Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece.

At the age of 17, he enrolled in Platos Academy. In 338 he tutoring Alexander The Great In 335 he founded his own school, Lyceum in Athens

Nichomachus- Because of his father's medical profession, Aristotle's philosophy laid its principal stress on biology. Plato- He studied under Plato, whose influences are most apparent in Aristotle's theoretical and practical philosophies. He greatly admired Plato all the way to his death, despite the fact that he later opposed some of his most important points.

His political thought was influenced by his travels and experiences of diverse political systems.

Aristotles major writings on logic include Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics and Posterior Analytics. Aristotles written work also discussed the topics of matter and form. In his book Metaphysics.

Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics are Aristotles major treatises on the behavior and judgment that constitute good living. In Politics, Aristotle examined human behavior in the context of society and government.

He also composed a number of works on the arts, including Rhetoric, and science, including On the Heavens, which was followed by On the Soul, in which Aristotle moves from discussing astronomy to examining human psychology.

Aristotles View

The highest and most developed form of social organization. A natural progression, and draws upon two central themes; the good life and human beings as political animals. Aristotle fails to demonstrate how an active, political life equals a good life.

A collection of parts having some functions and interests in common. Hence, it is made up of parts, which Aristotle describes in various ways in different contexts: as households or economic classes, or demes. But, ultimately, the city-state is composed of individual citizens.

A hylomorphic compound of a particular population in a given territory and a constitution. Man is a political animal: we can only achieve the good life by living as citizens in a state. Aristotle defends the institution of private property, condemns excessive capitalism, and notoriously defends the institution of slavery.

Aristotle states that the "correct" form of government is the government that serves "the common good" according to the principles of justice ahead of the ruler. "It is clear then both the best partnership in a state is the one which operates through the middle people, and also that those states in which the middle element is large, and stronger if possible than the other two together, or at any rate stronger than either of them alone, have every chance of having a well-run constitution."

All citizens in a Greek city-state take part in government and hold various public offices, which is why Aristotle takes public office as a defining feature of citizenship. Aristotle states that the city-state comes into being for the sake of life but exists for the sake of the good life.

distinguishes between good and bad forms of ruling, whether it be rule by one (mon-archy), a few (oligarchy, arist-ocracy), or many (dem-ocracy). Democracy is not the best form of government. As is also true of oligarchy and monarchy, rule in democracy is for and by the people named in the government type. Government should be by those people with enough time on their hands to pursue virtue.

A community of any sort can possess order only if it has a ruling element or authority. The person who first established is the cause of very great benefits. A craftsman, like a weaver or shipbuilder, who fashions material into a finished product. The most important task for the politician is, in the role of lawgiver (nomothets), to frame the appropriate constitution for the city-state.

Needs to take the appropriate measures to maintain it, to introduce reforms when he finds them necessary, and to prevent developments which might subvert the political system.

Aristotle thinks rulers should be propertied and leisured, so, without other worries, they can invest their time in producing virtue.

rulers should be selected according to the aristocratic principle of merit and virtue.

The most commonly accepted view is that the rulers virtue must surpass that all of the others put together.

To preserve a constitution, Aristotle recommends moderation, education, and inclusiveness. The interests of the rich minority and poor majority can be balanced by allowing both factions a roughly equal amount of power. In such an arrangement, each individual rich person would have more political power than each individual poor person, but the poor and the rich as groups would be balanced against one another.

Aristotle identified six different kinds of constitutions, and he classified them as either "right" or "wrong." According to Aristotle, "right" constitutions served the common interests of all citizens. "Wrong" constitutions served only the selfish interests of a certain person or group. On the chart below, the "wrong" constitutions are shown as corrupted forms of the right constitutions:

Rulers

Right (Common Interest)

Wrong (Personal Interest)

One

Kingship

Tyranny

Few

Aristocracy

Oligarchy

Many

Polity

Democracy

Aristotle defines a citizen in an unqualified sense as one who shares in decision making and in the public offices. It could be said that the citizen is properly the one or the ones who rule the city.

Aristotle believed that education was central He looked to both education through reason and education through habit The purpose of education is to produce a good man. Education must aim at the development of the full potentialities of each man