“blue blood.” Modern, republican regimes rejected
this hereditary idea of “the best” but retained an idea
that some people make better rulers than others.
American Thomas JEFFERSONheld that a “natural aris-
tocracy” of virtue (morals) and talents (ability)
existed in society and that it should occupy positions
of political leadership. This Jeffersonian aristocracy
was democratic in two senses, however: (1) It was
born into all classes, families, and nationalities, and
(2) it was to be elected to office by the people ge-
nerally. The cultivating of this natural aristocracy, for
Jefferson, required a public education system, eco-
nomic opportunity, and political DEMOCRACY. It is in
the interest of the whole society to recognize the
good and talented young people even from poor and
humble backgrounds and to elevate them through
education to positions of leadership. A healthy
democracy will select this natural aristocracy in
popular elections. Jefferson contrasted this natural
aristocracy of “wisdom and virtue” with those of
birth (heredity) and wealth (riches) and felt that if
the “pseudo-aristocracies” of money or family ruled,
the American republic would be corrupted. John
ADAMS, another early American thinker, also con-
ceived of a natural aristocracy but identified it with
the socially prominent and financially prosperous.
Adams felt that someone with a good educational,
economic, and social background would handle
authority well. These Jeffersonian and Adams defini-
tions of aristocracy are basically those held by the
modern DEMOCRATIC and REPUBLICAN Parties in the
United States.
COMMUNIST and other radical political thinkers
deny any idea of an aristocracy except a reverse one of
the downtrodden, oppressed, exploited, and miser-
able. This radical antiaristocratic view says that those
least prepared and accepted by society (impoverished,
criminal, minorities, uneducated) should govern. So
in the early Soviet Union, social outcasts such as
STALINwere elevated to positions of power, with brutal
results.
Even though a legal aristocracy has been eliminated
in most modern countries, the idea of a “best” kind of
people in society who should govern continues,
though the definition of it varies.
Further Reading
Cannadine, David. Aspects of Aristocracy: Grandeur and Decline
in Modern Britain. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 1994.
Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) Ancient Greek philoso-
pher
Born in northern Greece of a wealthy family, his father
was the physician to the king of Macedon. In 367 B.C.,
Aristotle moved to Athens and studied at PLATO’s acad-
emy. He later became the tutor of young Alexander the
Great. At Alexander’s death in 322, much anti-Mace-
donian sentiment gripped Athenian society, so Aristotle
left to avoid persecution. Aristotle is considered one of
the most brilliant, possibly the greatest, philosopher in
the Western heritage. His investigations and writings
cover the entire range of liberal arts studies, from
physics and biology to ethics, logic, politics, theater,
art, poetry, and music. Widely regarded as a genius, his
ideas have influenced all future scholarship on ethics,
aesthetics, science, philosophy, religion, and politics.
Aristotle’s views on government inform CLASSICALpoliti-
cal theory (Greek and Roman—as CICERO); Medieval
theology (St. Thomas AQUINAS); Modern republican
thought (James HARRINGTON); and contemporary demo-
cratic theory (Benjamin BARBER).
Aristotle conceived of humans as naturally social
and political by virtue of two human faculties: rea-
soned speech and moral choice. These uniquely
human abilities make society and politics humanity’s
home, and apart from his or her community, a person
is not fully human. These traits of reason, speech, and
ethics are innate in humanity but require cultivation
and education to become fully developed. Aristotle
takes a TELEOLOGICALapproach to reality that looks at
everything in terms of its development to completion.
A frequent example of this is an acorn, whose telosor
potential is a fully grown, healthy oak tree. But that
full development, while inside the acorn, requires spe-
cific environmental encouragement—the best soil,
rain, sunlight, surrounding plants, and so on—and
most acorns do not reach their full potential or “per-
fection.” So Aristotelian teleology looks at the ultimate
end or goal or purpose of a thing when judging its
excellence. Humans are potentially the greatest crea-
tures, but without “law and morals” they can fall below
the beasts in depravity and cruelty. So it is everyone’s
concern to have each person in the society receive an
education and moral cultivation, or the whole country
will suffer. Humankind exists between the gods and
the beasts.
Aristotle idealizes the ancient Greek POLIS, the small
democratic community in Athens. The ideal citizen is
one who is properly prepared (educationally, economi-Aristotle 19