[Sidenote: Theoretically a monarchy, but practically a democracy is best.]
=Aristotle’s Ideal State and Education.=--A more practical attempt to unify the new with the old in Athenian society and education was made by Aristotle (386-322 B. C.), the pupil of Plato. From his father, the court physician at Macedon, and from his study under Plato, Aristotle obtained an excellent scientific training, which is evident in the way he approaches his problems. It is in his _Politics_ especially that he discusses the ideal state and the training of a citizen. His method of investigation to determine the nature of this ideal state is inductive, and before formulating his conception of it, he makes a critical analysis of Plato’s _Republic_ and _Laws_, and analyzes the organization of many other states, both ideal and actual. He concludes that a monarchy is theoretically the best type of government, but that the form most likely to be exercised for the good of the governed is the democracy. He then considers in detail the best natural and social conditions for a state. Among these practical considerations is the proper education to make its citizens virtuous.
[Sidenote: Education necessary for virtue.]
Since virtue is of two kinds, moral or practical, and intellectual or speculative, and the former is merely the stepping-stone to the latter, the education needed for the virtue of the state must not, like that of Sparta, be purely a training for war and practical affairs. In marking off the periods of education, Aristotle holds that “the care of the body ought to precede that of the soul, and the training of the impulsive side of the soul ought to come next; nevertheless, the care of it must be for the sake of the reason, and the care of the body for the sake of the soul.” The development of the body he wishes to start even before birth by having the legislator “consider at what age his citizens should marry and who are fit to marry.” Also he deems it necessary to sanction the usage of his time of ‘exposing’ (see p. 13) all deformed and weakly children. However, his advice concerning the food, clothing, and exercise of children is humane and in keeping with the best modern hygiene.