politics

Chapter 65 Volume (H) Seven (3)
Perhaps the argument we have just made has been interpreted by some to mean that the highest thing of all good is the so-called supreme authority,35 who think that the greater the power, the more and greater the action can be performed "Rhetoric "Volume 1373, Chapter 25, 24a22 records the power thoughts of the tyrant Jason, saying that people should establish their own supreme power in a country at the cost of any evil means, and must place themselves in this supreme position. In order to display the best talents and achieve great things.See Plutarch's Praec Reip Gerend 179 and De tueudo Sanitate precepta [-].Jason followed the political thought of Gorgias, see also Pausanias' "Greek Territory" vi [-].This notion of authority has occurred in the over-promotion of Gorgias ideas, and this section seems to allude to Jason. .

To generalize this explanation, it is this: Once a man has power, he should never give it to his neighbor; Come more power.Since practice (behavior) is the ultimate good in the world, and practice depends on power, once encountering a matter of power, people have to do things for power without hesitation, and no one should worry about others. You don't have to make concessions to each other, and you don't have to care about each other between 40 friends.If this explanation contains truth, then, for thieves and thugs, their (criminal) deeds can also be excused as being compelled to use such means by some noble purpose. 1325b However, such behavior is ultimately unacceptable to society.Therefore, it would be too hypocritical to say that their vision is feasible.If a man wants to do something, he must achieve a certain degree of superiority over the person he acts on, such as the superiority of the husband over his wife, the father over his children, the master over his slaves, and so on. First, their deeds can win respect.

As for those who engage in unlawful activities, the sins they commit alone prove to be inferior to the weaklings whom they harm, and cannot be balanced by any great good deeds later on, It is even more impossible to eliminate the filth they left behind.Thus we may conclude that the supreme enterprise of all virtues is to hold power forever, which is not really justified.According to the principle of equality and unanimity, in a society composed of a group of the same people, take turns to rule. See Volume III Chapter XVI 5a1287-10.The practice of the system is indeed just and worthy of our praise.And those acts which are contrary to nature, such as distributing unequal things to those who are alike, or treating like people differently,20 are not praiseworthy.Therefore, we can draw such a conclusion: In this world, those who deserve everyone to follow and obey unanimously, and (without taking turns) still maintain their righteous and beautiful governance, refer to volume 10, 1284b32-34 and 1288a28. , it must be like this: his kindness is superior to others, he is kind to others, and no one can surpass him.Of course, goodness alone is not enough, the conditions and talents he possesses must be sufficient to practice all good deeds. See chapter 1323 39b1324-2a[-] of this volume. .

If there is no fallacy in our statement that "happiness consists in doing good deeds," then for the collective life of the city-state and the individual life of people, 15 "doing things" (practice) must be the best life.However, the "promising" life we ​​are talking about here does not necessarily involve the relationship between people, as some people think, nor can it be said that people's thinking is only pointing to external things. He can only be said to be thinking when his activities with external objects are evoked. 20 The higher thinking activity lies in thinking purely for the sake of thinking, only limited to itself and not outward to other things.The purpose of our request is good deeds, and of course we should perform certain actions to show our will.However, on the basis of these outward activities, it is also sufficient and accurate to show that thoughts are the precursors of people's actions.Since thinking itself is also an activity (behavior), when a person is concentrating on inner cultivation without interfering with others, he is also carrying out positive life practice.Therefore, a lonely city-state that voluntarily isolates itself from the world does not necessarily do nothing.

In various parts of the state, they can carry out activities to the best of their ability and seek their practice. 25 Through this activity, the various components of the city-state became more and more interrelated.The same is true of individual lives.If the internal activities are denied, then Aristotle, a cosmic system that is completely self-sufficient and not external, believes that there is only "one universe", and there is no other thing except the whole universe (see "Shuotian" volume one chapter 276 18a1072), so there is no outward activity of the universe. "God" is the prime mover of the universe, and the mind of God takes the big self as the object of thought, that is, the pure thought of thinking from thought (see "Metaphysical" Volume 22 Chapter 1074 33b1075, Chapter 11 24b[-], [-]a[-]), so only " Inward activities" rather than "outward activities".For the entire system of the universe, see Chapter [-] of Volume [-] of "Xing Shang" for details.Plutarch's "De defectu oraculis" (De defectu oraculis) [-] records the ancient Greeks' statement about "multiverse".And gods will also be imperfect things.

It is evident, therefore, that it is also the best way of life for individuals,30 that is to say, it must also be the best way of life for all the people in the country as a whole.

Chapter Four
Now, let's recall the (ideal) regimes of the other families described earlier, see Volume 35. , and use these introductions as a guide to the rest of the subject.First of all, the question worthy of our discussion is: What are the foundations (conditions) that constitute an ideal city-state? 1323 The equipment of a perfect city-state must be compatible with its nature. χορηγα is interpreted as "equipment" here, referring to material conditions or the basis of social life (see chapter 40 1324b2-1323a17 and notes in this volume).An ideal regime should have an ideal social foundation, but according to Chapter 19 1265a17-40, in a real environment, using the conditions that constitute the best regime is the best material condition that can be obtained. .This is one of the basic conditions for being an ideal city-state, and we have to imagine several situations including possible and pure ideals for this purpose, see Volume II [-]a[-]. .The important items [-] among the so-called various conditions are the masses of citizens and the land (state).

All craftsmen, such as weavers or shipwrights, must have raw materials suitable for their craft, and the better the raw materials are prepared, the better will be the finished products made by their skill.1326 Legislators and statesmen, like other manufacturers, must have raw materials to suit their requirements.The people are the main equipment needed by a city-state. As far as the people are concerned, their quantity and quality are naturally related to the quality of the city-state.The land (state) where the people live is the secondary equipment of the city-state, and its quantity and quality also have an impact on the city-state.Most people think that the people of the larger city-states are necessarily happier.Maybe they were right, but they didn't really understand the meaning of city-state size.They use the quantity as the standard to judge the size of the state by the population (residents)5.However, as far as the strength of a country is concerned, it is better to judge by the ability of the people than by the number of people.A city-state is just like people doing their own jobs, so they have to make the best use of them.

The greatest city-state is only that which possesses the highest powers sufficient to fulfill its function. 15 Hippocrates as physician was "greater" than those who destiny.Even the number of people can be used as an estimate of national power, but after all, any kind of statistics with a lot of chance is still insufficient.We know that most states were populated by many foreigners, slaves, and aliens. Most of the guests and aliens in the ancient Greek city-states were artisans from Egypt and the Greek colonial city-states of Asia and Asia Minor.There are especially many such guests in the city-states and their ports with developed industries and commerce.City-states that emphasize agriculture, such as Sparta, also have such guest craftsmen.The residents of Sidon (Sidon) in Athens recorded in Hicks's "Greek History Tablet" (Hicks, GrHistInscrip) 157 can be used as an example. .If we judge the power of a state by its population,20 then it is necessary to limit the counted population to those elements which make up the main part of the city-state.If the number of these molecules is particularly large, of course this estimate can accurately give a sign of the greatness of the country.However, if in a state, there are a large number of craftsmen, but only a few heavy troops, then such a city-state cannot be called a big state. To the range of slaves (see volume three chapter four 20a1277-b27).

Gamelarius says on page 279 of Aristotle's Translation and Interpretation of Politics and Economics that this sentence actually refers to the story of Ajaxelau.When Agathelau and the Spartan Alliance allied forces conquered Thebes, the generals of the allied countries were very dissatisfied with Sparta as the leader of the states, because the Spartan army was very small, and Agathelau was only the commander of the coalition army .Therefore, Aji Xuelao gathered the whole army and ordered the Spartan army and the troops of various states to sit on both sides.Then, he sent an order that all the potters stand up, and then he called the craftsmen such as smiths and carpenters to stand up. Soldiers from almost every state stood up, but none of the Spartan army stood up.Aji Xuelao smiled and said to the generals: "The Spartan army is no less than that of the friendly countries." (See Plutarch's "Biography of Agaxuelao" 26.).Because a prosperous city-state is not necessarily a great city-state. 25
In addition, experience has proved that although it is not impossible for an extremely prosperous city-state to become a great city-state, it is certain that such a city-state is always difficult to make people abide by laws and customs, so as to maintain a good city-state order .Any city-state known for its political refinement limits the population within the state.We can also justify this fact theoretically.Law (and custom) is what is called order, and the general habit of observing law and custom is the basis of a generally good order.However, too many things will lead to order difficult to customize.Only God, who maintains the entire universe, can create order for the infinite things. The number of things controlled by God is so large, and the volume is so large, but they can all follow their own laws to achieve natural perfection. Mei regards "order" as "beauty", see "Xingxing" Volume 30 Chapter 1078 36a1450. "The main forms of beauty are order, symmetry and clarity", see "Poetics" Chapter VII 34b1123, "Niron" Volume IV Chapter VII 6b[-]. .

Here, those cities which we judge to be the most beautiful must have a limit in size, and they also correspond to the order explained above. 35 The meaning here is: God alone can create order for most things, and Due to the limited ability of man, although he seeks good and good, he can only limit the number of people in a city-state according to his ability, and create and maintain order for it. .In addition, we should also note that in addition to this general rule, as with animals, plants and inanimate tools, see Volume 1256, Chapter 35, 1309b21.In that way, the size of the city-states also has its own moderate limit. See Volume 35, Chapter 1170, 29b10-40.In addition, "Niron" Volume Nine Chapter Ten [-]b[-] said, "Ten people cannot form a city-state, but the aggregation of [-] people cannot be counted as a city-state." .Too little or too much of anything robs it of its natural ability to function.This kind of thing sometimes completely loses its nature due to its poor performance, and is reduced to an inferior thing.Take a boat as an example: only one finger distance (about eight inches) long or two diameters (about one mile) long. A "finger distance" (σπιθαμ) refers to the distance between the stretched thumb and little finger, which is roughly equivalent to today's Six inches in China.

A diameter (σαδιον), or a runway, is equivalent to 55 feet in China today.Both of the above are Greek mileage units, and the Roman mileage is called eight diameters as one mile.A ship in 1326b cannot be a ship, and even if a ship does not have such abnormal dimensions, it may still be considered too large or too small for navigation.So is the state.If there are too few members of the city-state, the people will not be able to achieve the self-sufficiency of the city-state in life. .On the contrary, if a city-state has a population as large as a nation-state, although the people can indeed be self-sufficient in terms of material needs, it poses a problem that makes it difficult to form a real constitutional government, and ultimately cannot become a real city-state The original meaning of "Esino" (εθνοs) is (1252) a number of people (that is, clans) living in the same place, all from the same blood, or (27) a nation composed of several clans, or (34) ) The political and social system of this nation.In this book, this word is often used in conjunction with "city-state", which is different from city-state, and generally refers to non-Greek nations or their political and social groups. We either use "nation" or "nation-state" as a translation.

(End of this chapter)