Aristotle - Question 4. "Man is a political animal" Aristotle. Comment.

                                               Aristotle's famous assertion that a "man is a political animal" comes from his work 'Politics', in his text Aristotle argues that humans are naturally inclined to form communities, and polis or city state is the highest form of these communities. So, unlike other animals humans possess reason and speech something that he called as 'logos', enabling them to debate on matters like justice and common good. This rational discourse and ethical considerations are what makes human inherently political.

                                  Aristotle contents that polis or city state is crucial because it provides the environment where individuals can cultivate virtues and pursue the good life. This idea is evident in modern democratic societies like India where citizens actively participate in governance through voting, public debates and civil society movements. For example, Right to Information Act (RTI), Public Interest Litigation (PIL), Citizen Charters etc. 

                                              Aristotle's concept has been critiqued by various modern thinkers like Hannah Ardent, she argued that Aristotle focus on polis or city state does not fully account for complexities of modern nation state which are much larger, more diverse than the relatively small homogeneous city state of Ancient Greece. Karl Marx criticized the idea that humans are inherently political in Aristotelian sense, he suggested that political system is often used to perpetuate the power of the ruling class and that contradicts the notion of polis or city state dedicated to the common good.

                                              Aristotle's statement that a "man is a political animal", fully justifies that humans do not merely gather for survival, but something way beyond survival. Humans realizes their highest potential within a political community and that's why they are called as political animals.