Industrial Revolution, as in Britain and Germany, where the rising capitalist
bourgeoisieand the relative decline of agriculture as a source of wealth have
made them largely irrelevant to a modern state. Nevertheless, there remains a
self-conscious e ́lite of hereditary aristocrats, often enormously wealthy,
throughout Europe, even in countries like France and Italy where the state
pays no formal recognition to aristocratic titles at all.
Aristotle
Aristotle (384–322BC) was a thinker of the classical Greek period whose
political theories, like those ofPlato, set the bounds of political discourse
throughout the Middle Ages; his work still exercises a profound influence on
modern political and social thought. Aristotle’s political ideas are more
immediately acceptable to the modern Western mind than Plato’s because
he comes closer to approving ofdemocracy. However, even Aristotle saw
direct democracyas the least undesirable of existing types of government,
rather than as the best obtainable form. Like most Greeks of his period he
would have preferred a mixed government with important elements of
aristocracy intermixed with popular rule. (In this context it should be
remembered that the original meaning of ‘aristocracy’ is ‘the rule of the best’,
not ‘the rule of the well born’.)
An important aspect of Aristotle’s thought, which derives from his interest
in marine biology, was his use of biological analogies in discussing social life.
Following Plato, he took an essentiallyfunctionalistapproach to social and
political institutions, believing that political life, being natural, takes certain
natural forms, and that individuals therefore have natural and fitting places in
society from which it would be both immoral and ‘disfunctional’ for them to
depart. Aristotle’s direct impact on European social thought began with his
reinterpretation by the late medieval Catholic church andAquinas’sdevel-
opment and interpretation of his ideas into the Catholic doctrine ofnatural
law, from which our modern inheritance ofnatural rightsderives. Aristo-
telian views appear in contemporarymoral philosophy, with special empha-
sis on his concern for education and the training of moral instincts.
Armies
Armies (used here, for convenience, to include military forces of all types) are
among the oldest of all organized social institutions, and have a correspond-
ingly long history of political importance. However, this apparently trivial
point needs expansion. All societies have had some system for organizing
Aristotle