The Best Form of Life in Aristotle’s Ideal Political Regime

Abstract

The investigation about happiness and forms of life is the core of the Aristotelian ethico-political thought. In Politics VII 2-3, he offers one of the richest passages for the study of the discussion that started in the fifth century B. C. about the ways of life, by the dialectical debate he establishes between the supporters of the political and the philosophical life. In the context of that debate, he assumes in Pol. VII 3 (1325b14-31) a position certainly ambiguous saying that the most eligible life is the practical one, at the time he proposes a definition of praxis that includes as its highest form the theoretical activity. In current academic literature there is no agreement about the general interpretation of the passage not even about the way of life Aristotle defends here. The interpreters also discuss the nature of this theoretical praxis, which some fully identify with philosophy and others, with a mere cultural activity. Despite the complexity of the text and the differences of its interpretations, we will try to determine which is the best form of life for living in the best regime, by considering the explicit and tacit indications that Aristotle offers us in the construction of his ideal political program.