For Aristotle, class conflict is inevitable. He spends nearly half the Politics talking about it. But this conflict is not a source of despair, as it was for Plato. Nor is it a sign that political disaster is looming. Instead, Aristotle’s science of politics is about learning how to build a harmony out of these competing existing parts through balance and moderation, rather than trying to impose order and harmony through rational legislation, as Plato tried to do in his Republic.
