Megan Howard, Outside Reading Blog

Outside Reading Blog- Aristotle’s The Politic
During ULLC class I realized a strong connection between our discussion about what makes us different from animals and a book I was reading for political philosophy. In Aristotle’s The Politic he discusses what makes us human. We come together, unlike other animals, to form a society and seek a higher life. We come together to escape the state of nature that we are born into and strive for a culture. These are the things that make us who we are. Animals do what is necessary to survive but humans come together to form something greater; we look not just at the survival of a life but the quality of it. We have emotional, mental and spiritual demands that can be renewed through wilderness but need more than just the bare essentials of the wild. As we discussed in class today, what makes us different from who we are and that of an otter? They build habitats, evolve from the past and other things. But we do not just act out of instinct, we have a more creative learning process and develop reason. These are the critical things that make us different from animals.
In The Politic, Aristotle claims we enter into partnerships with the intention of good. Nature is the basis of society but from that we enter into families, then a village and finally a polis. We do this to reach the previousy mentioned ‘higher life.” Like animals we have a desire for self-preservation but only the city allows for the good life to be satisfied.