Ross Rainier A. PabalateCIVICSIII CPLATO AND ARISTOTLE ON DEMOCRACYPlato and Aristotle are considered to be the two most infuential Greekphilosophersof their time. hesetwo men ha!emaintainedarelationshipthat lasted for almost twent" "ears. Aristotle was Plato#s pupil and ser!ed tobe the master of the latter. Plato$ the philosopher$ is more of an idealist. %ehas shownthis throu&hhis abstractions$ his dialo&ues andhis m"sticalthou&hts. Aristotle$ on the other hand$ who is a rationalist$ was concernedwith material thin&s$ methodical in!entories and s"stemi'ation. he two areknown for political theories. Plato is re&arded b" man" as the (rst writer ofpolitical philosoph"whileAristotleisreco&ni'edasthepolitical scientist.he"ha!ear&uedabout politics$ most especiall"$ ondemocrac"andtheformof &o!ernment. )oth Plato and Aristotle wanted a chan&e in thedemocratic &o!ernment$ since it is known to be corrupt.*hat is comparable about their !iews on democrac" is that &enerall"$the" want a better &o!ernment for the place. he" both critici'ed democrac"as a poor form of &o!ernment. Plato#s ar&ument is that democrac" causescorruptiontothepeople$ b"wa"of publicopinionandit resultstothecreation of rulers who are not knowled&eable on rulin& but onl" oninfuencin& the people. In a similar wa"$ Aristotle#s thou&hts sa" thatdemocratic positions will +ust cause corruption in the people and that if the"choose to redistribute the wealth of the rich ones$ it will result to chaos anddestructionof thestatesincethe"ha!enoknowled&eabout&o!ernancewhen the" elect rulers. he two a&ree that +ustice is ob+ecti!e in sense$ that&oodlifeshouldbepro!idedtoall indi!idualsre&ardlessof social status.,urthermore$ becausetheproblemonthist"peof &o!ernment$ PlatoleftAthens$ and Aristotle$ as well.)asicall"$ the similarit" between the two philosophers# points of !iewareinone&eneral senseof disappro!in&democrac". %owe!er$ therearemorespeci(cdi-erencesonwhatthe"wantforthe&o!ernment. .nonehand$ in Plato considerin& that democrac" is corrupt and un+ust$ he said itwill not lead the people toward but awa" from enli&htenment. %e e/plainedon the idea of the &ood thin& about bein& +ust$ that a democratic man doeswelcome true reasonin&$ and has no discipline in his life since all pleasuresare e0ual. %e found man" faults with democrac". .ne more is that &ood andbad depends on what the ma+orit" of the people think$ without an"+usti(cation or consideration. he minor &roup who can be ri&ht loses since itis the power of the man". 1nlike Aristotle$ Plato attempted to desi&n an idealsociet"or&o!ernment. %emadeablueprint inhisbookTheRepublicinwhichtheproblemshethou&htwouldbepresentinthesociet"wouldbeeased. %e also tried to duplicate how Socrates tau&ht Philosoph". %e is afterthe &oal of a +ust man$ a man who knows true reasonin& and real bettermentof oneself. Conse0uentl"$ the ultimate &oal of Plato of ha!in& a +ust man inthe societ" is none other than a perfect societ"..n the other hand$ Aristotle$ is not much of perfectin& a societ". %e+ust wants toimpro!eane/istin&one. %ebelie!edthat monarch"andaristocrac" are the best forms of &o!ernment. %e con(rms that the best formof &o!ernment would be ruled b" properl" educated people. 2ettin& the poorpeoplewhoareuneducated$ take&o!ernment o3ces$ will causeerr andcrime. %e belie!ed that the societ" must be composed of educated people.%e described positi!e forms of &o!ernment. In contrast with Plato$ hesu&&ested in his book The Politics that the societ" should reach for the bestpossible s"stem that could be attained rather than de!ise a blueprint of aperfect societ". Aristotle disco!ers that the best possible has alread" beenobtained like the t"pes mentioned. All that can be done is to tr" to impro!ethe e/istin& one.Aristotle is the same as Plato in wantin& for a chan&e in the form ofdemocratic &o!ernment. he" both aim for a &o!ernment that will be &oodfor all thepeople. 4emocrac"will +ust brin&about corruptionandun+ustpeople. he societ" must be composed of educated ones. he &o!ernmentmust pro!ide the people the &ood life no matter what their social statusesare.