The Best Form of Government and Civic Friendship in Aristotle’s Political Thought: A Discussion Note

Abstract

In the classification of political regimes by Aristotle, the polity, mixed regime of oligarchy and democracy, is the best form of government, and this is presented as an alternative to have a stabler constitution in which ordinary people can live a life of better quality in the intersubjective relationships with the virtuous people. The ethics of the people in this city will be regulated by civic friendship, a friendship based on utility on the one hand, and on equality on the other. Political conventions made after the consent of diverse classes of the city will allow the people to participate turn by turn in public affairs. Thus constructed, the polity appears to be kin to the rule of law. For, different from pure forms of kingship and aristocracy, in which personal rule is practiced on the basis of the ruler(s)’s excellence, the polity will be governed by conventions, i.e. man-made laws. For Aristotle, a city constructed on law and justice is conceived as a possibility to overcome the natural limits. This is very crucial for us to understand his political project, which was declared at the end of the Nicomachean Ethics.