ARISTOTLE

Aristotle defends that the supreme good of man, the happiness, cannot be achieved if it is not in a determinate social order. Political philosophy has to find which is this order. This is a very important task (the most important of the practical philosophy), because the common benefit is more important than the benefit of each individual.  

So Aristotle argues that the objective of the city is to create the conditions in which its citizens can find the happiness. Only the city is able to provide us of suitable methods to have a truly human existence.

Political philosophy, therefore, has to find the most suitable conditions which allow that the most of the people get closer to happiness. The most important conditions are the laws, that allow young people to have the correct orientation, and that this orientation is not lost in adulthood.

So political philosophy occupies on the study of the laws, and its relation with the achievement of happiness.

These laws are registered in political regimes; thus it is necessary to study the justice or injustice of these regimes. That is, their adaptation or lack of adaptation to promote the good of citizens.

Aristotle thinks that the law only complies with its function of encourage political harmony when it is used as an instrument for justice’s realization.

The main obstacle to make political justice is the usurpation of political power by those who would use it for their own benefit after.  It is fair that Government’s actions are oriented to general good.

Aristotle presents three political divert forms that break with this principle of the “common benefit”:

1.  Tyranny, which is a Monarchy oriented to monarch’s interest.

2.  Oligarchy, which is an Aristocracy that only searches rich’s interest.

3.  Demagogy, which is a Democracy that only searches poor’s interest.

Any of these forms tries to find the benefit of the community. Because of this, Aristotle calls them “impure forms”. The “pure forms” are the ones that look for the profit of all the people.