Aristotle's Definition Of A Citizen Essay

Aristotle is considered to be one of the most influential philosophers in many subjects; one of these subjects being political theory. He has influenced the way we run our government and how politicians think. His works and opinions still continue to greatly influence our current government in a large amount of ways. His contributions to our government are very prominent, but he is often not credited. Even though his ideas did not create an instant effect, his beliefs slowly established a spot in today's society.

Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Northern Greece. There is not much information about his childhood but what is known is that his father was a physician to the King of Macedonia which led to Aristotle’s connections within the Macedonian

He defines a citizen as “a person who has the right (exousia) to participate in deliberative or judicial office (1275b18–21)” (www.plato.stanford.edu). This definition, which was taken from Aristotle’s book, Politics: Book III, excludes women, children and slaves.

In our government, we do believe that the people come first, but, we do not exclude any type of person from our definition of a citizen. As long as the person is legally in the United States, they are considered a citizen.

Aristotle’s definition gave our government an example of how to not define a citizen; also, it helped us shape our idea of what a citizen should be. Even though this might be a difference our government has from Aristotle’s beliefs, he influenced our government to use the idea of citizen’s happiness being most important.

Aristotle also claimed that “a citizen is not a citizen because he lives in a certain place; nor is he a citizen who has no legal right except that of suing and being sued; for this right may be enjoyed under the provisions of a treaty” (www.scholardarity.com). Our government does fully follow this