Philosophies of Civilization 

Carmen Knoll 

What does it mean to be a political animal? Aristotle defines “political animal” as natural cooperation with others to form a society beneficial for the aim of leading a good life (Aristotle, P28). Because men are naturally social creatures formed with the ambition of achieving good, it is impossible for them to live well alone. A good life is created through a form of justice, which Aristotle asserts is a civilized society with a just government to guide its citizens. A government is necessary and good because it gives the people the chance to live the life that they aim for, a worthwhile and peaceful life. 

Among many governments, good and bad, Aristotle believes the best kind of government has a just constitution. Aristotle claims that human nature is of a kind that is worse and more disorderly than that of animals. Man is capable of being the worst animal. He believes strongly that everything in nature exists for a purpose, that nature is teleological. And nature has given us the power of rational speech for us to be political animals. Aristotle states, “Nature, as we say, does nothing without some purpose; and for the purpose of making man a political animal she has endowed him alone among the animals with the power of reasoned speech,” (Aristotle, Politics Book I, P28). Political association is the ultimate association in the city, because it conduces the highest quality of life. People must be a part of a city or polis with other beings in order for them to realize their true nature. 

He then discusses property, stating that a slave is also considered to be the property of its owner. He compares the relationship between master and slave to that of the body and the soul. The master is the soul with commanding powers, while the slave is merely the body set for menial tasks. However, Aristotle makes it clear that a slave is naturally born a slave, as his owner is naturally the commander; therefore the slave has come upon the earth with the duty to serve his master so that he will live a good, worthy and free life. Aristotle refers to and compares slaves to tools. He infers that slaves are a useful production to free men as a tool is for creating a craft; in this case, the craft would be the chief aim of the owner: living a good life (Aristotle, P31). Aristotle's conception of citizenship is elitist. He believes political power is reserved for the wealthy, and argues that the government works best when the masses are allowed to participate. He claims that Democracy is the kind of government that exemplifies failure. He persists about the benefit of the hierarchy, insisting that those people that are naturally born well off and noble can contribute more and do bigger, better things (Aristotle, Politics Book III, P121). Aristotle reasons that the government exists for the good of the people. 

In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes has a very distinct and contrasting idea about the individual and society relative to Aristotle. He describes men as equal in every aspect, that every man is at war with another. The state of nature, to Hobbes, is the state of perpetual war. A place where two men desiring the same thing but in no position of sharing will seek to destroy and kill the other (Hobbes, P185-186). Hobbes does not see the individual as a naturally social animal, as Aristotle does. Aristotle says we will cooperate together by nature (men being political animals), but Hobbes asserts the opposite. Men are all bad, and this leads to the covenant with a monarch. Because of this terrible state of war, men fear for their lives and live in anxiety. This leads them to form a civilized society, to join a community with laws, rather than dread the fear of death and hope that they can live well in solitude. Hobbes claims that in the state of nature (Warre), property has no existence (Hobbes, P188). An object will belong to the man who claims it, no matter what method he uses. There is no right or wrong, just or unjust, in the state of nature because it is a lawless, chaotic world. Hobbes claims that when a man gives up his right and some part of his liberty, it is for him to gain good. Men do not give up the law of nature (which is governed by reason) because there are no benefits for him to claim. When a man transfers his right to a civilized government, he must follow through with the contract (mutual transferring of rights) he has subjected himself to (Hobbes, 191). One very important principle regarding contracts is that a man free from contracts is an individual who has liberty through performance or forgiveness. Hobbes is a monarchist, one who believes that a monarch is necessary to rule the people inside the state because if the world is not civilized, then nature would cause a situation where everyone would be against each other. This clearly illustrates the drawing of the “Leviathan,” which is a metaphor for the state. It is a drawing depicting an artificial person whose body is made up of all the bodies of its citizens, who are the members of the Leviathan's body. The person is constructed by contracts, the powers of the contract protecting people from abusing one another. Essentially, the head of “Leviathan” is the sovereign, the maker of laws in order to protect the civilians. Hobbes believes strongly that a government is essential because without a civilized society, men would likely reach a point of extinction. 

John Locke differs both from Hobbes and Aristotle. He believes that the state of nature is the state that all men are naturally in, a state of perfect freedom to justify actions within the natural law (Locke, The Second Treatise of Government, P2). In this state, all men are equal and the state of nature is the natural instincts of people, where no man has power over another. Although as free as an individual may be, however, he has no liberty to harm himself or another in his life. The law of nature governs a man's natural condition, which is brought up through reason (P2). There is no such thing for Locke as a superior and inferior, because each man is his own property and his only, and this by nature. He believes that private property is not obtained naturally, but when a man puts his labor into an object, it then becomes his property (Locke, P13). However, Locke warns that men should not strive for objects more than those he has worked for and sufficiently needs. This unjust act would lead to the state of war. No one is naturally born a slave or master, as Aristotle insists, and every man is free to do what he wishes, as long as he does not interfere in a menacing manner to another man (Locke, P11). He states that slavery violates the law of nature, because it takes away an individual's self-ownership. Locke believes we do not need a government to rule over the people, because we are peaceful, noble creatures that carry out actions in a moral, just manner. However, although the majority of people live by the Golden Rule, there are those that deviate from the natural state. Therefore, Locke believes it is just and right to punish those that deviate from the norm (Locke, P5). He thinks differently from Hobbes by saying the state of nature is contrary to the state of war. Locke believes that it is redundant to have a government that constitutes laws when he claims: “For truth of keeping of faith belong to men as men, and not members of society,” (Locke, The Second Treatise of Government, P7). He believes that everyone is naturally in the state of seeking peace and fellowship with one another, even without forming any political societies. 

In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud observes every aspect of human nature and the way society affects an individual in a very scientific, psychoanalytic manner. He bases a lot of his theories on human instincts and personality, circling around three essential components of personality: id, ego, and the superego. He identifies human nature as naturally inclined to feel discontent and dissatisfaction. Freud believes that men form a civilization in order to protect themselves from suffering, but it is ironically civilization that brings about that same suffering as much as a lawless world (Freud, P58). On the other hand, Aristotle believes that the goal of men forming a civilization is to achieve the highest good. Because of our strong instincts and impulses, it would be impossible to feel content with civilization because society forces us to sublimate our central drives into productive, acceptable behaviors. Our central drives would be two instincts that act as a dual system that constantly struggle with each other: Thanatos and Eros. Thanatos is the instinct of death and Eros is the instinct of life. Thanatos centers around aggression and violence when Eros is centered around survival, gain, and mainly sex (Freud, P111). Although Freud agrees with some form of a civilized society, he feels that we are naturally made to live in a primal state, saying we are instinctually aggressive creatures whose needs and impulses need to be met at a certain point (Freud, P94). Since this is repressed by civilization, we are caused more frustration and misery. He agrees with Hobbes in a way that men are impulsive and aggressive by nature (not “natural animals who cooperate together to form a better, civilized society” -Aristotle), but he is skeptical if the benefits of giving up liberty to a government would outweigh the amount of suppression an individual would feel from the civil laws. He describes civilization as a product of inhibited primitive instincts. 

The id, ego, and superego that Freud describes thoroughly relate in some form to all the authors: the id is the base needs of human beings, the unconscious desires and thoughts that are uncontrollable. The ego is rational, keeping emotions and desires that are part of the id in check. The superego, however, extends a bit further from the ego. The superego is outside of the individual himself; it is the conscience that drives a man to realize how the world should be. The id correlates with Hobbes's idea fully: men are creatures that are violent in nature and act on impulse to satisfy their basic needs and desires. The ego relates to Aristotle's idea that men are rational, political animals who, although they have instinctual habits, will control these emotions to form a society to aim for a good life. The superego unmasks Locke's assertion that men are moral, noble beings who will determine what is just and unjust through their conscience. They therefore do not need a government to transfer their rights to in order to lead a peaceful life. Although all the authors have contrasting arguments, there are rational arguments over the less assertive ones that one can differentiate and form a connection to. Each argument is interrelated and interconnected. 

Works Cited 

Aristotle. The Politics. Trans. T. Sinclair. New York: Penguin Classics, 1981. 

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. New York: Penguin Classics, 1982. 

Locke, John. A Letter Concerning Toleration. New York: Dover Thrift Editions, 2002. 

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontents. Trans. James Strachey. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989.