Aristotle's Purpose Of Political Rule Is To Create A Just City

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Aristotle’s argument that the purpose of political rule is to create regimes that pursue the common advantage of the citizens and preserve the political partnership of the city is more persuasive than Plato’s belief that the purpose of political rule is to create a just city where all individuals follow their roles that are assigned by nature for several reasons. Plato’s characterization of the three types of souls assumes that humans are born with an inherent nature. It also assumes that an individual’s true nature is shown in childhood and does not take into account whether a citizen could potentially manifest different traits at different points in their life (eg. A child who shows bronze qualities in youth might display more gold qualities in adulthood due to experience, a child who is determined to be a …show more content…
Aristotle said that “what belongs in common to the most people is afforded the least care” (Aristotle pg. 57). This view of private ownership is similar to more modern views that the common sharing of resources amongst citizens in a country could potentially result in a weakening of incentive to improve upon capital. This decrease in incentive to improve upon capital could lead to a decrease in growth within the city, leading to social instability or restlessness that could pave the way for revolution, which subverts the original purpose of Plato’s political rule: the ideal of harmony. Plato’s assertion about the superiority of instituting a philosopher as the city’s king also has some aspects that are not convincing. Plato asserts that a philosopher king has the ability to unite a city under his vision of what is actions are wise to undertake, yet we have seen in The Apology that the greatest philosopher in Athens, Socrates, was not able to convince a jury of his
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