Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
12
PhilosophicalThought
andwhenthispassiveuniverseisreplacedbyourhumanworldoffreedomand
responsibility.However,thisfreedomisnotunderstoodasabsolutefreedom
andboundlessindependence,becausefreedomisnotdeity,yetitisarouteto
somethingdivine.16
Aristotle:EveryStateIsMadeup
ofHouseholds
WhenAristotlecriticizedPlato’stotalitarianreformsoffamilylife,thecentral
issuewaswhetherPlato’ssuggestionsweregoodorbadforpolis,thatisfor
society,asfarasonecanliveone’slifeonlyincommunityandsociety,thatis,
tolivewithothers.AccordingtoAristotle,diversityoffamiliesisconditioned
byprovidingwithbasicneedsforlife,reproductionandraisingchildren.Family,
whererelationshipsaregivenbylove,17cannotprovidebasicneedssufficiently
andhenceitjoinsinkomé(village,familycommunity,citydistrict)andmore
komaicreatepoliswhichiscompleteandperfectcommunityandalmostself-
sufficientwithregardtotheneeds.18Therefore,theaimofjoiningistosurvive,
nottogain.
Aristotle,tutorofAlexandertheGreat,criticizesPlato’sconceptofan
idealstateinhisworkPolitics.Aristotleclaimsthat“thestateismadeupof
households.”19Aristotledescribesanidealstate,too.Hedividesconstitutionsac-
cordingtothenumberofrulersasfollows:monarchyloneruler,aristocracyl
ruleofthefew,politeialruleofmany.Ontheotherhand,therearedeviantop-
posites:tyranny,oligarchy,anddemocracy.Hedoesnotpreferanyofthestated
rules,butheclaimsthatconstitutionhastofollowneedsofacertainnation.20
Theanalogyoftheseconstitutionscanbefoundeveninhouseholds.Forexam-
ple,relationshipbetweenfatherandsonresembleskingdom,becausethetaskof
thefatheristotakecareofhischildren.However,inPersianfamilytherelation-
shipoffatherandsonresemblestyrannyasfathertreatshischildrenasslaves.
Moreover,manrulesslavesandthisrelationshipissimilartotyranny,aswell.
Therelationshipofahusbandtohiswifehasfeaturesofaristocracy,becausethe
husbandrulesthewifeincertainmatters,butshedominatesinotherspheres.
Thus,everyonepossesseswhatbelongstothembythelaw.Theyhelponeanoth-
16Cf.JanPatočka,Platón(Praha:SPN,1992),24.
17Cf.Aristotle,Politics,trans.BenjaminJowett(Kitchener:BatocheBooks,1999),19.
18Cf.ibid.,5.
19Ibid.,6.
20Strorig,Malédejinyfilozofie,137.
