*Plato first came to the conclusion that state is in bad shape and then formed his argument around this general conclusion whereas Aristotle went through various available particular data before coming to a conclusion as to whether a state is good or bad.
Introduction and his times:
Aristotle is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Such can be attributed to his evolution of a scientific sense in to the political theory, which was until then dominated by philosophical view of Plato. Such scientific view was possible because of his experience in science through biology, medicine. Also being present in Greek, he was able to observe many different faces of politics around him, without which there could be no analysis possible.
Worked under various kings and learnt different features of the polity, economics and thus became a scholar in various fields of life. Also he was a prolific writer.
But while promoting the scientific side of Aristotle, which runs contrary to the Plato’s philosophical approach, it is equally important that Aristotle did have philosophical view of society and his politics was always based on Ethics.
Such ethics are possible because of the notion that state is a natural thing , whose emergence has at its root the interests of all people and such only ethical conduct by all, both general and Particular, can state succeed. Also state is prior to individual as Aristotle believed that no man can exist without the institution of state,Just as there would not be different parts of body if there was no life in the body that gives it that meaning.
For him this ethical view is one which can be obtained through practice and such the evolution of ethics in human society is closely linked to reason and practice through human interaction. Here it diverges from Plato, in that for him virtue/ethics is more of attaining the knowledge that which is constantly evolving or learnt through practice. An ideal form of ethics (form theory) exists and knowledge can help us achieve it.
While Aristotle accepts the presence of such Ideal form, he accepts the importance of matter (Which was just a shadow for Plato) in so far as it is the formed because of various elements constituting it, with form just activating it, guides it to its final form which is ethical. (This can be viewed in his emphasis on practice for achieving ethical end. Because the various intermediate traits which are considered matter are equally important for Aristotle, who guides him to the ethical end).
Aristotle and State:
*Presence of other associations rather than just the state.
*State is prior to individual and hence natural.
*State is self sufficing while family and village is not.
*state is not unity but unity in diversity (It is one of Unity for Plato, with state being the sole association)
Plato state stops being a state , when it fails at providing love and discipline for the guardian class.
For him state has a very close relationship with ethical being of humans. He considers state as natural in so far as it is the only possible way through which humans can develop into higher beings which are rational and ethical while serving their natural wants and also the development of family (he sees state as extension of family and thus when Plato talks about communism of family for guardian , his conception of state seems artificial to him).
As far as the concept of state is considered, his inductive method concluded state as something which arose to fulfill the material interests of men. In their sense, state is much more than just polity but is everything constituting education and blah and thus their focus on status as a mandatory element is only logical, as no Individual can exist in unison without some sort of associations.
Aristotle considered Plato’s state to be artificially created by Plato. This he based on the belief of evolution and growth of state from different stages of society and thus in a teleological study such as his, which believes that nature always works for some purpose, he probably believes that best possible state will be achieved through time and evolution, contrary to the radical and speculative character of Plato.
Both believe in ideas such as natural inequality (Man-Women, Son-Father, Slave-Free man), state being the only way for man to achieve his development and that the rational man would triumph over passionate man.
Justice:
*Justice if virtue in action (For both Aristotle and Plato). Truth is virtue but being truthful is Justice.
Justice is differentiated in that Aristotle’s was more of a right’s based when compared to duties based on Plato. Also his emphasis on rule of law, as can be understood by his more realistic theory, when compared to Plato’s theory of doing one’s duties.
He states about the importance of Distributive Justice (Rewards according to Work) and corrective justice (To transfer lack of justice from one person to another). Plato’s theory lacks corrective justice and believes in man’s soul and his duties.
Basically, Plato’s justice is virtue in action which is taken for granted but for Aristotle it is not granted and hence the legal interpretation of justice.
His theory of class based society is wrong in the sense that it devoid certain class political power and state might act against the entrenched rulers. Plato probably knows this better than anyone and hence the various conditions.
Predicted end of slavery and considered it natural if humans were to live a fulfilling life.
Also he was against communism and common family, as he has seen family as a basic entity in providing virtues of cooperation, trust. Also his view of society is one based on Unity in Diversity contrary to Unity of Plato. While promoting private property he only supported the use of private property for common use.
Critique:
•His theory on slavery is more of a justification than an uninterested view of the available facts.
•Aristotle and his illiberal views on slavery (Considers natural) and women.
But his theory on family being the base of state and the importance of public-private divide is very much used.
Direct points:
1- Teleological: Man lives in society for development and state can provide him with that
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