Liber III, Pars I — Quibus rationibus probari potest, civitatem esse quid naturale, et quod homo naturaliter est animal civile et politicum. Cap. IIII.

Liber III, Pars I — Quibus rationibus probari potest, civitatem esse quid naturale, et quod homo naturaliter est animal civile et politicum. Cap. IIII.

In the previous chapter, opposing objections were removed, through which it seemed possible to argue that the city is not something according to nature, and that man is not naturally a civil animal. Since it is not enough to remove all opposing objections that challenge some truth, unless proper reasons are presented through which that truth can be confirmed, we intend in this chapter to present reasons showing that the city is something natural, and that man is naturally a civil animal. We can, however, demonstrate in two ways that the political community or city is something according to nature. The first way is taken from the fact that the community includes both the household and the village. The second is based on the fact that it is the end and complement of those communities. It was previously argued that living is according to nature for man; so that nature does not fail in necessities, whatever is natural must be sufficient for life. Therefore, the domestic community and even the village communities are natural, because they serve the sufficiency of human life. Since the civil community encompasses these communities and serves more perfectly the sufficiency of life than those communities, it must be according to nature. The second way to investigate this same point is taken from the fact that the city is the end and fulfillment of those communities. For as the philosopher argues in the first book of the Politics, what is the end of the generation of natural beings is something natural, and it is the nature of those who generate: just as what is the end of the generation of humans is something natural, and it is their nature. For the end of the generation of things is a form, which by antonomasia is something natural, and it is the very nature. We see, however, that the community of the household is something natural, not only because it serves the sufficiency of life, but also because those communities that complete the household are something natural: for the household consists of the community of husband and wife, master and servant, father and son, each of which is according to nature. Likewise, the community of the village is something natural, not only because it serves the sufficiency of life, but also because its generation has a natural existence: for the village is naturally formed from the growth of children and grandchildren, as the philosopher states. Polit. Therefore, if such growth is natural, the village itself will be something natural. Thus, the city, which is the end of the generation of the household and the village, will be something according to nature, because it is the end of the generation of the natal beings: for the generation of the household and the village is ordered towards the city as to its end and fulfillment. We can see that the city is something according to nature; the next step is to show that man is naturally a political and civil animal, which we can investigate in two ways. The first way is taken from the nature of speech. The second way is taken from the aspect of natural impulse. It is proven in the beginning of the second book, from the nature of speech, that man is naturally a social animal, because through speech we acquire knowledge and discipline. From this, we can show that man is naturally a political and civil animal, because human speech, which is called discourse, is significantly different from the sounds of beasts. Thus, Aristotle states. He says in the first book. Aristotle. In other animals, nature reaches a point where their voice serves as a sign of pleasure and sadness, so that they can express both delightful and sorrowful feelings: for they signify these feelings to one another through their voice. For a dog, when it barks, barks differently when it is happy: and when it is sad, it can signify its sadness or joy to another dog through its bark. But for humans, beyond this, speech has been given, through which it is distinctly signified what is beneficial, what is harmful, what is just, and what is unjust. If, therefore, a domestic community is organized to pursue what is beneficial and to avoid what is harmful, then the community of the state is organized beyond this to pursue what is just and to avoid what is unjust; thus, it is necessary for both domestic and civil communities to be something natural. For if nature has given speech to humans, that community is natural which is organized towards those things that are suitable to be expressed through speech; for what is just and unjust does not properly belong in a domestic community, but in a civil community. In a city, indeed, where citizens have their own distinct possessions, disputes and litigations arise about what is just and what is unjust; which does not properly occur in a household, where everything seems to pertain to the head of the family. Therefore, a city differs from a household; for in it, not only is there a question of what is beneficial and what is harmful, but also what is just and what is unjust: yet both communities will be natural, both domestic and civil, because what is given to us by nature is represented through speech as beneficial and harmful, and just and unjust. The second way to investigate this same matter is taken from the aspect of natural impulse. For all living beings have a natural impulse to preserve what has been given to them by nature. Therefore, if nature has given man the ability to live, it has also given him a natural impulse to do what is necessary for his survival. This, however, primarily occurs (according to the Philosopher) through civil community, since a city should be capable of providing all that is necessary for life. Therefore, there is a natural impulse in humans to live politically and to establish a city. But since what we have a natural impulse for must align with nature, it is necessary for a city to be something natural, or to be something according to nature.