ion in his state. He believes that by leaving the people to live without limits in this matter inevitably leads to poverty. More important than the poverty that is caused among the citizens is that “produces factional conflict and crime” (65). Aristotle further reasons on the regime of Socrates, taking issue with the manner in which it deals with rulers and their difference with those they rule. Aristotle seems to feel that it does not follow that, though an individual in Socrates’ regime is able to increase the whole of his property as much as fivefold, he is not able to increase his ownership of land in this way. Aristotle seems to advocate a more consistent approach to the ruler’s dealings with regard to property. The problems that Aristotle finds with specific details of the ideal regime of Socrates lead to trouble he sees in the organization of this regime as a whole.Aristotle finds more problems with the description of the best regime in Laws. He considers the fact that Socrates’ regime is a combination of democratic and tyrannical regimes, “which one might regard either as not being regimes at all or as the worst of them all” (66). He goes on to reason that it is better to combine more of the regimes in order to create the best possible regime. Neither does Aristotle feel that the oligarchic means by which officials are elected in this regime is advantageous or characteristic of the best regime. The reason for this objection is his feeling that it is necessary for all to elect, rather than the dangerous prospect of a small group of easily corruptible people determining the elections with the ability to alter the outcome.Aristotle next finds criticism for the regime of Phaleas of Chalcedon in a number of different aspects of his view of political life. Phaleas contends that disputes over property and possessions are the source of all factional conflict, and therefore reasons that...
