August/September 2019 ●Philosophy Now 23answer three of the most enduring questions of political thought.
They were, firstly, whether “the virtue of a good person and a
good citizen is the same or not” (Politics, 1276b 20); secondly,
whether “the virtue of the good ruler is the same as that of a
good person” (1277a 20); and, finally, whether wisdom and
virtue could be taught. “Like the sailor, the citizen is a member
of a community,” wrote Aristotle. “Now, sailors have different
functions, for one of them is a rower, another a pilot, and a third
a look-out, a fourth is described by some similar term; and while
the precise definition of each individual’s virtue applies exclu-
sively to that person, there is, at the same time, a common defi-
nition applicable to them all. For they all have a common object,
which is safety in navigation.” (1276b 25)
Aristotle uses the term ‘virtue’ (arete) in the sense of ‘excel-
lence in performing a function’. What makes a rower excellent is
strength and skill with the oars. The pilot, on the other hand, is
a master of navigation. While the look-out must have the knowl-
edge and vision to interpret the clouds, winds, tides, and currents.
In this context, whether the rowers are generally good people
matters less than their particular skill or ability to row well, and
the same goes for the others. The captain coordinates these activ-
ities for “the good of those committed to his care” (1279a 5).
Whereas the rower, pilot, or look-out may be judged on their
performance of their particular activities, the captain is to be
judged in relation to the aim of bringing the ship safely to port.
It was the good of his crew that motivated Odysseus to take
the lesser of two evils. He withheld knowledge of Scylla because
he could not expect his crew to equal his bravery. His authority
over the sailors was not based on force or rank, but on respect
and friendship. They could disobey him. In fact, shortly after
escaping Scylla and Charybdis, they overruled his decision to
avoid the ‘delectable’ temptations of the island of Helios Hyper-
ion. When Eurylochos, his second-in-command, rebelled and ledO
dysseus was a good captain, so he took care not to
mention the six-headed monster ready to snatch his
sailors and devour them alive. He worried that his
crew would be so terrified that they would “leave
the oars in a panic and huddle down below” (The Odyssey). The
goddess Circe had warned him that this beast, Scylla, had
“twelve flapping feet, and six necks enormously long, and at the
end of each neck a horrible head with three rows of teeth set
thick and close, full of black death.” She also advised him that
hewing close to Scylla’s cave was better than entering the other
side of the channel, where a terrible sea monster, Charybdis,
could swallow the entire ship and crew. “To lose six of your
crew is much better than to lose them all at once,” she advised.
“My friends,” Odysseus said as their ship approached the
strait, “we are not unacquainted with trouble.” He reminded
his crew that they had foiled the Cyclops with his ingenious
plan, then he told the rowers to “row away like men” and advised
his pilot to “pay heed, for you hold our helm in your hands.
Keep her well away from the smoke and surge, and hug the
cliffs; whatever you do, don’t let her run off in that direction,
or we shall all be drowned.” Then Odysseus put on his armor,
grabbed his spears, and took to the deck, straining his eyes to
see Scylla. Suddenly, Charybdis swallowed up so much water
that a deep whirlpool was formed, exposing the rocks and sand
of the ocean floor: “As we gazed in our fear at the death on this
side, at the same moment Scylla grabbed six of my crew.” Using
her long necks like fishing lines, she dragged the men back to
her cave, “shrieking and stretching out their hands” and call-
ing Odysseus’ name – a “most pitiable sight.”Aristotle and the Ship of State
Aristotle (384-322 BC) might well have thought of Odysseus’
predicament when he used the metaphor of sailors on a ship toAristotle & The Good Ruler
Maxwell Cameron wants politicians to take a lesson from Aristotle’s book.
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