Note 247 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
In the Politics (IV. 2. Bekker. Welldon, pp. 253, 254) Aristotle says that "speculation about the ideally best polity is nothing else than a discussion of kingship and aristocracy": and that "kingship must be a mere name and not a reality, unless it is justified by a vast superiority of the reigning king over his subjects":—a condition that can rarely if ever be fulfilled. See also Sidgwick, Elements of Politics, p. 579.