Though he insists on a fair distribution of wealth to the citizens, he can hardly be said to exhibit as much interest in the welfare of the common people as does Plato. He had not a very ideal conception of human nature in general. He would have thought it not only impracticable, but undesirable to give his doctrine of leisure any extensive application. As seen above, he includes all hired labor under false finance, and relegates all industry, including agriculture, to the slaves and strangers. The life of mechanic and commercial alike is to him ignoble.[[784]] He advises that measures be taken to hold the workers in submission and obedience.[[785]] His unfair criticism of Plato’s Republic, however, on the ground that it fails to emphasize sufficiently the welfare of the parts of the state, and that it does not distinguish clearly enough the status of the commons, reveals a spirit that does not entirely disregard the masses.[[786]] His demand that no citizen shall lack subsistence,[[787]] his provision of the sussitia for all,[[788]] his insistence that, in the market, mere economic self-interest shall not rule,[[789]] and his emphasis on the importance of a strong middle class in the state,[[790]] all show that, in the interest of the perpetuity of the state at least, he had some regard for the economic well-being of all classes. It would be wrong to infer from his suggestions for the aid of the masses in a democracy, that he would offer similar advice for the ideal state. Moreover, his chief emphasis in the passage is upon the idea of Mill, that mere hand-to-mouth help of the poor is wasteful, and that what is needed is to aid them to become economically independent.[[791]] Nevertheless his suggestion does show that he saw clearly the relation that exists in a democracy between the economic condition of the masses and the stability of the state.[[792]] He says that the genuine friend of the people (ἀληθινῶς δημοτικός) will see that the masses are not very poor, for the best assurance of the abiding welfare of the state is the solid prosperity of the great majority of the population. He therefore advises the rich to contribute money for furnishing plots of land or capital for small business enterprises to the needy poor.[[793]] However, while the advice seems, on the surface, to favor the commons, it is really a prudent suggestion to the upper classes, appealing to their selfish interest to avoid by this method the danger of a discontented proletariat.[[794]] Nevertheless, the general economic attitude of Aristotle would warrant including him, with the other Greek thinkers, in the statement of Roscher: “Die hellenische Volkswirtschaftslehre hat niemals den grossen Fehler begangen, über dem Reichtume die Menschen zu vergessen, und über der Vermehrung der Menschenzahl, der Wohlstand der einzelnen gering zu achten.”[[795]]
Aristotle makes clear his attitude toward the institution of private property and other related questions, both in his criticism of other thinkers, and in his own positive suggestions for the ideal state. Through his objections to the systems of Phaleas and Plato, he has acquired the reputation of being the great defender of private property in Greece. We shall see the extent to which this interpretation of him is correct. Our consideration of his theory may be summarized under certain topics which are fundamental to the problem of distribution.
He admits that the doctrine of economic equality may have some wisdom in it.[[796]] The attempt to equalize possessions may tend slightly to prevent civic discord.[[797]] Yet it is liable to arouse sedition on the part of the exploited classes,[[798]] and such relief measures will satisfy the masses only for a time, for they are notoriously insatiate.[[799]] In his opinion, therefore, the saner remedy is equalization of desires rather than of property,[[800]] which must be realized by proper education and a right constitution, whereby the upper classes shall not oppress, and the masses shall be held in check. We have here still a valid argument against the more radical type of socialism. It is suggestive of the modern doctrine of private property as a public trust,[[801]] and presents clearly the antithesis between the attitude of Greek thinkers and that of the modern social democracy.[[802]]
Aristotle argues further that equalization of property would be powerless to prevent anything more than the merely petty crimes, for the grossest ones are the result of inordinate desire, rather than of inability to provide life’s necessities.[[803]] Moreover, there are many other natural inequalities of life what would remain to arouse discontent.[[804]] This is a sensible observation that has often been overlooked by modern radical socialists, though its author might have objected further that such personal diversities would also render an abiding equality of property impossible. His previous argument, however, that immorality and crimes are the result of inordinate desire, rather than of economic need, might be answered today by the results of investigations upon the relation of wages to morality.
The doctrine of communistic equality, as preached by some theorists in fifth- and fourth-century Greece, and as satirized by Aristophanes,[[805]] had no appeal for Aristotle. It was, to him, merely a thinly veiled individualism. He saw through the selfish partisanship of both oligarchs and democrats, and recognized that all men are poor judges in matters that concern themselves.[[806]] The excessive individualism of the radical democrat of his day, which permitted the majority to confiscate the property of the minority in the name of a false equality, was as hateful to him as it was to Plato.[[807]] As seen above, he insisted that economic or political equality should not be demanded, except on the basis of equality of service.[[808]] Exploitation by the radical democracy was, in his eyes, as bad as the rule of a tyrant,[[809]] and the ruthless individualism of the classes was no better.[[810]] Like Plato, he would oppose to both of these the common interest, and would unite both masses and classes in the aim to realize the highest moral life for the individual through the state.[[811]] He refuted the Sophist’s theory of social contract and of justice as a mere convention.[[812]] As Stewart has observed he realized that “more powerful causes than the mere perception of material advantage brought men into social union and keep them in it.”[[813]] Each citizen, he held, is not his own master, but all belong to the state. Each is a member (μόριον) of the social body, and the concern of each is naturally relative to the good of the whole.[[814]]
Aristotle’s further criticisms, of minor significance, on the suggestions of Phaleas and Plato for equality of possessions are as follows: They have taken no precautions to regulate population accordingly.[[815]] They set no proper limit between luxury and penury for individual possessions.[[816]] Plato’s system is not thoroughgoing, since it allows inequalities in personal property, a criticism also valid against his own proposals.[[817]] Phaleas failed to include personal property in his system of equality.[[818]] Such strictures seem to proceed from his pedantic desire to criticize inconsistency. However, he may have apprehended more clearly than did Plato the danger of the press of poverty that must eventually result from a system like that of the Laws.[[819]]
Our author is also strong in his denial of either the wisdom or feasibility of the communism in the Republic.[[820]] He argues that Plato’s proposed family communism is based upon the false principle that a state must be composed of like elements,[[821]] and shows that it must fail to accomplish its end of harmony, for Plato’s “all” must mean all collectively.[[822]] But this must result, if realized, in a decrease of devotion,[[823]] and thus in a lack of the very harmony sought,[[824]] since one of the chief sources of attachment in the world is exclusive ownership.[[825]] He would deem such a measure, therefore, more fitting for the third class, since a weakening of their ties of affection might result in greater submission to the rulers,[[826]] another striking evidence of the gulf that separates the ideal of Greek political thought from the spirit of modern democracy.
Moreover, he considers Plato’s assumption that a state, to be a unity, must be devoid of all private interests, to be gratuitous,[[827]] and argues that the common possession of anything is more likely to cause strife than harmony.[[828]] In his opinion, the present system of private property, if accompanied by a right moral tone and proper laws, combines the advantages of both common and individual ownership.[[829]] The tenure of property should therefore be private, but there should be a certain friendly community in its actual use.[[830]] Thus will be avoided the double evil of strife and neglect, which must result from dissatisfaction and lack of personal interest under communism.[[831]] He offers as a substitute for the Platonic doctrine, then, his own ideal of reciprocal equality (τὸ ἴσον τὸ ἀντιπεπονθός) as the real cement of society.[[832]] In any event, he asserts, the present evils do not result from private property, but from the depravity of human nature (μοχθηρίαν),[[833]] and the aim should be to improve this by moral and intellectual culture, rather than to attempt amelioration by the establishment of an entirely new system.[[834]] The latter method would result, even if successful, not only in escape from some of the present evils, but also in the loss of the present advantages of private tenure.[[835]]
The foregoing arguments all show remarkable practical insight, and have been common in the modern criticism of socialism. The objection that individual effort and industry would be paralyzed if bereft of the stimulus of personal interest and ownership, while a general fact of human nature, need not be valid against a system where each has opportunity to develop up to his capacity. There is certainly little to impel the great mass of people to industry under an individualistic system, except the proverbial wolf at the door. But Aristotle is not thinking of the masses. The objection that the evils result from human nature, not from the economic system, may well be pondered by modern socialists and doctrinaire reformers, yet this very fact is an additional reason why the system should be reformed so as to curb such wrong tendencies. The emphasis upon education as a cure for the existing ills is wise, and it might well be more fully recognized by modern socialists, though both Aristotle and later critics of proposed social reforms are wrong in implying that the two methods are mutually exclusive. The warning that, by giving up the régime of private properly, we should not only be rid of its evils, but also lose its advantages, should be pondered by agitators against the existing economic system. Modern socialists might also learn much from Aristotle and the other Greek thinkers in regard to the true social ideal, as not primarily materialistic and selfish, but moral and social. On the whole, it may be observed that Aristotle’s criticism of Plato’s alleged communism in the Republic would be far more applicable against modern socialism.
As to the sussitia, Aristotle proposes a system similar to that of Plato’s Laws.[[836]] He harshly criticizes the Spartan method, which required every citizen, rich and poor alike, to contribute to the common meals on pain of loss of citizenship.[[837]] He praises, on the other hand, the Cretan system, which permitted the entire citizenship, including women and children, to be nourished at the common table, at public expense.[[838]]