Aristotle's Inequality

Equality; a tipped scale Aristotle's ideal state is one where it’s society has ‘some inequality” amongst its ‘polis’ where its ‘politês’ are proportionately equal (Politics, Book 6 Part 3). Inequality is demonstrated by Aristotle's ideal state through proportionate equality. Proportionate equality is where equality is granted “according to proportion” (Politcs Book 7). The amount an individual contributes to society is what they are rewarded. For example state officials were regarded as high in status and contributing greatly to society, equality would be greater for an official compared to a tradesmen according to the proportion they contribute to society. This inequality is narrated through Aristotle’s distaste for traditional democracy where strict limits must be set to democratic rule. He argues that certain classes in society, should not be given “the right of holding office themselves” because they are not capable(Book3). The individual capability to hold office is certified through the concept of “ the soul hav[ing] naturally two elements a ruling and ruled”. This creates the division between who in society should rule and who should not due to their function in society. The capability to be part of office is determined by a natural inequality that exists among social classes. This concept of …show more content…
For a state to be healthy citizens must achieve virtue. The state can be compared to a whole organic system such as the human body. If a part in the human body is not functioning properly caused by a severe illness, the rest of the body will be negatively effected. Similarly, if people in the state are not achieving their function the whole state will be affected. The health of whole state depends on the parts such as the labourers completing their tasks because without them land owners would not have leisure