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precision owing to the difficulty of any general principle embracing all
particulars. But what are good laws has not yet been clearly explained; the old
difficulty remains. The goodness or badness, justice or injustice, of laws
varies of necessity with the constitutions of states. This, however, is clear, that
the laws must be adapted to the constitutions. But if so, true forms of
government will of necessity have just laws, and perverted forms of
government will have unjust laws.
XII
In all sciences and arts the end is a good, and the greatest good and in the
highest degree a good in the most authoritative of all—this is the political
science of which the good is justice, in other words, the common interest. All
men think justice to be a sort of equality; and to a certain extent they agree in
the philosophical distinctions which have been laid down by us about Ethics.
For they admit that justice is a thing and has a relation to persons, and that
equals ought to have equality. But there still remains a question: equality or
inequality of what? Here is a difficulty which calls for political speculation.
For very likely some persons will say that offices of state ought to be
unequally distributed according to superior excellence, in whatever respect, of
the citizen, although there is no other difference between him and the rest of
the community; for that those who differ in any one respect have different
rights and claims. But, surely, if this is true, the complexion or height of a
man, or any other advantage, will be a reason for his obtaining a greater share
of political rights. The error here lies upon the surface, and may be illustrated
from the other arts and sciences. When a number of flute players are equal in
their art, there is no reason why those of them who are better born should
have better flutes given to them; for they will not play any better on the flute,
and the superior instrument should be reserved for him who is the superior
artist. If what I am saying is still obscure, it will be made clearer as we
proceed. For if there were a superior flute-player who was far inferior in birth
and beauty, although either of these may be a greater good than the art of
flute-playing, and may excel flute-playing in a greater ratio than he excels the
others in his art, still he ought to have the best flutes given to him, unless the
advantages of wealth and birth contribute to excellence in flute-playing,
which they do not. Moreover, upon this principle any good may be compared
with any other. For if a given height may be measured wealth and against
freedom, height in general may be so measured. Thus if A excels in height
more than B in virtue, even if virtue in general excels height still more, all
goods will be commensurable; for if a certain amount is better than some
other, it is clear that some other will be equal. But since no such comparison
1985
zurück zum
Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156