aristotle, Politics 1284 a3-17); that is, under those circumstances the city should be governed by a king or an aristocracy unfettered by rules and laws. Aristotle often alludes to this ideal constitution (Aristotle, Politics 1284 b25-35, 1288 a7-30, 1289 a30-2, 1293 b25-8, 1332 b17-25). But whereas Plato calls the seventh the true constitution and the others imitations, Aristotle calls three of the others true, and mentions the seventh only incidentally. In Aristotle, Politics attention is focussed mostly not on the ideal form of government but on the second best, or best practicable. A similar point is made in (Aristotle, Politics 1290 a30-b20). The criticism Aristotle is making here is that Platos classification obscures the really signific ant dividing line, which is not between the few and the many but between the rich and the poor. In chapter 8, the discussion (Aristotle, Politics 1309a) of the grounds on which various groups claim power in the state was very carefully detailed. These groups include the rich and the poor, and also the well-born (those who come from noble families) and the virtuous. The discussion continues to the end of chapter 13 (Aristotle, Politics 1297a). It begins with a consideration of the  purpose  for which the state exists, because this will determine who should rule. The discussion reaches no firm conclusions, but Aristotle seems to favour the Platonic view that power should be held by the virtuous. This brings us to the question whether the poor or the rich should rule? If the poor, because they are more in number, divide among themselves the property of the rich, is not this unjust? (Aristotle, Politics 1281a 13-15). Again, when in the first division all has been taken, and the majority divide anew the property of the minority, is it not evident, if this goes on, that they will ruin the state?(Aristotle, Politics 1281a18). This is an answer to some of Platos arguments against democracy. Among them they understand the whole (Aristotle, Politics 1281 b9). They need to discuss, and communicate to all, or most, what each has understood; and for this they may not have the necessary time, goodwill or ability.   To assign them some deliberative and judicial functions but not allow them to hold office singly (Aristotle, Politics 1281 b30). This is in effect a combination of oligarchy and democracy. Aristotle himself thinks that the best practicable state, the one in which virtue has the best chance of influence, is one in which some political functions are assigned to the many poor and other functions to the few rich, so as to produce a balance of the classes. All professions and arts (Aristotle, Politics 1282a). Plato holds that government is, or can be, an art, and infers that only a few should rule because only a few can master any art. Aristotle suggests that the intelligent man who has studied the art, but not enough to be a practitioner, may be a good judge. Also, the consumer may be better than the producer at judging the quality of the product (Aristotle, Politics 1282a17). Plato set forth a five-fold classification to describe how the city ought to be governed. The best form of government, he argued, was an aristocratic model based on the ruler ship of philosopher kings. A second form of government he called timocracy, or rule by a privileged elite of guardians, or strong men. Oligarchy, the third type, consisted of rule by the few. The remaining two, democracy and tyranny represented rule by the many. According to Plato, the ideal city had to be an enlightened one, one based on the highest universal principles. He insisted that only individuals who were committed to these truths, who could protect and preserve them for the sake of the common good, were fit to rule the city. Becoming a philosopher king, or an ideal ruler, involved a rigorous course of study that extended into mid-life; Plato, Republic 540a. The ideal ruler was therefore someone chosen by an inner calling, or  daimon, not by circumstance or privilege. Therefore, the ideal ruler was not someone chosen by circumstance or privilege so much as by an inner calling, or  daimon. This point is crucial because it distinguishes Platos ideal city from those of other thinkers who shared Platos faith in guardianship but favoured oligarchical systems of government. Aristotle drew heavily on Platos vision but also criticized what he saw as its excessively idealistic nature. He believed that Platos republic could never exist in the real world. In any case, Aristotle made a number of improvements on Platos ideal in the interest of making it more practically useful. In his view, there were three basic forms of political organization, rule of the one, rule of the few, and rule of the many. The first form, at its best, led to monarchy; at its worst, to tyranny, the second, at its best, to aristocracy; at its worst, to oligarchy. And the third, at its best, to something he called  politeia; at its worst, to democracy. Aristotle maintained that both monarchy and aristocracy were  ideal  forms of government, in the sense that they were virtually impossible to achieve in reality. He therefore invented a third form which drew from the unique strengths of both, politeia. This form combined rule of law and rule by the few. It was a brilliant formulation that incorporated many of Platos key elements (such as guardianship, the idea of self-sufficiency, and the critical role of law) while making it more practical and thereby attainable. For example, he introduced land ownership and ruler ship by lot as crucial elements of the ideal  polis, while dispensing with what he considered unrealistic concepts such as distributive justice and voluntary rule. Aristotle a student of Plato, who himself did not like democracy, because the democratic assembly of Athens condemned Socrates to death. Aristotle himself fell victim to the same assembly and was banished from Athens. All the major Greek philosophers thought democracy was the worst form of government. Plato, in his critique of democracy in  The  Republic, claims that it allows people to follow all their passions and drives without order or control (Plato, Republic 557 558); Aristotle claimed that the competing interest in a democracy makes for chaos rather than purposive and deliberated action. Democracy did not seem to work very democratically at all, in fact. In Athens, the democratic Assembly was usually dominated by a single powerful, charismatic individual; this individual often dominated the Assembly because of his presence or oratorical skill rather than his individual worth. As a result, the democratic governments could make some surprisingly foolish decisions, such as the Athenian decision to attack Sicily without any cause or provocation. This ill-considered war destroyed much of the Athenian fleet and eventually led to the defeat of Athens by Sparta. The position of these charismat ic leaders, however, was always very precarious. The democratic Assemblies could change character overnight; they would often eagerly follow a particular leader, and then exile that leader often for no reason (this is Aristotles central objection to a democracy). If you can remember in the painting The School of Athens, Plato is pointing up because of his immaterial views (god, the afterlife). Then you will notice Aristotle pointing forward to demonstrate that his views develop from what is in front of him. Plato generally believes in ideas and focuses on the soul, the forms and the good. In Book 7 Plato spoke of the allegory of the cave and how only the philosopher kings were able to see the light (Plato, Republic 514a), Whereas, Aristotle is a natural scientist who studies nature, his views were that the way the natural world works is the way the world works, basically everything is part of a larger organic pod and nature has a plan for everything, nothing is created without a purpose because things are naturally related. In my view I think Platos work in more than intriguing, he has a lot of views that are really interesting, but also it can be said that many of his ideas can be debated negatively either in his time or ours. I am of the belief that people would never agree with his ideas of state building, and his idea of the philosopher king, and so hence, his ideas were never brought to life, but in the same breath has left a great legacy for future generations to analyse. In comparison, there is Aristotle who is very critical of Platos ideas. Aristotle is a very practical person, whose philosophy I can explicitly say makes better sense when it comes to state building and the way the world works. He also had a view of which I really agree with and that was laws should rule not men.

starbucks history :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For one of my selections for buying stock, I invested into Starbucks, this company has attracted me with their wonders of different coffees, and I knew many others were interested in the very popular coffee company. Starbucks all started 1971 in Seattle Washington. With three men which were Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker each of them put in one thousand three hundred and fifty dollars along with a barrowed five thousand from the bank to start up there small coffee shop in pick place market, witch is located in down town Seattle. The name for this company was inspired from the character Starbuck from Moby Dick; this character was a coffee lover. There close friend designed there well known logo. These men never thought of this small company to get large they just thought of it as a small coffee shop. Out of all three men Siegel was the only one that work at it full time. The men depened on a man named Alfred Peet for there coffee beans but soon then st arted there own blends of coffee beans. With in a year opening the first store they were able to open a second store. When the 1980’s rolled around, it was a thriving company, in the Seattle area. However, the co-founders began to have other interests and were involved in other careers simultaneously. Despite that, the company was about to undergo a major turning point. A man by the name of Howard Schultz started to pursue an interest in the company. He noticed that the coffee shop had a wonderful environment. He started asking a questions and becoming more and more interested by every moment. He loved how the founders had so much knowledge on the coffee and each blend. In 1982, Schultz became director of retail operation. This was just the start to a new phase with the company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Shultz took over, this started the beginning of a new era. He spent all his time at the stores trying to make every thing perfect in every way. He started with the employees, making the environment so friendly for every type of coffee lover. One of his biggest ideas came from visiting Italy and going to a coffee shop and seeing the idea of a espresso bar. That no longer would it be just an in and out coffee shop, but event and environment that drew many different types of people.

The Final Stages Of World WAr II In 1945

During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After six months of intense strategic fire-bombing of 67 Japanese cities the Japanese government ignored an ultimatum given by the Potsdam Declaration. By executive order of President Harry S. Truman the U. S. dropped the nuclear weapon â€Å"Little Boy† on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945,[1][2] followed by the detonation of â€Å"Fat Man† over Nagasaki on August 9. These are the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare. [3] Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki,[4] with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. The Hiroshima prefectural health department estimates that, of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness. A plausible estimate of the total immediate and short term cause of death, 15–20% died from radiation sickness, 20–30% from flash burns, and 50–60% from other injuries, compounded by illness. [5] Since then, more have died from leukemia (231 observed) and solid cancers (334 observed) attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. [6] In both cities, most of the dead were civilians. [7][8][9] Six days after the detonation over Nagasaki, on August 15, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, signing the Instrument of Surrender on September 2, officially ending the Pacific War and therefore World War II. Germany had signed its unavoidable[2] Instrument of Surrender on May 7, ending the war in Europe. The bombings led, in part, to post-war Japan adopting Three Non-Nuclear Principles, forbidding the nation from nuclear armament. [10] The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and the U. S. ‘s ethical justification for them is still debated. [11]

Society Pressure in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay

Society is a community of people who share the same government, religion, environment, or culture. Society creates a set of unspoken rules that the community blindly follows. Without society, there would be no morality codes to live by, no standards that people should live to. These â€Å"unspoken† rules are altered when going to different societies. One of the most popular societies is the Victorian society which is known for its rapid development in science and also its oppressive restrictions. There were many restrictions in Victorian society, and many were out casted for rebelling against the standards. Some people are not able to hold themselves to these strict standards and slowly decline themselves into insanity because the pressure from†¦show more content†¦Human emotion was expected to be hidden, and only be shown in private. It was considered improper to show emotions towards others in public places. People were looked down upon when they had emotional outbu rsts in public. â€Å"These scholars note that Victorians often bowed to conformity, concealing their true natures and tastes and pretending to adhere to social norms. Some Victorians passed themselves off as more pious or moral than they really were. But in reality, pornographic literature and prostitution were common phenomena during the late nineteenth century, showing that some Victorians only pretended to lead chaste lives.†(Joyce Moss) Along with being contradictory, the era was also ironic because although so many things were considered socially unacceptable, they were practiced commonly. The Victorians only wanted others to think that they lived chaste lives, but in reality they would give into human emotions. They strove to become something that they were not able to become. The main social code to live by during this period was to not to give into human temptation, to keep a calm and poised composure. Robert Louis Stevenson was born into an upper middle class family that never had an issue of money. Stevenson was a sickly child, but this was no problem because the family was able toShow MoreRelatedThe Strange Cause Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1535 Words   |  7 PagesCause of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a doctor named Dr. Jekyll decides to give up his regular practice to experiment with new medicine in an effort to eliminate his evil, guilty. As result, Dr. Jekyll develops a poison that converts him in Mr. Hyde wh o is evil and feels not guilty. Meanwhile, Utterson a lawyer and Dr. Jekyll’s friend is concerned because Jekyll has written a will that leaves all his money to his new partner Mr. Hyde, and thinks his friend is being blackmailed. 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