Yesterday we looked at what Plato had to say about private property

Private Property as a Commodity (and a derivative at that) Part II
Aristotle studies political science
       Aristotle was critical of both Plato’s The Republic and The Laws, and considered, in Book Three of his Politics, how the three different kinds of governments were practiced in different countries, many of them as mixtures of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy (Aristotle [350 B.C.E]). He is not being theoretical here, but is using examples of real governments that existed in his time.
       In part V of Book Two of Politics, Aristotle considers whether citizens should own property in common or not. “Property should be in a certain sense common, but as a general rule, private; for when everyone has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another and will make more progress, because everyone will be attending to his own business (Aristotle [350 B.C.E]). It is not clear what he means by “in a certain sense” property should be held in common, because he is clearly advocating private ownership of property. But I want to hold that thought, and come back to it in my conclusion because, with more specific qualifications, that idea can be applicable to our modern economic system.
       In Parts VII and VIII of Book Three of Politics, Aristotle says that the three forms of government can be subject to abuses. “Tyranny, as I was saying, is monarchy exercising the rule of a master over the political society; oligarchy is when men of property have the government in their hands; democracy, the opposite, when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers” He also points out that abuse of the monarchy is the worst kind of abuse, abuse of oligarchy second worst, and abuse of democracy is the most tolerable (Aristotle [350 B.C.E]).
       In Book Four, Aristotle reaffirms his description of the three types of governments and the three types of abuses of same, but goes on to further point out that there is also more than one form of each type. For instance in part IV he posits that an oligarchy is not always a rule by the few because it is possible that the rich could outnumber the poor and deprive them of a share in government. The only example he uses of this unique political situation is “as was the case at Colophon…before the Lydian War“ (Aristotle [350 B.C.E]). In part V he lists four, slightly different versions of oligarchies that pretty much covers most of the existing states in his time and ours. Later, during the Roman period, we will see that oligarchies predominate when there is no outright tyranny of a monarchy.
      Tomorrow: “Roman Agrarian Law doesn’t solve what it is supposed to solve” and “Cicero Doesn't Like Oligarchies and Gets murdered Over It.”
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