But if they are states at all, they
embody some common conception of the good, some common aspirations of
all their members.
The Greek doctrine that the essence of the state consists in community
of purpose is the counterpart of the notion often held in modern times
that the essence of the state is force. The existence of force is for
Plato and Aristotle a sign not of the state but of the state's
failure. It comes from the struggle between conflicting misconceptions
of the good. In so far as men conceive the good rightly they are
united. The state represents their common agreement, force their
failure to make that agreement complete. The cure, therefore, of
political ills is knowledge of the good life, and the statesman is he
who has such knowledge, for that alone can give men what they are
always seeking.
If the state is the organisation of men seeking a common good, power
and political position must be given to those who can forward this
end. This is the principle expressed in Aristotle's account of
political justice, the principle of "tools to those who can use them."
As the aim of the state is differently conceived, the qualifications
for government will vary. In the ideal state power will be given to
the man with most knowledge of the good; in other states to the men
who are most truly capable of achieving that end which the citizens
have set themselves to pursue. The justest distribution of political
power is that in which there is least waste of political ability.
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