What for Aristotle Is the Best Form of Political Arrangement, and Why Is It Better Than Other Forms?

What for Aristotle is the best form of political arrangement, and why is it better than other forms?

Introduction

To be able to answer this question properly one must first take into consideration what Aristotle actually considered to be the meaning of politics and political arrangement. In Politics, Aristotle focuses on political matters and brings up questions and examples concerning the governing of theoretical and contemporary cities. This book is an essential tool for deciphering his thoughts on citizenship and his ideal state. There are many translations of his original work available today and I have used the Oxford World’s Classics translation by Sir Ernest Barker.

Understanding Aristotle: nomenclature

The original Greek title of Politics is Politeia, a word without one single English translation but can be described as ‘the constitution or organisational structure of the polis’ (Aristotle 2009:xxxiii). Polis, which is a central word in all ancient Greek political theory, is best translated as city-state. But to use the word city-state in this context is rather misleading since the Greek word polis is more than just the physical gathering of houses and people, it also includes the actual citizenship of the people living there (de Polignac 1995:p2 ff).

Another crucial word in Aristotle’s political reasoning is eudaimonia, which roughly can be translated as happiness, well-being or the good life. In the Nicomachean Ethics, one of his works on ethics, he draws parallels with nature to describe the true meaning of eudaimonia as being an end in itself and not the means to achieve some other end. He reasons that every animal and human being has a higher purpose since nature does nothing in vain (Pol. I p10). The acorn’s highest purpose is to become an oak and thus fulfilling its purpose. Just like the acorn, every man has a purpose, and if everyone fulfils his own purpose the polis in itself will also achieve eudaimonia. In accordance with Plato, Aristotle...