Love of Beauty in Aristotle’s Politics. The case of Ostracism

In this paper I examine love of beauty (φιλοκαλία) in Aristotle’s thought, and suggest that he treats it as an emotion (πάθος) able to develop and strengthen good moral habits. I propose that Aristotle appeals to the love of beauty of some of his addressees – namely, those who are particularly sensitive to the “aesthetic” aspect of politics – to persuade them about the appropriateness of political measures which, if taken at a face value, might not appear ethically sound. After a preliminary discussion of the power of emotions to shape virtuous conditions of the soul, I briefly address the issue of the main properties of beauty: order, proportion and definiteness. Finally, I introduce the issue of ostracism discussed in Book III of the Politics and present it as a paradigmatic case of a political procedure which can be justified on grounds not only of common utility, but also of beauty.