ABSTRACT
As we’ve seen, Aristotle initially describes the polis as a community of functionally distinct persons sufficiently large and complex for living well. This description was introduced in the process of distinguishing the polis from other communities. In particular, the family and the village are parts of the polis and differ from the polis in size and complexity and aim, and thus require somewhat different capacities in their rulers. These arguments establish the polis as the basic unit for moral or political analysis, since they describe it as the kind of community required for happiness, or living well, that is to say, for the exercise of the human virtues. The task from then on, put in the most general terms, is to
figure out what particular sort of political arrangement will best achieve the aim of living well, common to all cities, and indeed to all human action. The arrangement or organization of those who comprise the polis is called by Aristotle a “constitution” (politeia). Hence the topic, from the end of the first book on, is which of the many possible hierarchical arrangements of the inhabitants, or constitutions, will best achieve the aim of living well. The question becomes increasingly focused and differentiated as the work proceeds.
