Reflections on the Nature of Politics

This recent significant outbreak of turmoil has brought back memories of what I used to tell my students on the first day of introductory political classes. Essentially, politics should revolve around what is good.

We often start with a reading from Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics.” He presents an essential introduction to politics when he states:

All art and all inquiries, as well as all actions and decisions, appear to aim toward some good, making it aptly said that the good is the purpose of everything.

Aristotle notes, rather quickly, that many different goods exist, along with various arts designed to achieve these goods. For instance, the medical field aims to enhance health, shipbuilding strives to produce seaworthy vessels, and military endeavors focus on winning battles. The Greeks referred to the management of a household as “economics,” which seeks wealth.

Virtue serves as the ultimate aim of political life.

Some forms of art are subordinate to others, primarily because the end goal of one art can be dependent on the mastery of another, like how military strategy relies on political guidance.

Aristotle introduces politics with profound inquiries. If we are fundamentally seeking what is good, aren’t all our endeavors ultimately for that purpose?

He poses the question: Does this understanding of the highest benefit imply that a person’s life holds no greater significance? Isn’t the pursuit of that ultimate good the supreme art, encompassing all other arts? Isn’t this what we refer to as the art of politics?

According to Aristotle, this art aims for “human good,” a term that encapsulates everything necessary for fulfillment. The Greeks used the word Eudaimonia, typically translated as “happiness.” Thus, the art of politics essentially equates to the art of happiness. But there’s more.

This political art is practical. It’s about achieving happiness rather than merely grasping its concept. When Aristotle contemplates happiness, he determines that it is primarily not a bodily condition. Instead, it’s an expression of the soul acting in accordance with virtue—ultimately, perfect virtue. You cannot genuinely be happy without being a good or noble person. Thus, virtue is deemed the goal of political existence.

Further, Aristotle differentiates between moral virtues, which relate to character, and intellectual virtues. He identifies political excellence, the specific virtue required for good governance, as the intellectual virtue of “practical wisdom.” In Aristotle’s view, this wisdom is inseparable from moral virtue.

I remind my students that to succeed in politics, they must focus on cultivating virtue, striving toward the common good and happiness. This becomes our semester’s goal.

Do Happiness and Politics Intertwine?

If luck is on my side, among my students—those not yet jaded—a hand might raise on that first day of class. Someone asks, “What have you read recently?” They’d have a newspaper in hand, flipping through the pages filled with violence, crime, corruption, and greed. “Calling someone a politician feels insulting,” they assert.

And just like that, the semester begins.

In his exploration of politics, Aristotle describes humans as “rational animals,” thus framing them as “political animals.” He makes observations familiar to anyone keeping up with the news. Despite our rationality, people can be swayed by passion rather than reason.

Here, Aristotle would likely resonate with Alexander Hamilton, particularly in Federalist 15, where he notes that governments exist because people’s passions often lead them astray from reason and justice. This echoes James Madison’s famous assertion that if humans were angels, government wouldn’t be necessary.

According to Aristotle, the shortcomings of unangelic humanity make education vital in politics, as bad education can mislead our understanding of the good. He contends that both education and guidance are essential to the practice of politics. It isn’t a relaxed endeavor but rather a challenging task of steering others toward the right path, even when they are reluctant to follow it.

It’s alarming to see young people adopting ideas that promote stealing or changing one’s gender. There’s also a concerning number believing that harming opponents is acceptable.

Since Joe Biden took office in 2021, he’s emphasized in American politics that gender transition is positive, while questioning this stance is labeled as harmful. This messaging permeates society, making it feel imperative to publicly endorse such views or face severe repercussions like exile or worse.

Politics Necessitates Good

Identifying what constitutes “good” isn’t straightforward. The wise man from ancient Athens, Socrates, famously recognized his ignorance regarding the good. For Socrates, doing good was paramount—one essential truth.

Yet, we don’t have to be philosophers to acknowledge that biological realities, such as the inability of boys to become girls or the inappropriateness of biological males competing against biological females, must be upheld. Furthermore, the act of killing those with opposing views is undeniably wrong. In a world increasingly void of common sense, Glen Elmers from the Claremont Institute points out the urgent need for us to cling to basic reasoning.

Some may turn to Machiavelli, an advocate for “realist” politics, suggesting that mere pragmatism is necessary to navigate a flawed world. However, perhaps we should consider a different lesson, echoing the spirit of Aristotle: in a society rife with damage, our pursuit of goodness must be our guiding principle.