or the military tactician. It must be something more generalized than this, since its possession is
supposed to make a man capable of governing wisely. I think Plato would have said that it
consists in knowledge of the good, and would have supplemented this definition with the Socratic
doctrine that no man sins wittingly, from which it follows that whoever knows what is good does
what is right. To us, such a view seems remote from reality. We should more naturally say that
there are divergent interests, and that the statesman should arrive at the best available
compromise. The members of a class or a nation may have a common interest, but it will usually
conflict with the interests of other classes or other nations. There are, no doubt, some interests of
mankind as a whole, but they do not suffice to determine political action. Perhaps they will do so
at some future date, but certainly not so long as there are many sovereign States. And even then
the most difficult part of the pursuit of the general interest would consist in arriving at
compromises among mutually hostile special interests.
But even if we suppose that there is such a thing as "wisdom," is there any form of constitution
which will give the government to the wise? It is clear that majorities, like general councils, may
err, and in fact have erred. Aristocracies are not always wise; kings are often foolish; Popes, in
spite of infallibility, have committed grievous errors. Would anybody advocate entrusting the
government to university graduates, or even to doctors of divinity? Or to men who, having been
born poor, have made great fortunes? It is clear that no legally definable selection of citizens is
likely to be wiser, in practice, than the whole body.
It might be suggested that men could be given political wisdom by a suitable training. But the
question would arise: what is a suitable training? And this would turn out to be a party question.
The problem of finding a collection of "wise" men and leaving the government to them is thus an
insoluble one. That is the ultimate reason for democracy.