Politics   

will of necessity have just laws, and perverted forms of government
will have unjust laws.
Part XII
In all sciences and arts the end is a good, and the greatest good and
in the highest degree a good in the most authoritative of all- this is
the political science of which the good is justice, in other words,
the common interest. All men think justice to be a sort of equality;
and to a certain extent they agree in the philosophical distinctions
which have been laid down by us about Ethics. For they admit that
justice is a thing and has a relation to persons, and that equals
ought to have equality. But there still remains a question: equality
or inequality of what? Here is a difficulty which calls for political
speculation. For very likely some persons will say that offices of
state ought to be unequally distributed according to superior
excellence, in whatever respect, of the citizen, although there is no
other difference between him and the rest of the community; for that
those who differ in any one respect have different rights and claims.
But, surely, if this is true, the complexion or height of a man, or
any other advantage, will be a reason for his obtaining a greater
share of political rights. The error here lies upon the surface, and
may be illustrated from the other arts and sciences. When a number of
flute players are equal in their art, there is no reason why those of
them who are better born should have better flutes given to them; for
they will not play any better on the flute, and the superior
instrument should be reserved for him who is the superior artist. If
what I am saying is still obscure, it will be made clearer as we
proceed. For if there were a superior flute-player who was far
inferior in birth and beauty, although either of these may be a
greater good than the art of flute-playing, and may excel
flute-playing in a greater ratio than he excels the others in his art,
still he ought to have the best flutes given to him, unless the
advantages of wealth and birth contribute to excellence in
flute-playing, which they do not. Moreover, upon this principle any
good may be compared with any other. For if a given height may be
measured wealth and against freedom, height in general may be so
measured. Thus if A excels in height more than B in virtue, even if
virtue in general excels height still more, all goods will be
commensurable; for if a certain amount is better than some other, it
is clear that some other will be equal. But since no such comparison
can be made, it is evident that there is good reason why in politics
men do not ground their claim to office on every sort of inequality
any more than in the arts. For if some be slow, and others swift, that
is no reason why the one should have little and the others much; it is
in gymnastics contests that such excellence is rewarded. Whereas the
rival claims of candidates for office can only be based on the
possession of elements which enter into the composition of a state.
And therefore the noble, or free-born, or rich, may with good reason
claim office; for holders of offices must be freemen and taxpayers: a
state can be no more composed entirely of poor men than entirely of
slaves. But if wealth and freedom are necessary elements, justice and
valor are equally so; for without the former qualities a state cannot
exist at all, without the latter not well.
Part XIII
If the existence of the state is alone to be considered, then it would
seem that all, or some at least, of these claims are just; but, if we
take into account a good life, then, as I have already said, education
and virtue have superior claims. As, however, those who are equal in
one thing ought not to have an equal share in all, nor those who are
unequal in one thing to have an unequal share in all, it is certain
that all forms of government which rest on either of these principles
are perversions. All men have a claim in a certain sense, as I have
already admitted, but all have not an absolute claim. The rich claim
because they have a greater share in the land, and land is the common
element of the state; also they are generally more trustworthy in