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The greater good.

Article Excerpt
Studying how people behave within societies has occupied some of the world's most brilliant minds for thousands of years.

And, a central question that has caused deep furrows in many brows is: How can people obtain the 'good life' given the conflict between their needs as individuals and the needs of their society?

As a young man the Greek philosopher Plato had the notion of going into politics. However, he lost faith in the political leadership in Athens and established The Academy, Europe's first university, One of the students at Plato's Academy was another giant of Greek philosophy, Aristotle.

His solution to the conflict between the individual and the community was to have a society governed by the middle class. He argued that people in the middle class are likely to be moderate in their individual demands. He said the middle class is more likely to strive for equality, than either the rich or the poor.

Let's briefly dip into Aristotle's writing for a taste of what he was getting at.

"Now in all states there are three elements: one class is very rich, another very poor, and a third is a mean (the middle class). It is admitted that moderation and the mean are best, and therefore it will clearly be best to possess the gifts of fortune in moderation; for in that condition of life men are most ready to follow rational principle. But, he who greatly excels in beauty, strength, birth, or wealth, or on the other hand who is very poor, or very weak, or very much disgraced, finds it difficult to follow rational principle. Of these two, the one sort grows into violent and great criminals, the others into rogues and petty rascals. And, two...

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