350 BC

                                             POLITICS

                                           by Aristotle
                                   translated by Benjamin Jowett


                                            BOOK EIGHT

                                                 I

     NO ONE will doubt that the legislator should direct his attention above all to the education
of youth; for the neglect of education does harm to the constitution The citizen should be molded
to suit the form of government under which he lives. For each government has a peculiar character
which originally formed and which continues to preserve it. The character of democracy creates
democracy, and the character of oligarchy creates oligarchy; and always the better the character,
the better the government.

     Again, for the exercise of any faculty or art a previous training and habituation are
required; clearly therefore for the practice of virtue. And since the whole city has one end, it is
manifest that education should be one and the same for all, and that it should be public, and not
private- not as at present, when every one looks after his own children separately, and gives them
separate instruction of the sort which he thinks best; the training in things which are of common
interest should be the same for all. Neither must we suppose that any one of the citizens belongs
to himself, for they all belong to the state, and are each of them a part of the state, and the
care of each part is inseparable from the care of the whole. In this particular as in some others
the Lacedaemonians are to be praised, for they take the greatest pains about their children, and
make education the business of the state.

                                                II

     That education should be regulated by law and should be an affair of state is not to be
denied, but what should be the character of this public education, and how young persons should be
educated, are questions which remain to be considered. As things are, there is disagreement about
the subjects. For mankind are by no means agreed about the things to be taught, whether we look to
virtue or the best life. Neither is it clear whether education is more concerned with intellectual
or with moral virtue. The existing practice is perplexing; no one knows on what principle we should
proceed- should the useful in life, or should virtue, or should the higher knowledge, be the aim of
our training; all three opinions have been entertained. Again, about the means there is no
agreement; for different persons, starting with different ideas about the nature of virtue,
naturally disagree about the practice of it. There can be no doubt that children should be taught
those useful things which are really necessary, but not all useful things; for occupations are
divided into liberal and illiberal; and to young children should be imparted only such kinds of
knowledge as will be useful to them without vulgarizing them. And any occupation, art, or science,
which makes the body or soul or mind of the freeman less fit for the practice or exercise of
virtue, is vulgar; wherefore we call those arts vulgar which tend to deform the body, and likewise
all paid employments, for they absorb and degrade the mind. There are also some liberal arts quite
proper for a freeman to acquire, but only in a certain degree, and if he attend to them too
closely, in order to attain perfection in them, the same evil effects will follow. The object also
which a man sets before him makes a great difference; if he does or learns anything for his own
sake or for the sake of his friends, or with a view to excellence the action will not appear
illiberal; but if done for the sake of others, the very same action will be thought menial and
servile. The received subjects of instruction, as I have already remarked, are partly of a liberal
and party of an illiberal character.

                                                III

     The customary branches of education are in number four; they are- (1) reading and writing, (2)
gymnastic exercises, (3) music, to which is sometimes added (4) drawing. Of these, reading and
writing and drawing are regarded as useful for the purposes of life in a variety of ways, and
gymnastic exercises are thought to infuse courage. concerning music a doubt may be raised- in our
own day most men cultivate it for the sake of pleasure, but originally it was included in
education, because nature herself, as has been often said, requires that we should be able, not
only to work well, but to use leisure well; for, as I must repeat once again, the first principle
of all action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure is better than occupation and is its end;
and therefore the question must be asked, what ought we to do when at leisure? Clearly we ought not
to be amusing ourselves, for then amusement would be the end of life. But if this is inconceivable,
and amusement is needed more amid serious occupations than at other times (for he who is hard at
work has need of relaxation, and amusement gives relaxation, whereas occupation is always
accompanied with exertion and effort), we should introduce amusements only at suitable times, and
they should be our medicines, for the emotion which they create in the soul is a relaxation, and
from the pleasure we obtain rest. But leisure of itself gives pleasure and happiness and enjoyment
of life, which are experienced, not by the busy man, but by those who have leisure. For he who is
occupied has in view some end which he has not attained; but happiness is an end, since all men
deem it to be accompanied with pleasure and not with pain. This pleasure, however, is regarded
differently by different persons, and varies according to the habit of individuals; the pleasure of
the best man is the best, and springs from the noblest sources. It is clear then that there are
branches of learning and education which we must study merely with a view to leisure spent in
intellectual activity, and these are to be valued for their own sake; whereas those kinds of
knowledge which are useful in business are to be deemed necessary, and exist for the sake of other
things. And therefore our fathers admitted music into education, not on the ground either of its
necessity or utility, for it is not necessary, nor indeed useful in the same manner as reading and
writing, which are useful in money-making, in the management of a household, in the acquisition of
knowledge and in political life, nor like drawing, useful for a more correct judgment of the works
of artists, nor again like gymnastic, which gives health and strength; for neither of these is to
be gained from music. There remains, then, the use of music for intellectual enjoyment in leisure;
which is in fact evidently the reason of its introduction, this being one of the ways in which it
is thought that a freeman should pass his leisure; as Homer says,

But he who alone should be called to the pleasant feast,

and afterwards he speaks of others whom he describes as inviting

The bard who would delight them all.

And in another place Odysseus says there is no better way of passing life than when men's hearts
are merry and

The banqueters in the hall, sitting in order, hear the voice of the minstrel.

     It is evident, then, that there is a sort of education in which parents should train their
sons, not as being useful or necessary, but because it is liberal or noble. Whether this is of one
kind only, or of more than one, and if so, what they are, and how they are to be imparted, must
hereafter be determined. Thus much we are now in a position to say, that the ancients witness to
us; for their opinion may be gathered from the fact that music is one of the received and
traditional branches of education. Further, it is clear that children should be instructed in some
useful things- for example, in reading and writing- not only for their usefulness, but also because
many other sorts of knowledge are acquired through them. With a like view they may be taught
drawing, not to prevent their making mistakes in their own purchases, or in order that they may not
be imposed upon in the buying or selling of articles, but perhaps rather because it makes them
judges of the beauty of the human form. To be always seeking after the useful does not become free
and exalted souls. Now it is clear that in education practice must be used before theory, and the
body be trained before the mind; and therefore boys should be handed over to the trainer, who
creates in them the roper habit of body, and to the wrestling-master, who teaches them their
exercises.

                                                IV

     Of those states which in our own day seem to take the greatest care of children, some aim at
producing in them an athletic habit, but they only injure their forms and stunt their growth.
Although the Lacedaemonians have not fallen into this mistake, yet they brutalize their children by
laborious exercises which they think will make them courageous. But in truth, as we have often
repeated, education should not be exclusively, or principally, directed to this end. And even if we
suppose the Lacedaemonians to be right in their end, they do not attain it. For among barbarians
and among animals courage is found associated, not with the greatest ferocity, but with a gentle
and lion like temper. There are many races who are ready enough to kill and eat men, such as the
Achaeans and Heniochi, who both live about the Black Sea; and there are other mainland tribes, as
bad or worse, who all live by plunder, but have no courage. It is notorious that the Lacedaemonians
themselves, while they alone were assiduous in their laborious drill, were superior to others, but
now they are beaten both in war and gymnastic exercises. For their ancient superiority did not
depend on their mode of training their youth, but only on the circumstance that they trained them
when their only rivals did not. Hence we may infer that what is noble, not what is brutal, should
have the first place; no wolf or other wild animal will face a really noble danger; such dangers
are for the brave man. And parents who devote their children to gymnastics while they neglect their
necessary education, in reality vulgarize them; for they make them useful to the art of
statesmanship in one quality only, and even in this the argument proves them to be inferior to
others. We should judge the Lacedaemonians not from what they have been, but from what they are;
for now they have rivals who compete with their education; formerly they had none.

     It is an admitted principle, that gymnastic exercises should be employed in education, and
that for children they should be of a lighter kind, avoiding severe diet or painful toil, lest the
growth of the body be impaired. The evil of excessive training in early years is strikingly proved
by the example of the Olympic victors; for not more than two or three of them have gained a prize
both as boys and as men; their early training and severe gymnastic exercises exhausted their
constitutions. When boyhood is over, three years should be spent in other studies; the period of
life which follows may then be devoted to hard exercise and strict diet. Men ought not to labor at
the same time with their minds and with their bodies; for the two kinds of labor are opposed to one
another; the labor of the body impedes the mind, and the labor of the mind the body.

                                                 V

     Concerning music there are some questions which we have already raised; these we may now
resume and carry further; and our remarks will serve as a prelude to this or any other discussion
of the subject. It is not easy to determine the nature of music, or why any one should have a
knowledge of it. Shall we say, for the sake of amusement and relaxation, like sleep or drinking,
which are not good in themselves, but are pleasant, and at the same time 'care to cease,' as
Euripides says? And for this end men also appoint music, and make use of all three alike- sleep,
drinking, music- to which some add dancing. Or shall we argue that music conduces to virtue, on the
ground that it can form our minds and habituate us to true pleasures as our bodies are made by
gymnastic to be of a certain character? Or shall we say that it contributes to the enjoyment of
leisure and mental cultivation, which is a third alternative? Now obviously youths are not to be
instructed with a view to their amusement, for learning is no amusement, but is accompanied with
pain. Neither is intellectual enjoyment suitable to boys of that age, for it is the end, and that
which is imperfect cannot attain the perfect or end. But perhaps it may be said that boys learn
music for the sake of the amusement which they will have when they are grown up. If so, why should
they learn themselves, and not, like the Persian and Median kings, enjoy the pleasure and
instruction which is derived from hearing others? (for surely persons who have made music the
business and profession of their lives will be better performers than those who practice only long
enough to learn). If they must learn music, on the same principle they should learn cookery, which
is absurd. And even granting that music may form the character, the objection still holds: why
should we learn ourselves? Why cannot we attain true pleasure and form a correct judgment from
hearing others, like the Lacedaemonians?- for they, without learning music, nevertheless can
correctly judge, as they say, of good and bad melodies. Or again, if music should be used to
promote cheerfulness and refined intellectual enjoyment, the objection still remains- why should we
learn ourselves instead of enjoying the performances of others? We may illustrate what we are
saying by our conception of the Gods; for in the poets Zeus does not himself sing or play on the
lyre. Nay, we call professional performers vulgar; no freeman would play or sing unless he were
intoxicated or in jest. But these matters may be left for the present.

     The first question is whether music is or is not to be a part of education. Of the three
things mentioned in our discussion, which does it produce?- education or amusement or intellectual
enjoyment, for it may be reckoned under all three, and seems to share in the nature of all of them.
Amusement is for the sake of relaxation, and relaxation is of necessity sweet, for it is the remedy
of pain caused by toil; and intellectual enjoyment is universally acknowledged to contain an
element not only of the noble but of the pleasant, for happiness is made up of both. All men agree
that music is one of the pleasantest things, whether with or without songs; as Musaeus says:

Song to mortals of all things the sweetest.

Hence and with good reason it is introduced into social gatherings and entertainments, because it
makes the hearts of men glad: so that on this ground alone we may assume that the young ought to be
trained in it. For innocent pleasures are not only in harmony with the perfect end of life, but
they also provide relaxation. And whereas men rarely attain the end, but often rest by the way and
amuse themselves, not only with a view to a further end, but also for the pleasure's sake, it may
be well at times to let them find a refreshment in music. It sometimes happens that men make
amusement the end, for the end probably contains some element of pleasure, though not any ordinary
or lower pleasure; but they mistake the lower for the higher, and in seeking for the one find the
other, since every pleasure has a likeness to the end of action. For the end is not eligible for
the sake of any future good, nor do the pleasures which we have described exist for the sake of any
future good but of the past, that is to say, they are the alleviation of past toils and pains. And
we may infer this to be the reason why men seek happiness from these pleasures.

     But music is pursued, not only as an alleviation of past toil, but also as providing
recreation. And who can say whether, having this use, it may not also have a nobler one? In
addition to this common pleasure, felt and shared in by all (for the pleasure given by music is
natural, and therefore adapted to all ages and characters), may it not have also some influence
over the character and the soul? It must have such an influence if characters are affected by it.
And that they are so affected is proved in many ways, and not least by the power which the songs of
Olympus exercise; for beyond question they inspire enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is an emotion of the
ethical part of the soul. Besides, when men hear imitations, even apart from the rhythms and tunes
themselves, their feelings move in sympathy. Since then music is a pleasure, and virtue consists in
rejoicing and loving and hating aright, there is clearly nothing which we are so much concerned to
acquire and to cultivate as the power of forming right judgments, and of taking delight in good
dispositions and noble actions. Rhythm and melody supply imitations of anger and gentleness, and
also of courage and temperance, and of all the qualities contrary to these, and of the other
qualities of character, which hardly fall short of the actual affections, as we know from our own
experience, for in listening to such strains our souls undergo a change. The habit of feeling
pleasure or pain at mere representations is not far removed from the same feeling about realities;
for example, if any one delights in the sight of a statue for its beauty only, it necessarily
follows that the sight of the original will be pleasant to him. The objects of no other sense, such
as taste or touch, have any resemblance to moral qualities; in visible objects there is only a
little, for there are figures which are of a moral character, but only to a slight extent, and all
do not participate in the feeling about them. Again, figures and colors are not imitations, but
signs, of moral habits, indications which the body gives of states of feeling. The connection of
them with morals is slight, but in so far as there is any, young men should be taught to look, not
at the works of Pauson, but at those of Polygnotus, or any other painter or sculptor who expresses
moral ideas. On the other hand, even in mere melodies there is an imitation of character, for the
musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those who hear them are differently affected
by each. Some of them make men sad and grave, like the so-called Mixolydian, others enfeeble the
mind, like the relaxed modes, another, again, produces a moderate and settled temper, which appears
to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; the Phrygian inspires enthusiasm. The whole subject has
been well treated by philosophical writers on this branch of education, and they confirm their
arguments by facts. The same principles apply to rhythms; some have a character of rest, others of
motion, and of these latter again, some have a more vulgar, others a nobler movement. Enough has
been said to show that music has a power of forming the character, and should therefore be
introduced into the education of the young. The study is suited to the stage of youth, for young
persons will not, if they can help, endure anything which is not sweetened by pleasure, and music
has a natural sweetness. There seems to be in us a sort of affinity to musical modes and rhythms,
which makes some philosophers say that the soul is a tuning, others, that it possesses tuning.

                                                VI

     And now we have to determine the question which has been already raised, whether children
should be themselves taught to sing and play or not. Clearly there is a considerable difference
made in the character by the actual practice of the art. It is difficult, if not impossible, for
those who do not perform to be good judges of the performance of others. Besides, children should
have something to do, and the rattle of Archytas, which people give to their children in order to
amuse them and prevent them from breaking anything in the house, was a capital invention, for a
young thing cannot be quiet. The rattle is a toy suited to the infant mind, and education is a
rattle or toy for children of a larger growth. We conclude then that they should be taught music in
such a way as to become not only critics but performers.

     The question what is or is not suitable for different ages may be easily answered; nor is
there any difficulty in meeting the objection of those who say that the study of music is vulgar.
We reply (1) in the first place, that they who are to be judges must also be performers, and that
they should begin to practice early, although when they are older they may be spared the execution;
they must have learned to appreciate what is good and to delight in it, thanks to the knowledge
which they acquired in their youth. As to (2) the vulgarizing effect which music is supposed to
exercise, this is a question which we shall have no difficulty in determining, when we have
considered to what extent freemen who are being trained to political virtue should pursue the art,
what melodies and what rhythms they should be allowed to use, and what instruments should be
employed in teaching them to play; for even the instrument makes a difference. The answer to the
objection turns upon these distinctions; for it is quite possible that certain methods of teaching
and learning music do really have a degrading effect. It is evident then that the learning of music
ought not to impede the business of riper years, or to degrade the body or render it unfit for
civil or military training, whether for bodily exercises at the time or for later studies.

     The right measure will be attained if students of music stop short of the arts which are
practiced in professional contests, and do not seek to acquire those fantastic marvels of execution
which are now the fashion in such contests, and from these have passed into education. Let the
young practice even such music as we have prescribed, only until they are able to feel delight in
noble melodies and rhythms, and not merely in that common part of music in which every slave or
child and even some animals find pleasure.

     From these principles we may also infer what instruments should be used. The flute, or any
other instrument which requires great skill, as for example the harp, ought not to be admitted into
education, but only such as will make intelligent students of music or of the other parts of
education. Besides, the flute is not an instrument which is expressive of moral character; it is
too exciting. The proper time for using it is when the performance aims not at instruction, but at
the relief of the passions. And there is a further objection; the impediment which the flute
presents to the use of the voice detracts from its educational value. The ancients therefore were
right in forbidding the flute to youths and freemen, although they had once allowed it. For when
their wealth gave them a greater inclination to leisure, and they had loftier notions of
excellence, being also elated with their success, both before and after the Persian War, with more
zeal than discernment they pursued every kind of knowledge, and so they introduced the flute into
education. At Lacedaemon there was a choragus who led the chorus with a flute, and at Athens the
instrument became so popular that most freemen could play upon it. The popularity is shown by the
tablet which Thrasippus dedicated when he furnished the chorus to Ecphantides. Later experience
enabled men to judge what was or was not really conducive to virtue, and they rejected both the
flute and several other old-fashioned instruments, such as the Lydian harp, the many-stringed lyre,
the 'heptagon,' 'triangle,' 'sambuca,' the like- which are intended only to give pleasure to the
hearer, and require extraordinary skill of hand. There is a meaning also in the myth of the
ancients, which tells how Athene invented the flute and then threw it away. It was not a bad idea
of theirs, that the Goddess disliked the instrument because it made the face ugly; but with still
more reason may we say that she rejected it because the acquirement of flute-playing contributes
nothing to the mind, since to Athene we ascribe both knowledge and art.

     Thus then we reject the professional instruments and also the professional mode of education
in music (and by professional we mean that which is adopted in contests), for in this the performer
practices the art, not for the sake of his own improvement, but in order to give pleasure, and that
of a vulgar sort, to his hearers. For this reason the execution of such music is not the part of a
freeman but of a paid performer, and the result is that the performers are vulgarized, for the end
at which they aim is bad. The vulgarity of the spectator tends to lower the character of the music
and therefore of the performers; they look to him- he makes them what they are, and fashions even
their bodies by the movements which he expects them to exhibit.

                                                VII

     We have also to consider rhythms and modes, and their use in education. Shall we use them all
or make a distinction? and shall the same distinction be made for those who practice music with a
view to education, or shall it be some other? Now we see that music is produced by melody and
rhythm, and we ought to know what influence these have respectively on education, and whether we
should prefer excellence in melody or excellence in rhythm. But as the subject has been very well
treated by many musicians of the present day, and also by philosophers who have had considerable
experience of musical education, to these we would refer the more exact student of the subject; we
shall only speak of it now after the manner of the legislator, stating the general principles.

     We accept the division of melodies proposed by certain philosophers into ethical melodies,
melodies of action, and passionate or inspiring melodies, each having, as they say, a mode
corresponding to it. But we maintain further that music should be studied, not for the sake of one,
but of many benefits, that is to say, with a view to (1) education, (2) purgation (the word
'purgation' we use at present without explanation, but when hereafter we speak of poetry, we will
treat the subject with more precision); music may also serve (3) for for enjoyment, for relaxation,
and for recreation after exertion. It is clear, therefore, that all the modes must be employed by
us, but not all of them in the same manner. In education the most ethical modes are to be
preferred, but in listening to the performances of others we may admit the modes of action and
passion also. For feelings such as pity and fear, or, again, enthusiasm, exist very strongly in
some souls, and have more or less influence over all. Some persons fall into a religious frenzy,
whom we see as a result of the sacred melodies- when they have used the melodies that excite the
soul to mystic frenzy- restored as though they had found healing and purgation. Those who are
influenced by pity or fear, and every emotional nature, must have a like experience, and others in
so far as each is susceptible to such emotions, and all are in a manner purged and their souls
lightened and delighted. The purgative melodies likewise give an innocent pleasure to mankind. Such
are the modes and the melodies in which those who perform music at the theater should be invited to
compete. But since the spectators are of two kinds- the one free and educated, and the other a
vulgar crowd composed of mechanics, laborers, and the like- there ought to be contests and
exhibitions instituted for the relaxation of the second class also. And the music will correspond
to their minds; for as their minds are perverted from the natural state, so there are perverted
modes and highly strung and unnaturally colored melodies. A man receives pleasure from what is
natural to him, and therefore professional musicians may be allowed to practice this lower sort of
music before an audience of a lower type. But, for the purposes of education, as I have already
said, those modes and melodies should be employed which are ethical, such as the Dorian, as we said
before; though we may include any others which are approved by philosophers who have had a musical
education. The Socrates of the Republic is wrong in retaining only the Phrygian mode along with the
Dorian, and the more so because he rejects the flute; for the Phrygian is to the modes what the
flute is to musical instruments- both of them are exciting and emotional. Poetry proves this, for
Bacchic frenzy and all similar emotions are most suitably expressed by the flute, and are better
set to the Phrygian than to any other mode. The dithyramb, for example, is acknowledged to be
Phrygian, a fact of which the connoisseurs of music offer many proofs, saying, among other things,
that Philoxenus, having attempted to compose his Mysians as a dithyramb in the Dorian mode, found
it impossible, and fell back by the very nature of things into the more appropriate Phrygian. All
men agree that the Dorian music is the gravest and manliest. And whereas we say that the extremes
should be avoided and the mean followed, and whereas the Dorian is a mean between the other modes,
it is evident that our youth should be taught the Dorian music.

     Two principles have to be kept in view, what is possible, what is becoming: at these every man
ought to aim. But even these are relative to age; the old, who have lost their powers, cannot very
well sing the high-strung modes, and nature herself seems to suggest that their songs should be of
the more relaxed kind. Wherefore the musicians likewise blame Socrates, and with justice, for
rejecting the relaxed modes in education under the idea that they are intoxicating, not in the
ordinary sense of intoxication (for wine rather tends to excite men), but because they have no
strength in them. And so, with a view also to the time of life when men begin to grow old, they
ought to practice the gentler modes and melodies as well as the others, and, further, any mode,
such as the Lydian above all others appears to be, which is suited to children of tender age, and
possesses the elements both of order and of education. Thus it is clear that education should be
based upon three principles- the mean, the possible, the becoming, these three.