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In the book VII of the Politics, Aristotle insists that an active life of political participation is more desirable than a passive life of contemplation. Reconstruct Aristotle’s reasons for that view (consider especially what he says in Politics, 1323a14 – 1325b14)  Do you find these reasons plausible or convincing? If yes, why? If not, why not?

In the book VII of the Politics, Aristotle deals with his general seeking of defining the ‘good/best life’. He divides good/best life into two parts, one of them is active life of political participation (political life), and the other one is contemplative (philosophical) life. Aristotle believes that an active life is more desirable than a contemplative life. In my opinion, Aristotle’s reasons he gives for his argument are neither plausible nor convincing. Firstly, I will reconstruct Aristotle’s reasons that he used in favor of his argument and then I will criticize argumentation structure of him.

In the first part, Aristotle explains the relation between best constitution and the most desirable life. He says that we must first decide what is the most desirable life before investigation of the best constitution. Because we can not reach the best constitution if we do not know that. About the best life Aristotle says that there are three ingredients which must all be present in a good life, our bodily existence , our intellectual and moral qualities and all that is external. People usually assumes that it is adequate to have a certain amount of virtue, however, they do not set any limits for having wealth, power, property like and the reputation. (p.39) . Against this view, Aristotle emphasizes the importance of moreal and intellectual qualities rather than the external things such as wealth, power and reputation. He explains this assertion in detail and eventually, he states that each man there comes just so much happiness as he has of virtue and of practical wisdom and performs actions dependent thereon. (p 392) According to Aristotle, the idea that virtue, practical wisdom and performing actions approprately brings happiness is right for the state as well. The best and well-doing state is the happy state. It is impossible for people to be happy who do not do good actions well, and there is no such thing as a man’s or a state’s good action without virute and practical wisdom. However, by expressing this, Aristotle does not mean external things do not have any importance but they are important in order to participate in the virtuous actions. He states that the life which is best for men, both seperately, as individuals and in the mass, as states is the life which has virtue sufficiently supported by material resources to facilitate participation in the actions that virtue calls for. (p 393) .

In the second part, Aristotle asks the main question ‘Is the happy life one that is busy and active in public affairs or is it contemplative and philosophic’ however, he does not focus on this question in this part, he only states that it is disputed even by those who admit that the life of virtue is the most desirable, whether the active life of a statesman is preferable to one which is cut off from all external infliences, i.e. the contemplative life which some say is the only life for a philosopher (p 395)

In the third part, Aristotle returns to the general theme, the good/best life. He supposes it is obvious that the life which is conjoined with vuritue is the most desirable, however it is still controversial to how it is to be followed. Some reject altogether the holding of state-offices regarding the life of a free man as different from that of a statesman and the most desirable of all lives. Others says that the statesman’s life is the best on the grands that a man who does nothing can not be doing well, and happiness and doing well are the same thing. (p 399) Aristotle gives these two opposite views and he criticizes the details of these view. Eventually, he states very importantly that he cannot agree that it is right to value doing nothing more than doing something. According to Aristotle, happiness is action and the actions of just and restrained men represent the consummation of many fine things (p 400) After he emphasizes the importance of action his another assertion reinforces the signifance of ‘action’ in Aristotle’s view: “... it should be remembered that virtue in itself is not enough; there must also be the power to translate it into action.” (p 400) Consequently, Aristotle reaches the conclusion that if happiness is to be equaled with doing well, then the active life will be the best both for any state as a whole community and for the individual. He finally adds that thinking and speculation that are their own end and are done for their own sake are more ‘active’, because the aim in such thinking is to do well, and therefore also in a sense, action. (p 401)

Lacks scientific consistency and validity. I will explain this more by an example. Let me say to Aristotle, “I know two kinds of sports, first one is football, it is an active sport, and the second one is basketball, it is an active sport too”. Then, Aristotle says: “Basketball is an active sport, therefore, it is more desirable than football.” Similary, political life, non-political life and contemplative life have actions, therefore, there is no reason to choose political life more desirable rather than others due to being active or including action.

         Aristotle have an obvious conflict in contemplative life. While distinguishing the good life as active life and contemplative life. Aristotle present contemplative life as an inactive life, however, in the last parts of the chapter three of Book VII Aristotle says: “...thinking and speculation that are their own end and are done for their own sake are more ‘active’, because the aim in such thinking is to do well, and therefore also, in a sense, action.” (p 401) By defining the philosophical (contemplative) life as inactive at first and afterwards claiming that thinking is an acting is an ideational conflict of Aristotle’s argument.

         In conclusion, Aristotle’s reasons for the view that an active life of political participation is more desirable than a passive life of contemplation are not plausible or convincing. His argumentation has structural problems, assumptions and intellcual/ideational conflicts.

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