2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research about the structure of Aristotle's Political Philosophy
| Project/Area Number |
10410005
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B).
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Philosophy
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| Research Institution | UNIVERSITY of the SACRED HEART |
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Principal Investigator |
IWATA Yasuo University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Literature, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (30000574)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 2000
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| Keywords | Justice / Freedom / Equality / Citizen / Slave / the Golden Mean / Democracy / Multiculturalism |
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| Research Abstract |
Concerning to this research project, I wrote, as I have listed in References in detail, the following 4 articles. 'Slavery in Aristotle', 'Concept of Citizen and Constitution in Aristotle's "Politics"', 'Fundamental Viewpoints in Contemporary Political Philosophies', 'The Middle Constitution in Aristotle's "Politics"'. In the first article, I indicated an incoherency which lurked in Aristotle's conception of a slave. Namely, he defined a slave as a living tool which lacks reason, while he cannot help recognize a slave as an human being that is rational being in definition. This point can be a philosophical basis which is able to explode slavery and to establish equality of all human being. In the second article, I clarified the concept of citizen and constitution in Aristotle's "Politics". That is to say, he defined a citizen as a person capable of political activities. This definition can demolish the traditional concept of citizen which consists of a discrimination of race, gender, social class, genealogy, so that his definition can be a basis of democracy. In the third article, I recognized multicultural condition as an unreversible presupposition of contemporary world which must be basis of political philosophies. Namely, it must search a concept of justice that is able to let different cultres and religions to coexist. This concept is just that of freedom and equality. In the fourth article, I made clear that the idea of democracy has a close conexion with the idea of the aristotelian golen mean. Namely, the best constitution is that in which the maiority is the middle class in virtue as well as in wealth. The stability comes from the middle that is just the exellency of democracy. These are the results of the three years research.
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