Aristotle Today: Politics, Education and the Middle Class

A reading of his ideas on virtue, citizenship, education, democracy and the role of the middle class in political stability.

Continuing the development of our previous article, we will take up some of his thoughts that seem to us still relevant.
𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬
«…what must essentially be sought in life is virtue; but there is no agreement on how life should be employed. Let us examine the two opposing views.
On the one hand, all political functions are condemned, and it is maintained that the life of a truly free man […] differs completely from the life of the statesman».
«…on the contrary, political life is placed above every other, because he who does not act cannot perform acts of virtue, and happiness and virtuous actions are identical things».
«…inequality among equals and disparity among peers are facts contrary to nature, and nothing that is against nature can be good.
But if there is a mortal who is superior by virtue of his merit, and whose omnipotent faculties constantly impel him in search of the good, he is the one who should be taken as a guide, and whom it is just to obey.
However, virtue alone is not enough; power is also necessary in order to put it into action».
𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬
«…a people must possess both intelligence and courage, so that the legislator may easily lead them along the path of virtue».
𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲
«Fetuses feel the impressions of the mothers who carry them in their wombs, just as the fruits of the earth depend on the soil that nourishes them».
But this assertion by the philosopher of Stagira needs to be put into perspective. Indeed, immediately afterward, he establishes the criterion for «distinguishing the children who must be abandoned from those who must be educated».
And who would the former be?
Those who «are born deformed».
In this respect, Aristotle shares the criterion of the Spartans, whose policy was to provide soldiers for the military.
They practiced this eugenics by abandoning those considered disposable in outlying areas of the city.
But it does not end there, because he sets another limitation, namely the number of children, and says:
«if some marriages prove fertile, exceeding the limits formally imposed [by legislation], abortion must be induced».
Although he establishes a criterion of restraint for this act to be considered «criminal or innocent».
It must be carried out «before the embryo has received sensation and life».
That is what Aristotle believed 2,900 years ago.
Today science is clear that life begins at conception.
And we are not going to censure the sage because he did not know it.
Nevertheless, well into the 21st century, many people still want to believe in a medical assertion made more than 300 years before Christ.
An attitude that is clearly ideological and anti-scientific.
Others want to reserve the Planet for themselves and promote agendas of «rights» and social vices.
In any case, Aristotle advises that a man should stop procreating at the age of 50 and, from then on, recommends «not making use of the pleasures of love except for reasons of health or for considerations no less serious».
𝐎𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝
«The legislator must rigorously banish obscenity in words from his city, just as he does any other vice.
He who allows himself to say dishonest things is very close to allowing himself to do them, and therefore every word and every action of this kind must be proscribed from childhood».
«…everything bearing the mark of something evil must be kept away from childhood, and especially everything having to do with vice or malevolence».
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
«…the education of children must be one of the principal concerns of the legislator».
«…the purer the customs, the more firmly the State is established».
«…it is perfectly evident that the law must regulate education, and that education must be public. But […] today not everyone agrees about the subjects it should encompass, [about] what young people should learn in order to attain virtue and the most perfect life [and] what should be given preference, whether the education of the intellect or that of the heart.
«It is not known whether education should be directed exclusively toward things of real utility, whether it should be made a school of virtue, or whether it should also include things intended purely for amusement.
«…but since opinions differ so greatly about the very essence of virtue, it should not be surprising that they differ on this as well».
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞
«…nature itself, as I have said many times, requires of us not only a praiseworthy use of our activity, but also a noble use of our moments of leisure. Nature, I repeat, is the principle of everything. If work and rest are both necessary, the latter is unquestionably preferable, but the greatest care must be taken to use it properly».
𝐀 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
«The best-administered States are those in which the middle class is more numerous and more powerful than the other two combined or, at least, than either one of them separately.
It is, therefore, a great advantage for citizens to possess a modest fortune, but one sufficient to meet all their needs».
«Wherever great fortunes are found alongside extreme poverty, these two extremes give rise to absolute demagoguery, pure oligarchy or tyranny; for tyranny is born from the heart of unbridled demagoguery or extreme oligarchy».
«Where moderate fortunes are numerous, there are far fewer disturbances and revolutionary dissensions. For this reason, moderate property also makes democracies more peaceful and more durable […] because as the number of poor people increases, without the number of middle fortunes increasing proportionally, the State becomes corrupted and rapidly reaches its ruin».
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬?
«Almost all legislators […] have committed two almost equal errors: first, by granting too much to the rich, and then by deceiving the lower classes».
«The exercise of the highest functions requires three qualities: sincere love of the constitution, great capacity for public affairs, and a virtue and justice analogous to the special principle upon which each government is founded».
«The two distinctive characteristics of democracy are the sovereignty of the greater number and liberty. Equality is the common right; and this equality consists in the will of the majority being sovereign.
From that point onward, liberty and equality become confused in the ability of each person to do whatever he wishes. This system is very dangerous, because citizens must not believe that living in accordance with the constitution is slavery; on the contrary, they must find in it protection and a guarantee of happiness».
As can be observed, despite the passage of time, many problems remain the same.

Virtue and political life
Education and citizenship
Middle class and stability

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬