Project Gutenberg #6762
Politics: A Treatise on Government
Aristotle
350 BCEAristotle's treatise on constitutions and civic life, prepared introduction plus book-and-chapter sections from Project Gutenberg plaintext.
Project Gutenberg #6762 Public domain in the United States Cover source Local typographic cover created for MojiMori from public-domain source metadata
9
words at B2 or above
A1
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2
C2+
highlighted
at or above your level
AI Summary
Chapter 44 — Book III, Chapter XVIII Central question Which regular government is best? Main argument Aristotle returns to the three regular forms and says the best one must be ruled by the best men. The chapter...
Since then we have said that there are three sorts of regular
governments, and of these the best must necessarily be that which is
administered by the best men (and this must be that which happens to
have one man, or one family, or a number of persons excelling all the
rest in virtue, who are able to govern and be governed in such a manner
as will make life most agreeable, and we have already shown that the
virtue of a good man and of a citizen in the most perfect government
will be the same), it is evident, that in the same manner, and for those
very qualities which would procure a man the character of good, any
one would say, that the government of a state was a well-established
aristocracy or kingdom; so that it will be found to be education and
[1288b] morals that are almost the whole which go to make a good man,
and the same qualities will make a good citizen or good king.
These particulars being treated of, we will now proceed to consider
what sort of government is best, how it naturally arises, and how it
is established; for it is necessary to make a proper inquiry concerning
this.
BOOK IV