Source Analysis: Aristotle 2

Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time. His works shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue to be studied by historians and philosophers. The excerpt here, from his book The Politics, was written around 350 BC in the context of the Greek city-state, a time when citizens were expected to participate in public life. In the Greek city-state, citizenship created a strong bond of kinship, as citizens lived, governed, served in the army, and enjoyed leisure time together.

Excerpt from The Politics, "Where Should the Power in Society Reside?"

“The state should be made up of those who are alike and equal, a condition found mainly among the middle class. . . . This is because the middle class is the steadiest element in society, the least eager for change. They neither desire, like the poor, the possessions of others, nor do others desire theirs, as the poor desire those of the rich. . . .

Tyranny and oppression often emerge from an over-enthusiastic democracy or from an oligarchy, but much more rarely from the middle class."