Aristotle on Humanity’s Social Nature

Status of the Author and Historical Context

This text is by Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher. He lived in the 4th century BC and witnessed the decline of classical Greek culture.

Text Theme

This text addresses the social nature of humans, who possess reason. This is the foundation of human societies.

Main Ideas

  • Nature does nothing in vain.
  • Humans alone possess speech, distinguishing them from animals.
  • Animals have a voice to express pain and pleasure.
  • Speech allows humans to reason and judge justice and injustice.
  • Because nature does nothing in vain, humans are naturally social beings.

Relationships Between Ideas

Aristotle’s theory is that humans are social animals. The purpose of human life is to live in society, the only place for full development. This thesis is based on two reasons:

  • Humans possess language, a feature superior to other animals.
  • Language facilitates interaction and agreements about good and evil, right and wrong. This leads to the conclusion that language enables the existence of a constitution, a fundamental law governing the city.

Understanding the Ideas

Aristotle views humans as naturally social beings. His teleological perspective—that everything in nature has a purpose—means that the purpose of human attributes is community life. This theory opposes the Sophists, who believed humans unite through covenants. Human sociability is evident because only humans possess speech (logos), while animals only have a voice expressing pain and pleasure. The rational human soul, and the logos, allow dialogue, judgment, and choices about right and wrong. Speech makes humans ethical and political beings. This leads Aristotle to believe that language allows citizens to organize for a good life. An isolated human would be a god or a beast. The family is the first social unit, meeting basic needs. Families form villages, but the city (polis) is the pinnacle of human social life—the perfect, self-sufficient community. The city is the realm of reason, language, knowledge, and human action. It is the purpose of all other social structures. Within the polis, humans achieve happiness. This highlights the link between ethics and politics. Virtue requires education, a function of the state. However, only free citizens could achieve happiness; slaves, foreigners, women, and the uneducated were excluded. Aristotle’s ideal was aristocratic, reflecting his social and cultural context.