Exploring Ancient World Cultures Readings from Ancient Greece
Selections from the Politics Aristotle / Translated by Benjamin
Jowett The State and the Natural Condition of Man Book 1,
Chapters 1-2 1. Every state is a community of some kind, and
every community is established with a view to some good; for
mankind always act in order to obtain that which they think
good. But, if all communities aim at some good, the state or
political community, which is the highest of all, and which
embraces all the rest, aims at good in a greater degree than any
other, and at the highest good. Some people think that the
qualifications of a statesman, king, householder, and master are
the same, and that they differ, not in kind, but only in the
number of their subjects. For example, the ruler over a few is
called a master; over more, the manager of a household; over a
still larger number, a statesman or king, as if there were no
difference between a great household and a small state. The
distinction which is made between the k