Q0013
“Man is by nature a political animal.” — Aristotle (Politics I.2, 1253a)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Politics I.2, 1253a. Theme: community.
English
Man is by nature a political animal.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Politics I.2, 1253a and files it under Peripatetic School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Aristotle
Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher born in Stagira in Macedonia, the son of a court physician. At about seventeen he entered Plato’s Academy in Athens and remained associated with it until Plato’s death in 347.
Interpretation
Aristotle's claim in the Politics is that a human being is the kind of animal whose capacities are realised only in a polis — a community with shared rule. The argument is that speech and moral reasoning are social in the way that a bee's activity is not: they require others to whom one is answerable. So the point is not that people like company but that the specifically human functions cannot be exercised alone. Someone capable of living outside that is, on his account, either beast or god.
Why it matters
It reframes solitude as a cost rather than a preference. The question is which of your capacities go unused when you are not answerable to anyone.
Concepts in this quote
- Community
- Community appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat community as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Human Nature
- Human Nature appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat human nature as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Politics
- Politics appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat politics as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Aristotle. (n.d.). Man is by nature a political animal. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0013
MLA: Aristotle. “Man is by nature a political animal..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0013.
Chicago: Aristotle. “Man is by nature a political animal..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0013.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Man is by nature a political animal.”?
The passage is attributed to Aristotle, Politics I.2, 1253a. The archive attributes this English wording to Politics I.2, 1253a and files it under Peripatetic School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Aristotle mean by community?
Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Aristotle and Kwasi Wiredu), community is framed through Africana Philosophy and Peripatetic School. Some passages define community; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through community, human nature, politics.