Much time has been devoted to the study of how and why
governments exist. This effort is required to understand
America's political and philosophical roots. The ancient
Greek philosopher Aristotle pursued and ultimately
answered this question in his work, The Politics. Though
written thousands of years ago, the lessons taught about the
natural state of politics reveal the immensely complex
system of an organized civil government in modern United
States. Perhaps one of the most profound thoughts
revealed in The Politics concerns the origin and nature of
basic government, the cities. "Hence it is evident that a city
is a natural production, and that man is naturally a political
animal" (Aristotle 1253a). Aristotle's line from The Politics
exemplifies two distinct but related points. The first part
states that the formation of cities is natural and the second
deals with the idea that man is by his own nature, a political
being.
At the beginning of The Politics,......
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