Aristotle’s Politics can be considered as a critique to many kinds of prevailing

constitutions including Plato’s ideal society. And through engaging with those critiques, he
arrived of the best constitution that he looks at as the best. Starting with the most basic is the
origin of the state. For Aristotle, state is natural. A state is natural for the state is a creation of
nature following that the individual is naturally not self-sufficing given that the purpose of the
state is to serve the individuals to be sufficient. From this view point, the state existed for the
needs of the individuals. But before dealing with the provisions and laws that a state must have
is there must be first the characterization of the relationship between a slave and a master.
According to Aristotle, being a slave can be absolute and can be also relative. This is because the
relation of master and slave between them is natural they are friends and they have common
interest but when the relation rests on law and force the reverse is true.

For the state to have and endure its existence depends on the qualities that it must have.
Aristotle argued that the nature of a state is plurality for a state is not a military alliance as it is
not made up only of so many men, but of different kinds of men and because for him similars do
not constitute a state. This is an immense criticism to Plato’s idea that a state must be united.
Unity in a state could also lead to injustice. Speaking of injustice, let us precede to the property
rights. Aristotle came with the conclusion that property should be private but the use of it
common. This is justifiable in a sense that “a man feels a thing to be his own for surely the love
of self is a feeling implanted by nature and not given in vain, although selfish is rightly
censured”, however, “there is greatest pleasure in doing kindness or service to friends or guests
or companions, which can only be rendered when a man has private property.”

Going to the requirements of citizenship in a state, Aristotle defined a citizen of a state as

a man who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state
or in general, citizens sufficing for the purposes of life compose a state. For this to take place
there must have the two virtues of a citizen; obeying and ruling. Consequently, the citizenship of
an individual depends on the kind of constitution he belongs to and his qualities and
preferences. Since different men have different qualities, they must have unlike preferences of
seeking happiness considering that the greatest aim of the men is the greatest happiness, they
must seek dissimilar kinds of governments which makes the citizenship relative. Also, Aristotle
defined two parts of the soul; one that has a rational principle in itself, and the other not having
rational principle in itself, and Aristotle calls a man good because a man has virtues of these two.