Why did Marx call Aristotle the greatest thinker in ancient times?

Aristotle, called "the greatest thinker in ancient times" by Marx, is a master of ancient political thoughts, but the only works that have been circulated so far are Politics and Athens Political System. His book Politics not only systematically discusses the political thoughts of ancient Greek cities, but also establishes an independent political system for the first time, which is a pioneering work of western political science. His political thoughts involve city-state theory, country origin theory and country teleology. State government theory and law theory, just from his city-state theory, let me talk about my own understanding. 1. The source of polis theory is the thinker's evaluation of the society he lives in and the solution to the political problems he faces. Aristotle was born in the 4th century BC (384 BC). He lived in the period when the Greek city-state went from prosperity to decline and disintegration. The Peloponnesian War greatly weakened the military and political power of the Greek city-states. A large number of slaves fled, farmers went bankrupt, nobles were tyrannical and tyrannical, and the struggle between civilians and nobles intensified, which caused the Greek city-state to fall into political turmoil, tyrants usurped power and sectarian disputes. The cruel reality and crisis made him abandon his teacher Plato's idealism. He is not satisfied with constructing an unreachable "Republic" in "Republic", and does not approve of cutting and criticizing real politics with illusory ideal principles. Turn the focus of thinking to the real "entity", adopt a positive attitude, use theoretical research based on facts, trace back to the source, explore the causes of the crisis, and seek ways to overcome the social crisis and revive the slavery of the city-state. In his own words, we should "consider the general causes of various regime changes and explain the reasons and the nature of various changes." We must also consider the special reasons for the decline of each regime. We must also make suggestions on how to maintain the stability of the general political power and policies. " Therefore, the times endowed Aristotle with rich political and ideological connotations. He was born in a middle-class slave-owner family. As a representative of the middle slave class, he prescribed a prescription to save the crisis and put forward a social improvement plan based on the middle slave class. This has constructed a basic outline for his political thought. Second, the main content of city-state theory is 1. The polis is a supreme and extensive social group. Aristotle believed that the polis originated from the family. Family is a basic social form constructed by human beings to meet the needs of daily life. After the establishment of the family, in order to meet the needs of wider life, several families joined forces to form a village square. The most natural form of village square is a "settlement" which is bred by a family. People call this settlement "Descendant Village". The family is presided over by the elder among relatives, and the village workshop is also commanded by the elder with the highest status among peers. Later, several villages joined forces to form a city-state, so the society evolved into a highly complete state. He said: "In this social group, people's lives can be obtained." We can also say that the growth of the city-state stems from the development of human life, but it exists in the century for a better life. Aristotle pointed out that the early "social groups at all levels" of human beings were naturally produced, and the polis was also a natural product, which was the completion of the natural growth process of all levels of society, so it was a supreme and extensive social group. Aristotle cited a large number of historical facts, inspected various changes of the political system, summed up the experience and lessons of historical changes, and put forward the basic principles of an ideal city-state: First, the best and most stable political system is the political system in which the middle class is in power, which is a mixed political system of rich and poor. Second, oppose the excessive gap between the rich and the poor and advocate the sharing of private industry and finance. The purpose of property is to find appropriate means of subsistence. Therefore, we must limit the excessive pursuit of wealth. Third, the balance of Tao in law can be unaffected by lust. Once the law is promulgated, everyone should abide by it. Fourth, democratic politics is implemented, and citizens take turns to take power. Aristotle put forward: "in a society composed of the same people, it is just and commendable to implement the system of taking turns to govern according to the principle of equality and consistency." Fifth, it is commendable. The population should not be too large, and the region must be suitable. Sixth, use education to enlighten people's rationality, cultivate people's virtue, and make citizens adapt to the political system and lifestyle of the city-state. 3. The "golden mean" of stabilizing the city-state is the core idea of Aristotle's ethics and the cornerstone of his political philosophy. Aristotle asserted that an excellent regime should not rely on external support, but on internal balance to achieve its stability and internal balance. Aristotle discussed it from the following aspects: First, we should balance wealth and oppose the excessive disparity between the rich and the poor. Aristotle believes that the great disparity between the rich and the poor is an important reason for political turmoil and regime change. He pointed out that people who are "too rich and too expensive" and those who are "too poor and too cheap" go to extremes, which is not in line with the golden mean and violates justice, and is an important factor of social instability. Therefore, we should feed our citizens. In this way, people can live and work in peace and contentment without worrying about material shortage or excessive property. Secondly, it is necessary to ease the class-to-class opposition, coordinate the relationship between classes, and especially seek the balance between the two poles. In Aristotle's view, this force is the middle class, and the middle class is the embodiment of the golden mean. Thirdly, we should ensure the balance of power in society from the system. Economically, Aristotle advocates the moral property system of private industry and private property, which is considered as a "relatively just" economic system. Politically, Aristotle advocates that the most moderate politics is the mixed regime, because this regime takes into account the interests of all social classes and strata, thus reducing the possibility of political conflict and turmoil. At the same time, the mixed regime has also overcome the limitations of oligarchy and civilian regime and absorbed their respective advantages. Only in this way can "distributive justice" and "corrective justice" be reflected in the political life of the city-state. Finally, the rule of law is the balance of the "golden mean" and can not be affected by lust. Aristotle criticized the mode of "philosophy king" and "politician" designed by his teacher Plato, and clearly put forward: "Ordinary people can't completely eliminate the desire of animals. This often leads to prejudice when in power, and the law is precisely the embodiment of God and reason that is not affected by all passions. Third, the evaluation of city-state theory is the same as Plato's. Aristotle also limited his power to the polis, and he devoted himself to the study of political thought. The purpose is to save and maintain the Greek city-state slavery and make it an eternal system. The limitation of the polis itself determines that its purpose can only be an illusion. 1. The polis can't keep the relationship between them stable, which is not just the fault of a special administrative department. In a city-state, it is always impossible to separate foreign affairs from domestic affairs, because in domestic political activities, the class interests of each city-state belonging to an oligarchy are always consistent with those of each city-state belonging to a democratic (civilian) regime. City-states with the same class interests always unite and support each other. From this we can easily see that the independent development of the Greeks has brought serious harm to the political life of Greece. 2. The polis cannot solve all kinds of social and political problems in the Greek world. Politicians in the polis have never even expounded these problems. A week in Macedonia forced people to gradually realize two problems that have existed for a long time but have not been ignored by Aristotle as a whole. First, the polis is too small and aggressive to rule the Greek world, and it can't be improved to match the changing world economy. Secondly, in view of the long-standing economic and cultural ties between the Greek city-states and the hinterland of Asia, the idea that the Greek barbarians have political advantages is untenable in the eastern Mediterranean world. Although Aristotle's city-state political thought is bound by historical conditions and class limitations, there are still many shortcomings, some of which are even fundamental mistakes. However, starting from Marxist historical materialism, we must admit that there are many positive and progressive factors in his city-state political thought, which deserve our attention and study today. Due to knowledge and