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Single Idea 5265

[catalogued under 24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness]

Full Idea

Man is by his nature a pairing rather than a social creature, inasmuch as the family is an older and more necessary thing than the state.

Gist of Idea

Even more than a social being, man is a pairing and family being

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1162a20)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.280


A Reaction

Cf. Idea 5133. It seems that the family fulfils the most basic human function, but that political life arises from the next level of function, which is a combination of friendship and the wider needs of a family.

Related Idea

Idea 5133 Man is by nature a social being [Aristotle]