Aristotelian concept of ethics

Abstract

This article presents the idea of Aristotle on ethics and state, and in this paper Aristotle criticizing the idea of utopia or ideal state by Plato but he did not object to thinking about the best possible state. Aristotle contended that Polity is the most stable and most moderate. It has been formed by a gradual process of evolution and is thus stable. Stability of a polis can be determined by a number of factors which may include the population of the polis, size and location of the polis, character of its citizens, different classes that exists in the polis and the education. Aristotle did not like extreme thinking and he believed in going by a middle way. Aristotle called this middle way- The Golden Mean. He asserted that “The most desirable life is the life of virtue sufficiently supported by material resources to participate in the actions that virtue requires” For Aristotle, the principle of equality requires that people who have similar circumstances should be treated equally and others in a different manner. For Aristotle, the ideal form of constitution is ‘Aristocracy’ and the best suitable alternative could be ‘Polity’ which is an ideal form of democracy in which all the people are assumed to be virtuous. In his view, to rule a polis is also a job like any other job and hence, it should be performed by the ones who actually possess the required knowledge, skill and virtue and are best fitted to rule. Happiness which Aristotle referred to as ‘Eudaimonia’ is the highest or the chief good and all the human activity is directed towards achieving it.