What does it mean?
Human beings develop their abilities within communities that share speech, rules and a sense of justice.
Closest English saying: Man is by nature a social (political) animal.
What does it literally say?
Ο άνθρωπος φύσει πολιτικόν ζώον
O ánthropos físi politikón zóon
“Man is by nature a political animal.”
In founding the city (pólis), Aristotle links human life together with self-sufficiency and a shared reasoning about justice. «Πολιτικόν» refers to the city and common life, not to party politics.
How is it used?
“The neighbours agree on shared rules for their courtyard.”
Where does it come from?
A short rendering of a passage in Aristotle’s Politics, book I (1253a2–3).
Α 2, 1253a2–3
This is an English edition of the Greek entry, which remains the reference version. The English text was written from the Greek entry with the help of AI tools and checked against it. Suggest a correction ↗