This is Aristotle's launching pad for his discussion of politics. To him, ethics and politics are matters of rational judgment, stemming from the natural inclinations of individual humans. This notion is reflected in Aristotle's analysis of the constitutional doctrines of some 158 cities. Essentially, he recognized that every state -- necessarily city states -- exist in unique sets of circumstances that act upon the universal forms of ethics in ways that alter their particular manifestations. Aristotle does, however, put forward his conception of the most realistically achievable form of government that would simultaneously facilitate mankind's natural pursuit of rational happiness. He writes, "We must consider then not only what form of government is best, but also what is possible and easily attainable by all," (Aristotle 321). He concludes, broadly, that democratic and oligarchic governments are the most dangerous, and that a monarchy in the hands of a just ruler would...
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