ut upon force. The second good form is (3) Aristocracy, the rule of
the wiser and better few, of which the corrupt form is (4) Oligarchy,
the rule of the rich and powerful few. (5) Constitutional Republic or
Timocracy arises {325} where all the citizens are of fairly equal
capacity, i.e., where no stand-out individual or class exists, so that
all or most take a share in the government. The corresponding corrupt
form is (6) Democracy, which, though it is the rule of the many, is
more especially characterized as being the rule of the poor.

Unlike Plato, Aristotle depicts no ideal State. No single State, he
thinks, is in itself the best. Everything must depend upon the
circumstances. What is the best State in one age and county will not
be the best in another. Moreover, it is useless to discuss Utopian
constitutions. What alone interests the sane and balanced mind of
Aristotle is the kind of constitution which we may hope actually to
realize. Of the three good forms of government he considers that
monarchy is theoretically the best. The rule of a single perfectly
wise and just man would be better than any other. But it has to be
given up as impracticable, because such perfect individuals do not
exist. And it is only among primitive peoples that we find the hero,
the man whose moral stature so completely exalts him above his fellows
that he rules as a matter of course. The next best State is
aristocracy. And last, in Aristotle's opinion, comes constitutional
republic, which is, however, perhaps the State best suited to the
special needs and level of development of the Greek city-states.

6. Aesthetics, or the Theory of Art.

Plato had no systematic philosophy of Art, and his views had to be
collected from scattered references. Aristotle likewise has scarcely a
system, though his opinions are more connected, and though he devoted
a special tretise, the "Poetics", to the subject. And this {326} book,
which has come down to us in a fragmentary condition, deals exclusively
with poetry, and even in poetry only the drama is considered in detail.
What we have from Aristotle on the subject of aesthetics may be divided
roughly into two classes, firstly, reflections on the nature and
significance of art in general, and, secondly, a more detailed
application of these principles to the art of poetry. We shall deal
with these two classes of opinions in that order.

In order to know what art is, we must first know what it is not.