The Lives and Opinions of Eminent PhilosophersDiogenes Laertius
Philosophy
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
Diogenes Laertius
Philosophers, Ancient -- Biography; Philosophy, Ancient
XLV. He used too, says Aristotle, to divide things in this manner:—Of
good, some have their place in the mind, some in the body, and some are
wholly external. As, for instance, justice, and prudence, and manly
courage, and temperance, and qualities of that sort exist in the soul.
Beauty, and a good constitution, and health, and strength exist in the
body. But friends, and the prosperity of one’s country, and wealth, are
external goods. There are then three species of goods, some in the soul,
some in the body, and some external to either.
XLVI. There are also three species of friendship. For one kind is
natural, another that which arises from companionship; and the third
is that which is produced by ties of hospitality. We call that natural
friendship which parents feel towards their offspring, and relations
towards one another; and this is partaken of by other animals besides
men. We call that the friendship of companionship which arises from a
habit of association, and which has no reference to ties of blood, such
as the friendship of Pylades for Orestes. That which arises from ties
of hospitality is one which owes its origin to agreements, and which is
carried on by means of letters between strangers. There is, therefore,
natural friendship, and friendship between companions, and between
strangers. Some also add a fourth kind, namely, the friendship of love.
XLVII. Of political constitutions there are five species. There is one
kind which is democratical, a second which is aristocratical, a third is
oligarchical, a fourth monarchical, and the fifth is tyrannical. Now,
the democratical form of constitution exists in those cities in which
the multitude has the chief power, and elects magistrates, and passes
laws at its own pleasure. But an aristocracy is that form in which
neither the rich, nor the poor, nor the most illustrious men of the
city rule, but the most nobly born have the chief sway. And oligarchy is
that constitution in which the magistracies are distributed according
to some sort of rating: for the rich are fewer in number than the poor.
The monarchical constitution is either dependent on law or on family.
That in Carthage depends on law; that in Lacædemon and Macedonia on
family; for they select their sovereign out of some particular family.
But a tyranny is that kind of government in which the people are either
cajoled or constrained into being governed by a single individual. Forms
of government then, are divided into democracy, aristocracy, oligarchy,
monarchy, and tyranny.
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