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What is the purpose of political association (society) according to Aristotle? How do political associations achieve this purpose?

Aristotle discusses this issue in his Politics. His first claim is that the polis is natural rather than conventional, meaning that human beings by their very nature are "political animals." He argues that the polis evolves out of more modest forms of natural associations, such as men and women associating for reproductive purposes and masters and "natural" slaves associating to combine the benefits of the intellect of the masters and the physical strength of the slaves. Humans also are drawn together for the purposes of trade and mutual defense. Because humans are not self-sufficient, they must gather in groups.


The end purpose of the polis is human good or flourishing. Several of the activities of the state combine to promote this. On a practical level, the state allows for mutual defense against enemies, specialization of labor, trade, and shared projects such as irrigation and aqueducts.


On a more complex level, the city provides education and a mechanism for creating and enforcing laws, elevating humans from the state of wild animals or barbarians to civilization. The community also functions to develop shared moral goals and standards.

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