The Political Animal

Aristotle's Politics opens with the claim that a human being is by nature a political animal (zoon politikon), meaning a creature whose nature is fulfilled by living in a polis, a self-governing community. He traced the polis's development from the household to the village to the city, which exists not merely for survival but for living well. Humans, unlike bees, have logos, speech and reason, which allows them to discuss what is just and unjust.

Someone who could live entirely outside a community, Aristotle said, would be either a beast or a god. This view contrasts with later social contract theories, which imagine individuals existing before society and creating government by agreement. For Aristotle, politics is not just a necessary evil but the arena in which humans develop virtue. Critics note that his polis excluded women, enslaved people and foreigners from citizenship.