"Aristotle human"

Aristotle says, "For the whole must be of necessity be prior to the part; for if the whole [body] is destroyed there will not be a foot or a foot or a hand, unless in the sense that the term is similar (as when one speaks of a hand made of stone), but the thing itself will be defective. Everything is defined by itself and its power, and if it is no longer the same in these respects it should not be spoken of in the same way, but only as something similarly termed."

Aristotle is saying that without the body, the hand is not a hand. He continues on to say that humans without cities are not humans. If they can survive without cities, Aristotle says, then they are either beast or god.

I agree with Aristotle that a hand is not a hand without a body attached, but I think that a human can be human without a city. Monks aside, plenty of people prefer to be away from too many people. Some people like to live in the country, miles away from any city with only their close family, farm animals, and spaced out neighbors. Aristotle would count this establishment as a village, but plenty of people are perfectly happy with not living in a city and being an "Aristotle human."

~Hannah