Political Philosophy and Aristotle Essay

When expression at the way Aristotle viewed the world and comparing it to the British Tradition you first need an understanding of each. In this paper I want to first discuss what Ive learned about Aristotle, The British Tradition, and whence compargon and contrast the two. Aristotle was a disciple of Plato, but they saw ships comp whatever a bit variantly. Plato would be considered in this day and age as someone who believes in collectivism. A collectivist believes that the needs of society as a whole are more important than the needs of the individual. On the other hand, Aristotle would cod been a supporter of individualism.Individualism refers to the philosophy that an individual should have freedom in his or her frugal and political pursuits. In contrast to collectivism, individualism stresses that the interests of the individual should take precedence over the interests of the state. You could say that Aristotle believed in democracy. The best state could signify one that is conceived according to an abstract ideal one that is considered best for forgiving communities in general one that is best for a particular community under given conditions or one that, while in no sense ideal, is as good as can be attained under the circumstances. (Levine PG. 108) Aristotle besides believed in three domains. The first domain is personal action or ethos. This is an idea to live by. Aristotle though that people were simple enough that we could live by one enter or ethos. Aristotle called this The Good Life. The second domain is household or oikos. This is economics or how to like a household. Aristotle believed that the goal in the household should be different from the goals of the other domains.In the household, for example, a public should manifest different concerns toward children as their father than toward his wife as her husband, and he should be able to acquire, preserve, improve, and right utilize property. The responsibilities of the head of a pol is differ from those of a head of household, and rulers should discharge them in ways to attend to to the welfare of all its members, not just one or a few. (Levine Pg. 118) The third domain is metropolis state or polis. This also stood for politics.Aristotle believed that we live in groups so naturally we have to make decisions together, thus we have to be political beings. Of course this is where Aristotle sounds much like one of the founding fathers of our country. He design women were too irrational for politics and that slaves and common workers were too busy to be elusive. Aristotle believed that to be politically involved you needed free time to develop the necessary skills and knowledge. In other words Aristotle was an elitist democrat. Aristotles fond theory was to create an environment conducive to good habits.He believed that we were are good by nature. In this environment we can then develop our virtues. He also believed that everyone had potential, but actualizing that potential was difficult. He also believed that public deliberation among those with virtuous habits and developed reasoning skills was good for society. As far as the British Tradition goes, they believe in a fixed human nature and that there are predictable social outcomes based on this human nature. Ill focus on three different Brits and their different views on human propensities and how they affect society.Hobbes believed that humans were naturally bad and born with selfish propensities. He believed that this could further lead to a negative outcome, unless someone with absolute power were to control society. I believe Hobbes would be somewhat totalitarian or perhaps be someone who was in favor of some associate of martial law. Locke on the other hand was basically the opposite of Hobbes. He believed people were pretty adequate and this would lead to beneficial consequences for everyone. Locke endeavored to refute the Hobbesian defense of political absolutism.In so doin g, he introduced two notions that would take on centuries of British revisionism that the human animal manifests socially benign dispositions, and that human selfish dispositions can have socially benign consequences. (Levine Pg. 130) The third Brit that Ill look at is Smith. He is essentially split amid Hobbes and Locke. Smith believes that humans do have natural selfish propensities, but that these propensities are to the benefit of society. So when comparing Aristotle to the British Tradition its obvious that there are some pretty great differences.Aristotle didnt believe in a fixed human nature like the Brits. Aristotle would say that you are a product of the society in which you are raised. A good society will realize good citizens, and bad society will have the opposite effect. Aristotle would also argue that at any point during a persons life they can make the decision to develop their potentials and become a unwrap person. The Brits on the other hand believed that you were either born good or bad and based on that there would be predictable outcomes.