Essay 1: Classic readings in Politics and International Relations 13.11.17 What does Aristotle mean when he says that man is a political animal? How far do his ideas about politics and the state make sense today? Aristotle on the State and Its Members The natural ability to reason, act through morals and express opinions are skills that Aristotle would see as traits of political animals. These traits are what make us human, and over centuries they have been used to divide wealth, burdens and responsibilities within groups of people. "Aristotle claims that the polis existed "by nature" because nature means us to live a good life in common"1 The teachings say nothing about total equality but involves conjugal roles within the city-state. Inevitably, there are differences between people as to what extent they to use their political tools; and per consequence, some individuals will have more power than others. Thus, a natural elite came to be and inequality gained status as an inescapable occurrence. The city state with a sovereign becomes the ideal state, according to Aristotle. Of course, ideals change with time: As described in his Nicomachean Ethics, our ultimate goal as a species is to live in a telos; a functioning society. We have the ability to do this, because we are, as Anselm of Canterbury famously professed, the pinnacle of creation. We have the ability to learn from our mistakes. Thus, when looking at politics from a macro-perspective, we can observe that the politics of the state has grown in different directions as a result of trial and failure. The state is meant to make the people good; as worded by Aristotle: " ... for legislators make the citizens good by forming habits in them, and this is the wish of every legislator, and those who do not effect it miss their mark, and it is in this that a good constitution differs from a bad one."2 Hence, some states emerged as totalitarian states whereas some showed a more democratic development. This democracy gave each individual has an increased amount of ways to influence the political climate and as a result attains increased power. Our purpose as a species may be to organize ourselves as a force in concert; but Aristotle was not 1 Ryan, Alan. "Ethics and The Politics." On Politics: a History of Political Thought from Herodotus to the Present, p. 78. 2 Aristotle. "Nicomachean Ethics." The Internet Classics Archive, Book II, 350 B.C.E . Translated by W.D Ross .
a believer of the public. He uses the example of a child left to the public to be raised; more likely than anything is it that this child will be feral. If one is not assigned a responsibility, they will not take it because they believe someone else will do it. This aspect of human nature says something about how we only exist as moral beings to a smaller extent, which again underpins how it is unnatural for us to care about everything that does