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Man is by nature a political animal.

Aristotle, Politics, Book I

Philosophy

The story behind the card

The line is genuinely Aristotle's, from Book I of the Politics (1253a), written in the 4th century BC. His Greek phrase, zōon politikon, means a creature made for the polis, the Greek city-state. Humans, he argues, are more political than bees or herd animals because they have speech, which lets them discuss together what is just and unjust. Anyone who needs no community, he adds, is either a beast or a god.

Türkçe oku
İnsan, doğası gereği politik bir canlıdır.
Aristoteles, Politika, I. kitap

Bu söz gerçekten Aristoteles'indir; MÖ 4. yüzyılda yazılan Politika'nın I. kitabında (1253a) geçer. Yunanca aslı zōon politikon, polis, yani Yunan kent devleti için yaratılmış canlı demektir. Aristoteles'e göre insan, arılardan ve sürü hâlinde yaşayan hayvanlardan daha siyasaldır; çünkü konuşabilir ve neyin adil, neyin haksız olduğunu başkalarıyla tartışabilir. Topluluğa hiç ihtiyaç duymayan biri ise ona göre ya hayvandır ya tanrı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Aristotle
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