Running head: BODY POLITIC 1
Body Politic
Institution Affiliation
Date
BODY POLITIC 2
Introduction
As a political phrase used in the western part of the world, body politic acts as a metaphor
in which a society is seen as a biological body with different organs, mostly a human body. This
implies a hierarchal leadership and division of labor. As described, the term carries a very strong
autocratic and monarchial connotation. The body politic metaphor was first recorded in the
Rigveda in 1500 BCE, and this was the oldest sacred book of Hinduism.
The south Asian caste is explained using the parts of the body, where the priesthood was
seen as the mouth, arms are compared to soldiers, thighs are compared to the shepherds, and the
feet of a person is compared to the peasants. An excellent example of an ancient body metaphor
is on the 'belly and the members' which is a parable linked to the Greek fabulist, Aesop. In this
fable, members of the body revolt against the belly because they thought it did no work but got
all the food. The other parts of the body, including the legs and arms, strike, only to realize that
they are growing feeble and weary after some days.
That is the point they learned of the importance of cooperation between all the body
parts, and that every part needs each other for survival. Like this story, society functions and
operates well when all the institutions work together for a common wellness goal. This is well
translated into the world of politics. This is well articulated by Plato, in his work on 'Republic
and Laws.' According to him, the conception of the state gave more emphasis on the well-being
and progress other than shortcomings. This illness in society occurs when the different parts of
society fail to carry out their functions as they should be as per their original planning and
setting. The fond of organic welfare in Greek was well expressed in their poet. Aristophanes, in
wasps (422 BCE), indicated that poems are required to address the illness of society. Therefore,
the body politic is a historical metaphor used to indicate the importance of different organs of a
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state or a society working together. By different institutions and organs working together, the
nation will be healthy and fit for humankind. However, if they fail to perform their functions as
expected, the nation and the society will fall ill, and the progress will be bad. (Smith, 2018).
Political thinkers and political theories
Aristotle's Political Theory
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher. (b. 384 – d. 322, BCE). He is one of the most
recognized ancient political thinkers, especially in philosophy and development of political
theories and his teacher, Plato. Political science looks at the roles of a politician or a statesman.
In his view of politics, he sees a politician's role as that of a lawgiver, or framing the necessary
laws for society. This includes encountering laws, practices as well as organizations for the
people. When the constitution has been formed, then the politicians have the role of maintaining
it and initiating the necessary reforms and preventing any developments that might subvert the
political system.
He regards this as very essential and vital than any politics performed on a daily basis.
According to him, a politician can be compared to a craftsman, especially on the way politicians
come up with, runs, and ensures consistency and maintenance of a legal system in accordance
with the principles of universality. Four cases are used to explain the presence of a city-state. It is
like a community with many parts or organs having some function as well as common interests.
He describes these parts in various forms and circumstances, such as families or economic
classes such as the wealthy and the poor or political units. (Demes). Therefore, society is
fashioned from the people and the resources, especially in their natural state.
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The official source of a society is the laws in the constitution. According to Aristotle's
definition, this is what gives order in the operations in every society or state. The manner in
which the community is and continues to be over time depends on the various changes done in
the constitution or whether it remains the same because it is the way of life, which must be
obeyed by every citizen. An efficient cause is also required for a city or state's existent. Aristotle
indicated that an order could only be possessed in a community only if there is a ruling element
or an authority that controls the state. The ruling is thus well defined in the constitution, which
sets up the different political and sovereignty offices. The city-state is there and is formed for the
sake of life, but its existence is for matters of good life. Therefore, according to Aristotle, the
lawgiver fashions the constitution, and then it's maintained by the politician. The aim of the city-
state is thus well defined and articulated in the constitution. (Pangle, 2020).
His hylomorphic analysis has useful, practical implications. Just as a craftsman shouldn't
impose a form on materials that are not suited, for example, building a house on unstable ground,
the politician must not initiate changes to laws that are not according to the people's identity. He
is against the utopian schemes like those in Plato's 'republic' that property and children should
belong to all citizen in common. This is because most citizens give more attention to their
personal property and give less attention to what is communal or communally owned. Casual
political innovation is also a point of concern for him because it's likely to have deleterious side-
effects of undermining the citizen's effort to comply and obey the law. There are several
philosophical doctrines of Aristotle's political philosophy.
The first is the principle of teleology. This involves the invoking of the concepts of
nature. The identification of something's nature is by the final cause. According to his view,
living things, including plants, are paradigm cases. In the same case, it is part of human's nature
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of adaption to political life and the city state's life. The operation of nature is for an end, and
thus, the ultimate happiness of a human being is in perfection. In the community principle, he
maintains that the city-state is the most accomplished society due to its self-sufficiency and can
exist for the good of life. Others include the rulership principle as well as the rule of the reason.
In this theory and view of politics, Aristotle explained society's composition from a political
perspective in terms of the citizens, rulers, constitution, and the other institutions that need to
play their roles accordingly for the betterment of life, perfection, and happiness of human beings.
(Chen, 2016).
Therefore, this was a great development and foundation for modern politics in different
countries, where there must be a ruler and a class of politicians who come up with laws and
amendments to the constitution to fit in the current society's circumstances. All units must
discharge their duties accordingly for the common good and according to the set-out laws, for the
good progress of society, because, if they are not in agreement, the state and the society can
collapse. Any challenges experienced are addressed by the development of new laws or
amendments, but they must be suitable for the citizens to obey them.
Thomas Aquinas Political philosophy and theory
This philosophy of Thomas Aquinas (1225- 1274) is at the crossroad of the Christian
gospel and Aristotle's political gospel. It's viewed as a moderation of the philosophy of Aristotle
in some consideration of the Christian gospel, emphasizing on the Christianity questions like the
divine nature and human soul as well as ethics. In his view, God does not require people to live
in accordance with the old law's principles, and so the formulation of detailed Christian political
teachings that complies with the biblical doctrines is not necessary. There are no specific
requirements involved in Christianity for civil society conduct. Aquinas's doctrine is that of
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natural law and is essential in both moral and political teachings. He puts it that everything God
created has a specified nature that defines what is right to happen and what is not.
This thing's nature is perceptible both to the external appearances and through the natural
inclinations that help it behave according to the particular nature it has. Aquinas argues that
God's role and formation of prescriptions and different nature's sustenance in the creation can be
referred to as 'law.' The whole world is thus governed by a universe lawgiver and is under the
governance of divine providence. Therefore, the community in the universe are under the
governorship of the divine reason. He refers to it as eternal law whose nature comes from whom
it's derived, and that is God. According to him, and in many cases, this eternal law is what God
uses to govern his subjects, without any likelihood that there will be disobedience. However, on
human beings, although subjected to the providence, which is divine in nature and this eternal
law, they have the ability of free choices, and thus, their relation to that law is different.
He explains that the creatures that can reason are subjected to the providence in the best
manner as far as it partakes the whole thing by being provident for themselves and others. As
human behavior's 'rule and measure,' this natural law provides the only possible foundation of
politics and morality. Natural law guides people on their inclinations towards the perfection that
God intends for them as the author. Living in a society is a natural good that people are disposed
to naturally. According to him, human needs and their aspirations result in political society.
Therefore, addressing the limitations and shortcomings of human beings' nature is not a
result of their inventiveness nor artificial development. The people are meant and inclined to
have political societies, and thus they have to be built, formed, and sustained by human beings.
In terms of the natural community, he acknowledges that apart from the political society, other
natural communities are even stronger such as the family. According to his explanations, the
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political society is a result of other forms of societies such as the families and villages.
(Akinwale, 2020).
Body Politic in Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan
In his book published in 1651, Hobbes (1588- 1679) frequently refers to body politic and
the commonwealth's organic resemblance. He talks of the metaphor of the political diseases,
socio-economic, and matters of political nature that may have affected the commonwealth's
operation. For this, he used 'infirmities' as the primary term. In his book, he declared the
commonwealth as an unnatural person. According to him, the commonwealth represents the
creation of humans. Also, the body politic was imagined as a machine with such vital parts as
gears and springs. He followed the model of paradigm transformation that occurred in the 17th
century. (Giamario, 2016).
The order in body politic wasn't an essential trait of that body anymore but was
exclusively commanded by reason. He thus stresses on the artificiality of the state. According to
him, the agreement that was made by men to create the commonwealth is only by a covenant,
which is artificial. The state's government is also issued similarly through the artificial chains of
civil laws. Because they are artificial, they can be altered by the ruler in existence, whatever type
and which is not subjected to it. Hobbes says that natural laws are the only one that can be
considered as eternal while the civil laws which are dictated by the commonwealth aren't. In his
work, he developed the metaphor of political disease. He remains true to the conventional
version of the political pathology.
He insinuated that the commonwealth could crumble due to affliction that comes from
inside itself or any external aggression in whatever form. Any society that was headed by a king
was the best form that could be taken by the sovereign because placing all the powers on one
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ruler would result in consistent and resolute political authority use and administration. In this,
when a command is issued, there are no contradicting directives from different people. He was of
the opinion that, in human's natural state, moral ideas don't exist. On human nature, the good is
seen as that thing that people desire, and evil as that which they avoid. This is what he used to
explain different emotions and behaviors. Hobbes had summed four anthropological causes of
religion. They include; opinion of ghosts, ignorance of the second causes, devotion towards men
fear, and taking things Casual for Prognostiques. In his work, he distinguishes the origin of
pagan cults and the origination of belief in one God, which is in line with the monotheistic
religions. He linked the pagan beliefs to the fear of the invisible powers. Stauffer, 2019).
Conclusion
Body politic basically is about people or a group of human beings organized politically or
in any other way and in a single government authority. Therefore, according to the discussion,
society comprises different sections and institutions that must be in operation for a common goal.
The supreme power, God, already created the environment for every living thing to live happily
and perfectly with those natural laws. However, for human beings to progress in common
accord, there must be a political community that develops and comes up with the necessary laws
to govern the people. Also, they make amendments where necessary depending on the state's
situation at the time. As explained above, different philosophers have different arguments on the
subject, but the common goal is perfection and the happy existence of human beings as was
intended by God, the author of their lives.
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References
Akinwale, A. A. (2020). Political Philosophy and Human Nature in Thomas Aquinas.
Chen, S. (2016). The Priority Argument and Aristotle's Political Hylomorphism. Ergo, an Open
Access Journal of Philosophy, 3.
Giamario, P. T. (2016). The Laughing Body Politic: The Counter-Sovereign Politics of Hobbes's
Theory of Laughter. Political Research Quarterly, 69(2), 309-319.
Pangle, L. S. (2020). Reason and Character: The Moral Foundations of Aristotelian Political
Philosophy. University of Chicago Press.
Ryan, A. (2012). On politics: a history of political thought from Herodotus to the present (1st
ed.). New York, NY, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc
Smith, S. (2018). Democracy and the Body Politic from Aristotle to Hobbes. Political Theory,
46(2), 167-196.
Stauffer, D. (2019). Religion and theology III: Hobbes's confrontation with the bible. (pp. 127-
183). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. doi:10.7208/9780226553061-008
