Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics

Topic : “Then it looks as though this [democracy] is the finest or most beautiful of the constitutions, for, like a coat embroidered with every kind of ornament, this city, embroidered with every kind of character type, would seem to be the most beautiful. And many people would probably judge it to be so, as women and children do when they see something multicolored.” – Plato (Re, 227-8)   “All the practices found in the extreme democracy are also characteristic of a tyranny.” – Aristotle (167)   2) Compare Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics on the question of democracy. Some of the issues you might discuss in developing your answer include: the peculiar character of the democratic man or the “many,” the stability or instability of democracy, the significance of moderation and the middle class, etc    Thesis: Plato and Aristote share similar opinion on the question of equality. However, they both dislike to build an ideal society based on democracy.Thereby, Plato want more knowledge people to be in power, while Aristotle wants the middle class to lead the society (try to connect three arguments which will be the character of a democratic man, the stability of democracy and the value of moderation.  Arg1: The character of a democratic man   Plato describe the democratic man in Book VIII in Republic vs  Aristote talks about craftsman in Book I (politics Page 83,84,94)  Arg 2: The stability of democracy (in this part start to ranking each system and link them to democracy  Plato argues that democracy is unstable lead to tyranny in book VIII vs  Aristotle (definition of democracy and relationship of politics)   Arg 3: The value of moderation  Plato prefers philosophers to lead  Aristote wants the middle class to rule.    Plato, ‎G. M. A. Grube, ‎C. D. C. Reeve · 1992  ARISTOTLE POLITICS Translated by C.D.C. REEVE