Il regime degli uomini perfettamente virtuosi: aristocrazia e costituzione ottima nella Politica di Aristotele

Abstract

Scholars of aristotelian political philosophy generally agree that the project of the ideal polis of Politics VII – VIII is strictly linked to Ethics. They disagree however on the nature of the constitution outlined. It is broadly accepted that it is a "polity". In this paper I deal with the topic of aristocracy in aristotelian political thought and I show that, throughout Politics, Aristotle never swerved from the idea of aristocracy as the optimal constitution, where the truly virtuous rule. Finally I argue that the ideal polis of Politics VII – VIII, though it is never explicitly thus termed, is an aristocracy.