Aristotle’s expresses his view on human nature in his book Politics. He believes that “Man is by nature is a political animal” (Aristotle 4), because animals, in nature, are only concerned about the prosperity and health of their species. In his book, Aristotle claims that man is mostly concerned with the survival of his kin, however, in a community, all must collaborate to raise the young. Aristotle is comparing humans with animals but at the same time he states there is a contrast which is that humans form mutually beneficial communities which animals are not able to, making humans the politically inclined animals that they are.
Humans form communities, and communities are made up of households, and a household is made up of family members and slaves. A community is defined as a mutual association or partnership between two or more people. As communities develop, cities or villages are formed in order to split up the daily tasks of the community between the larger population, making less work for each individual. “Since we see that every city is some sort of community , and that every community is constituted for the sake of some good (for everyone does everything for the sake of what is held to be good), it is clear that all communities aim at some good , and that community that is most authoritative of all embraces all the others does so particularly, and aims at the most authoritative good of all. This is what is called the city or the political community” (1). In order to understand the nature of the political animal we must break down the word itself. Merriam Webster defines politics as “ the art or science of government” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politics). Any entity that has a so-called ruler is a government. A household can be a hierarchy where the oldest male is considered in charge. So, since humans are political animals, they use governmental systems in which work is divided in to specialties in the political community’s inhabitants.
Humans and animals differ on many levels most apparently is our ability to communicate as animals are able to utter sounds, but only sounds of hunger, pain, or fright. Humans, on the other hand, are able to communicate feelings or emotions on a deeper level. They also have the ability of having language and speech, the only thing that animals are able to utter is noise. However, such verbal communication does not guarantee political participation. There are outcasts from the law such as barbarians, which is anyone who is not a participant of the government in question. “For just as man is the best of the animals when completed, when separated from the law and adjudication he is worst of all. For injustice is harshest when it is furnished with arms; and man is born naturally possessing arms for [the use of] prudence and virtue which are nevertheless very susceptible to being used for their opposites. This is why, without virtue, he is the most unholy and the most savage of animals and the worst with regards to food and sex (Aristotle 5). In this passage, Aristotle claims that the savages cannot be controlled and therefore taint societies by engaging in virtue-less sex or incest and resorting to cannibalistic tendencies in their diet. The city unfortunately cannot contain the actions of the savages or barbarians because they are outside of the law. And justice is something that is only held within the city. The “arms” that Aristotle mentions is thoughtfulness, and a political human uses his or her mind to think and operate with high moral standards and use good judgement. Savages will make rash decisions without a second thought about morals or common sense, leading to politically terrible things like cannibalism and incest, which will have a negative impact on the community.
These are few reasons why people can be exiled from the political community. If people start breaking the law and are not punished, the city will be in chaos, for everyone will start to break the law for their own benefit, and the politics will fall apart and render the city useless. For in the city, “Everything is defined by its function and its capacity, and if it is no longer the same in these respects it should not be spoken of in the same way, but only as something similarly termed. That the city is both by nature and prior to the individual, then, is clear. For if the individual when separated from it is not self-sufficient, he will be in a condition similar to that of the other parts in relation to the whole” (5). If an individual serves no particular function in the city, he or she is then exiled from the state and forced to live on his or her own. In order for the city to work, everyone must do their ordained tasks. A city or city-state must be self-sustaining and if one object is not in place, then the whole system is plunged into chaos. Without the system that the city provides the individual is left to fend for his or herself by whatever means necessary. He or she will be forced into savagery. A civilization is like a bicycle, and each individual is like a different part of the bike. A bicycle will not move without the pedals, the tires, and the wheels. And the rider controls the bicycle by pedaling it, so the mechanics set up work smoothly together. A community is built as a unit, and anything outside of it is considered garbage, and is to be disposed of.
Animals however also sometimes live in units, but do not have a system where each animal helps each animal out. They all fend for themselves. Humans distinguish themselves from animals as we set up societies in an organized manner and each household and person in that household has a specific purpose. “For if it belongs to the expert at getting goods to discern how to get goods and property, and if property and wealth encompass many parts, one must consider in the first place whether expertise in farming is part of expertise of getting goods or different in kind, and whether this is the case for concern with sustenance generally and the possessions connected with it” (13). Since everyone has an ordained daily task, there is no confusion or fumbling for the city. The city is able to run smoothly, because the hunters hunt for meat, the women take care of the young and educate them, others gather nuts and berries, agriculture is run by wealthier households and the enslaved do the work for the household manager. The people that are the best at doing each task are also the most efficient so only they are assigned to do that task and another individual is assigned to do another task. This organization and Aristotle’s entire text argues that human nature is to be organized and each item must fit into a category.
Although they do not form communities like humans do, animals are not unintelligent in the way they live, their main focus is survival. People do not just focus on survival but also, they focus on quality of life and being the best society there is to offer. Because survival is key for the animal kingdom, the main objective is to eat. “For it is impossible to live without sustenance, so that the differences in sustenance have made the ways of life of animals differ” (13). Animals organize themselves by diet. Many animals are carnivores, eating only meat; or herbivories, eating only plants; and some are omnivores, eating both meat and plants. So, they travel in herds, hunting for food as it is convenient for them. Comfort does not matter when nothing less than an organism very survival is on the line. Animals do not have to travel in a community larger than the immediate family. So, if they are traveling in a pack there is greater competition for resources, which also means a lower chance of survival. Survival is the most important concern for simple animals.
The politically inclined animal is only one way of life for human beings. It is important that Aristotle notes that there are other ways of life. “The idlest are nomads; they derive sustenance from tame animals without labor and amid leisure… Others live from hunting, and different sorts from different sorts of hunting. Some for example live from brigandage [piracy]; others from fishing… others from birds or wild beasts. But the type of human that is most numerous lives from the land and from cultivated crops” (13). He is showing that although establishing a community is harder work that of being a nomad or hunter, the daily life of a community member is much less stressful than the daily life of a nomad. A nomad must consistently worry about where his or her herd will take him or her next. A pirate is consistently causing havoc on established societies and if they ever get caught are risking their lives in order to survive every day, a bit counterintuitive. This is why most people choose to form a community with like-minded individuals. The positive factors of working together with people further outweigh the consequences of being selfish and living alone struggling or causing havoc on communities that have worked hard to become well established.
Aristotle argues that it is human nature to work together for a positive cause, and that the outsiders of a community are inferior to the humans that band together to form a government for the greater good. Political animalism is Aristotle’s largest argument in Politics. As a car will not move with each component in its place, a government or city will not flourish without everyone doing his or her part honestly and efficiently. A week must be an endless cycle that repeats the events from the day before perfectly or else the state will not flourish. The way that a city starts is by individuals owning property, these individuals would rather join together than fight each other over pointless things. So, they associate themselves together and form a way of life that runs smoothly with one another in such a way that everyone can reap the benefits. Animals lack a sense of empathy, a contribute that humans add to the political scheme of life, something that animals could never add.