The relationship between polis and man in political philosophy of Aristotle

The main purpose of this work is to evaluate Aristotelian conception of zoon politikon as a problem of political theory. In that regard, the story of cohabitation and seminal moments of rural history are discussed. The assumption behind the discussion held is "man is a ethical-political entity," which stands also in the background of Aristotelian approach. The questions thus asked are as such: What is the motivation behind his argumentation? Which methodology is followed? And on which historical and philosophical grounds the conception is built? The argument alleged is that those grounds are not confined to the world of ancient Greece but include some common factors of human experience but on the other hand recognizes the fact that polis is exclusively the outcome of Greek experience. The first of part of the thesis reviews the experience of coexistence throughout the human history. That endeavor does not confine itself to Greek world but also deals with subjects such as the nature of ancient cities, the emergence of first habitats, agricultural and urban revolutions. In this holistic approach the historical roots of polis and the hallmarks of that process are covered within the scope as well. The occurrences between the emergence of polis and philosophy of Aristotle are argued in that regard. The second part explains Aristotle's political philosophy along with his conception of zoon politikon, thus the argumentation reached ethic-political grounds. The legitimacy of such a connection is derived from the fact that the question of politics is intertwined with ethical questions as far as his thought is concerned. The thesis moves forward to feature the historical process of the emergence of polis. This effort utilizes two examples: Sparta and Athena. Aristotle's definition of politics and his classification of forms of government are also treated throughout the thesis. The last part focuses on Aristotle's approach to polis, the grounds of that approach and sine qua non institution and structures of polis. In that part the subject of education that accompany the subject of polis is argued in Aristotelian terms as well. Key words: human nature, ethics, politics, political, moral, ethical-political human, citizen, citizen-human, polis, city, city-state, ideal polis, political administration, bios politikos, political living being, Ancient Greek