[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Virtue and Rights in Aristotle 87city-state are happy.This disjunctive requirement is satisfied by deviant regimeswhich promote only the advantage of the rulers (see III.7.1279b30 1).Butthe first two disjuncts  most or all  suggest two competing standards forthe best regime, which correspond to alternative interpretations of the commonadvantage:The overall advantage The city-state is happy only if most of the membersare happy.The mutual advantage The city-state is happy only if each of the membersis happy.The overall advantage is aggregative and thus permits trade-offs, sacrificesof the basic interests of some individuals in order to promote the advantage ofothers.The overall advantage could not be deeply committed to the rights of indi-viduals.The mutual advantage, on the other hand, reflects the requirement ofindividualism that the happiness of each of the participants must be protectedby political institutions.In rejecting Platonic happiness, Aristotle does not saywhich of these standards should be applied in the best regime.But whether ornot Aristotelian universal justice implies a commitment to the just claims orrights of individuals depends on whether he understands the common advantageas the mutual advantage.There is strong evidence that he does, in fact, understand the commonadvantage in this way in his description of the ideal regime in Politics VII VIII.First, Aristotle says that  the best regime is that order under which anyonewhatsoever might act in the best way and live blessedly (VII.2.1324a23 5).Theexpression  anyone whatsoever (hostisoun) implies that a regime will not be  thebest if any individuals are excluded from a happy life.Second, the citizens of the best regime are genuine members of the city-staterather than mere adjuncts such as slaves and vulgar workers (VII.8.1328a21 5).³¹If the citizens merely performed necessary functions, they would be indistin-guishable from the adjuncts (cf.IV.4.1291a24 8).Genuine members mustalso partake of the end of the city-state (VII.8.1328a25 33, b4 5).Aristotleregrettably believes that many persons devoted to productive professions areincapable of leading the good life (1328b33 1329a2).On the other hand, whenhe describes the city-state as  a community of similar persons for the sake ofthe best possible life (1328a35 6), he implies that all its genuine members,i.e.citizens, partake in this end.This requirement is also asserted in support ofuniversal property rights:  a city-state should be called happy not by viewing apart of it but by viewing all of the citizens (eis pantas tous politas) (1329a23 4).This is strong evidence for the mutual-advantage interpretation.Third, Aristotle lays down a principle to guide the founder of the best regime:³¹ Aristotle denies that a city-state can be composed of slaves or beasts because these cannotpartake of happiness (VII.8.1328a33 5 and cf.III.9.1280a31 4).88 Fred D.Miller, Jun.[A] city-state is excellent due to the fact that the citizens who partake in the constitutionare excellent; but in our case all (pantes) the citizens partake in the constitution.We musttherefore inquire as to how a man becomes excellent; for even if all (pantas) the citizenscould be excellent without each (kath hekaston) of the citizens [being excellent], the latterwould be more choiceworthy; for  all (to pantas) follows from  each (to kath hekaston).(13.1332a32 8)Aristotle thus distinguishes between two principles which could guide thelawgiver:All the citizens (in a collective sense) should be excellent.Each citizen (as an individual) should be excellent. Each is logically stronger than  all , because  each entails, but is not entailedby,  all.For  all is compatible with the overall advantage, that is, a state ofaffairs in which the interests of some citizens are sacrificed in order to advancethe happiness of most of the citizens. Each requires the mutual advantage, thatis, the promotion of the excellence of each and every citizen.It is noteworthythen that Aristotle describes the  each principle as the more choiceworthy.Thisrequirement rules out the holistic view that the city-state is excellent even if someof the citizens only  merge their lives in the life of the city-state as a whole [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]