The Political Life vs. the Contemplative Life Theme Analysis

Because Nicomachean Ethics is the earliest systematic treatise on ethics, it’s not surprising that it contains extensive discussion of practical virtues and their concrete application in the everyday world (that is, political science). What’s more surprising is Aristotle’s digression near the end of the work, in which he elevates the life of contemplative study above even political science. He soon concludes, however, that the study of legislation, even if second best, is more urgent than philosophical contemplation. This isn’t a contradiction, but an acknowledgement that political life doesn’t allow for much contemplation, and that the necessity of working for the good of one’s community most often overshadows the contemplative life. By structuring his argument in this way, Aristotle demonstrates that, while philosophy offers complete happiness for those already wise, political life offers the more realistic avenue for the training of the masses in virtue, and thus it’s the more vital pursuit.

At the beginning of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle has a discussion about the superiority of political science among all the sciences. Aristotle considers political science to be the “highest ruling science,” because it prescribes what should be studied in cities; even fields of study like generalship and rhetoric fall under the heading of political science. With its subordinate fields, political science “legislates what must be done and what avoided […] For while it is satisfactory to acquire and preserve the good even for an individual, it is finer and more divine to acquire and preserve it for a people and for cities.” In other words, not only do all lesser sciences answer to political science, but political science governs the pursuit of the good within societies, not just for individuals. Because it’s concerned with this question of the good, the whole of Nicomachean Ethics—its examination of “fine and just things,” and the corresponding pursuit of virtue—is an example of political science. Aristotle’s elevation of this science and his methodical consideration and application of it lead one to assume that he sees political life—the practical pursuit of the good in community—as the ideal life.

In Book X, however—near the conclusion of Nicomachean Ethics—Aristotle seems to favor the abstract contemplative life above the concrete political life. The philosophical life—that devoted to study (theoria, contemplation)—is best. Aristotle says that study or contemplation is the very best activity, so complete happiness is found in study: “If happiness is activity in accord with virtue, it is reasonable for it to accord with the supreme virtue, which will be the virtue of the best thing. The best [thing] is understanding […] Hence complete happiness will be its activity in accord with its proper virtue; and we have said that this activity is the activity of study.” The life of study is also superior because it is in accordance with the life of the gods. “For someone will live [this life] not insofar as he is a human being, but insofar as he has some divine element in him […] as far as we can, we ought to be pro-immortal, and go to all lengths to live a life in accord with our supreme element […] The human activity that is most akin to the gods’ activity will, more than any other, have the character of happiness.” Aristotle makes the point that the gods are not concerned about the practical application of virtue in earthly life, but are free to engage in endless contemplation of the good. As far as they are able, human beings—at least those who’ve already attained wisdom—should strive for this kind of life, too.

Aristotle then makes another shift and ends his discussion, and the entire work, with an appeal for the importance of moral education and laws. He transitions directly from the discussion of the godlike, contemplative life to the earthly matter of moral instruction and enforcement. He explains that arguments in themselves aren’t enough to make most people act virtuously. Moreover, people aren’t receptive to ethical argument unless they’ve been trained since their youth to develop a taste for virtue: “the soul of the student needs to have been prepared by habits for enjoying and hating finely, like ground that is to nourish seed.” The character, that is, must be made “suitable for virtue.” Such preparation occurs through the laws under which one is brought up from one’s youth. Legislators must “urge people toward virtue and exhort them to aim at the fine—on the assumption that anyone whose good habits have prepared him decently will listen to them—but must impose corrective treatments and penalties” on those who don’t listen or haven’t been adequately prepared. Such coercion is appropriate because law is “reason that proceeds from a sort of prudence and understanding”; in other words, it’s a form of virtue in itself.

Therefore, it’s necessary that “the community [attend] to upbringing,” and to this end, the study of legislative science and political systems is crucial. This study of the “philosophy of human affairs” allows people to grasp “what sort of political system is best; how each […] should be organized […] and what habits and laws it should follow.” Overall, then, Aristotle frames the entire treatise with an argument for the importance of the political life—but whereas his opening discussion introduces political science as the highest science, his concluding discussion describes it as a concession to the needs of the majority of society; philosophy is the most complete happiness, but it’s attainable only to a few and must be brought “down to earth” through remedial ethical training and legislation.

Aristotle’s digression on contemplation underlines his belief that all of the ethics he’s just discussed at length are unattainable, unless people live in communities that provide a suitable environment for the attainment of virtue. So even if the very best life isn’t political but contemplative, communities need their wisest minds to pursue the political life in order to promote community well-being. It’s also worth remembering that this work was intended to be a prologue to Aristotle’s more specifically political writings, so to fully understand his views, it needs to be read in conversation with the rest of his work.