Politics is the science of the city, that is, the science of living in a community and of serving the public good, besides pursuing one's private interests. Public good is higher than individual good, not only because it permits leading a safe economic and religious life, but also because being part of a community and having one's own special role in it makes for individual happiness rather than isolation.

These are the basis on which ancient political philosophers established their constitutions for the City.

According to Cicero, Socrates was the first to call philosophy down from heaven, to establish it in the cities, to introduce it also into the households, and to compel it to inquire about men's life and manners as well as about the good and bad things.

Plato, his most famous disciple, published his teachings about morali

1. Plato, The Republic, Benjamin Jowett and Ray Woodcock Online Edition, 1998-1999;

5. F. Braunstein, J.F. Pepin, Marile doctrine, Antet 1997;

Aristotle's view of justice differs slightly from Plato's. Justice is not in so much an art, as it is inherent to certain forms of relationships between humans. In his Politics, Aristotle upholds a close connection between justice and friendship, because any form of human association presupposes cooperation, and depending on the limits of this cooperation, friendship can be inferred. According to Leo Strauss's interpretation of the Republic, this kind of relationship makes justice a lot like the art of war, wherein one's duty is to help one's friends and harm one's enemies.

Aristotle's criticism of Plato touches both his metaphysical teaching, where he tries to deconstruct the Platonic ontology of Ideas, and his political teachings, in which he tries to point out the dangers of a city relying entirely on Unity.

6. Dominique Colas, La Pensee Politique, Larousse 1992.

Plato's organicist view of state and society has found many adherents over the centuries. Proposing a new method of analyzing justice, Socrates introduces the parallel between the state and the human soul, as it is easier to find justice at a larger scale and then to apply its principles to the individuals.

This is the Athens criticized by Plato. At the same time, though, he offers an alternative by attempting to build up an ideal state, which opposes the lack of moderation with the creation of fixed groups, wherein each individual finds his place according to his special abilities. Within the groups, all members are equal, and no one desires the other's property, also because private property is abolished entirely in this ideal state.

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