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    Govt 1001 Topic 1 Summary

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    Aliyah John
    Plato believed rational inquiry and reason should be used to establish an ideal government led by "philosopher kings". He advocated for selective adult education of future rulers to ensure they possessed leadership qualities. Aristotle also believed virtue was more important than popularity in rulers. He preferred monarchy and aristocracy, seeing democracy and oligarchy as perverse forms. Both philosophers viewed the state as a natural community and believed law should rule over individuals to guarantee justice.

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    Govt 1001 Topic 1 Summary

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    Aliyah John
    21 views2 pages
    Plato believed rational inquiry and reason should be used to establish an ideal government led by "philosopher kings". He advocated for selective adult education of future rulers to ensure they possessed leadership qualities. Aristotle also believed virtue was more important than popularity in rulers. He preferred monarchy and aristocracy, seeing democracy and oligarchy as perverse forms. Both philosophers viewed the state as a natural community and believed law should rule over individuals to guarantee justice.

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    Govt 1001 Topic 1 Summary (1)

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    Plato believed rational inquiry and reason should be used to establish an ideal government led by "philosopher kings". He advocated for selective adult education of future rulers to ensure they possessed leadership qualities. Aristotle also believed virtue was more important than popularity in rulers. He preferred monarchy and aristocracy, seeing democracy and oligarchy as perverse forms. Both philosophers viewed the state as a natural community and believed law should rule over individuals to guarantee justice.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    21 views2 pages

    Govt 1001 Topic 1 Summary

    Uploaded by

    Aliyah John
    Plato believed rational inquiry and reason should be used to establish an ideal government led by "philosopher kings". He advocated for selective adult education of future rulers to ensure they possessed leadership qualities. Aristotle also believed virtue was more important than popularity in rulers. He preferred monarchy and aristocracy, seeing democracy and oligarchy as perverse forms. Both philosophers viewed the state as a natural community and believed law should rule over individuals to guarantee justice.

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    GOVT 1001 - TOPIC 1

    SUMMARY
    Plato (427 - 347 B.C.)

    Plato's advocacy of adult education and his rationale for his class divisions of society establish him as a
    proponent of the aristocratic view of the State. In understanding the works of both Plato and his disciple,
    Aristotle, one must appreciate that they advanced an outlook that embraces the use of rational argument
    and inquiry as the key to the establishment of an ideal type of government and politics in society.

    Plato and his teacher Socrates both believed in the application of reason and rational inquiry as the key to
    the establishment of the good life. However, for Plato, in determining who was to be involved in such an
    activity, the ruling class would have to ensure that it could produce the kind of rulers (i.e., philosopher
    kings) who had both the breeding and the aptitude to be prepared for the task of ruling. In other words,
    the ruling class should:

     select rulers long before they were born;


     prepare the future rulers with relevant continuous education;
     ensure that they acquire the right qualities of a leader

    Plato thus placed the virtues above the popularity of the ruler. This is where the elitist theory is exposed
    owing to the fact that adult education is reserved only for future rulers and their popularity is not an issue,
    instead their sagacity is more important. However, it is important to note that Plato's class structure was
    based on his belief that the human soul was divided into three parts:

     the rational
     the spirited
     the appetitive

    Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.)

    Aristotle, like Plato, believed that the virtue of the ruler was more important than the popularity of the ruler.
    To this end, he preferred monarchy as the best form of government because it consisted of the best ruler
    absolutely who would rule in the interests of the society. His second preference was aristocracy which
    consisted of the best persons absolutely, and not relatively, who would rule in the best interests of the
    society. He viewed Constitutional government or "polity" as a compromise between the wealth of the rich
    and the freedom of the poor. Aristotle argued that these were incompatible and it would be difficult to
    satisfy both.

    He argued that there were two categories of government, true and perverse, each comprising three
    forms. The three true forms of government were:

    (i) Monarchy;
    (ii) Aristocracy;
    (iii) Constitutional.

    The three perverse forms of government were:

    (i) Tyranny;
    (ii) Oligarchy;
    (iii) Democracy.
    At the same time, Aristotle advanced the theory that the State is a community and that it is the highest of
    all communities. This provided the conception that the State was natural. In advancing this theory of the
    State, Aristotle argued that the State was the highest of all communities both by way of:

    (i) Evolution of human beings: Human beings were able to reproduce themselves in the family, they
    found companionship in the village, and they satisfied the highest part of themselves in the
    city-state. This organic process, evolved into the State.
    (ii) Logic: The State was whole and it was necessarily prior to the parts. That is, the concept existed
    all along, but human beings evolved in order to put the pieces together. In other words, the State
    was clearly prior to the family and the village as a concept, and was subsequently realised when
    the pieces were put together.

    As far as law and order in the State were concerned, Aristotle argued that the rule of law was preferable
    to the rule of an individual insofar as he believed that the rule of an individual could not guarantee perfect
    justice. It was better to apply a single principle (the rule of law) to all, than to trust the judgement of any
    single individual in the application of the law. Indeed, the rule of law has become a cornerstone of the
    democratic State in modern times and, to a large extent, we have inherited this from Aristotle.

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