The two keys in Aristotle’s views on politics and governance

It is naive to believe that history advances only in a single direction. If that was the case, people wouldn’t repeat #mistakes made in the past. If that was the case, knowledge would grow with each generation and lessons would never be forgotten. Unfortunately, historical and #philosophical lessons are often forgotten. #aristotle came up with the two key ideas of balanced governance, but history has done everything possible to wipe them out from people’s memory. Aristotle’s first principle of governance is that rulers should work for the common good. He didn’t exclude any government form as long as the ruler keeps the #commongood as the top priority. If this condition was fulfilled, Aristotle had no fundamental problem with monarchy, the rule by one person, with aristocracy, the rule by a few persons, or with polity or democracy, the rule by every citizen. This lesson seems easy and self-evident enough, so that it is never forgotten, right? You could not counter Aristotle’s advice credibly, right? Actually not. In the mid-eighteenth century, the writings of Jean-Jacques #rousseau (1712-1778) created a vast confusion about the purpose of governance. Rousseau expressed his views on politics and government in his two works “The Social Contract” and “Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men.” Like other eighteenth-century thinkers, he justified governance by means of a fictional social contract. According to this doctrine, humans had been inherently good when living in a state of nature, but then grew corrupted by #civilisation and society. Rousseau argued that the legitimacy of government should rest on a social contract that reconciles individual freedoms with the needs of the collective. In this way, Rousseau focused on the mechanics of governance and completely forgot about Aristotle’s requirement of the common good Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-two-keys-in-aristotles-views-on-politics-and-governance/