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Politics

Aristotle·c. 335 BCE·Greek

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A systematic study of the state, citizenship, and constitutions. Famous for declaring that humans are by nature political animals.

Every state is a community of some kind, and every community is established with a view to some good; for mankind always act in order to obtain that which they think good. But if all communities aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the highest of all, aims at good in a greater degree than any other, and at the highest good.

Man is by nature a political animal. And he who by nature and not by mere accident is without a state is either a bad man or above humanity. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to is either a beast or a god.

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