Man is by nature a political animal.

Once again I come across this phrase, which happens to be a quote by Aristotle, used as a justification for a jaded perception on mankind’s manipulations.

Of course, that is not at all what Aristotle intended.

In fact politics – the art and science of influencing governmental policy and action – was not on Aristotle’s mind at all. What Aristotle actually wrote, which has been translated into political animal was “πολιτικον ζωον” (politikon zoon) which quite simply means “an animal of the polis”. A polis is the grouping of citizens into an autonomous city-state, for example ancient Athens.

What Aristotle is saying, in other words is that while some animals live alone, and some form packs, man is the kind of animal that by nature forms city-states. In other words, “man is my nature a pretty advanced herd animal”.

It’s not just the translation that gives us this peculiar and a little misanthropic interpretation of Aristotle’s intent. It is also that we simply take him very much out of context. As you will see, it is the man who is not “political” (of the polis) who is the dangerous one:

Hence it is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that
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; he is like the

“Tribeless, lawless, hearthless one,”

whom Homer denounces- the natural outcast is forthwith a lover of
war; he may be compared to an isolated piece at draughts.

About the author: E P Wohlfart is a twenty-something freelance writer with a Classical Archaeology degree, a laptop and a maxed-out library card. Aside from administrating PastPresenters.com, which she started in 2008, she works with several historical publications and is a regular contributor at Suite101.