Primary sourceBook4th century BCE
Politics
Aristotle · 4th century BCE
Aristotle's treatise on political philosophy, examining the city-state, citizenship, and different forms of government.
This is Aristotle's major work of political theory, outlining his views on citizenship, constitutions, and slavery.
About this source
What it is
Politics is a work by Aristotle exploring how people should best live together in communities, with the polis (city-state) as the ideal form. It is divided into eight books and, like his Ethics, was likely assembled from lecture materials rather than written as a finished book.
Why it matters
Aristotle gathered and studied 158 constitutions of different city-states, using an evidence-based approach that contrasted with his teacher Plato's more idealistic method. The work reveals Aristotle's view of politics as essential to ethical living, and it later influenced Western political thought for centuries. It also contains his controversial defence of natural slavery, reflecting the assumptions of his time.
Look closer
- Why might Aristotle have thought the city-state was the
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Aristotle on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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