First, let us consider what is the purpose of a state, and how
many forms of government there are by which human society is
regulated. We have already said, in the first part of this treatise,
when discussing household management and the rule of a master, that
man is by nature a political animal. And therefore, men, even when
they do not require one another's help, desire to live together; not
but that they are also brought together by their common interests in
proportion as they severally attain to any measure of well-being. This
is certainly the chief end, both of individuals and of states. And
also for the sake of mere life (in which there is possibly some
noble element so long as the evils of existence do not greatly
overbalance the good) mankind meet together and maintain the political
community. And we all see that men cling to life even at the cost of
enduring great misfortune, seeming to find in life a natural sweetness
and happiness.
There is no difficulty in distinguishing the various kinds of
authority; they have been often defined already in discussions outside
the school. The rule of a master, although the slave by nature and the
master by nature have in reality the same interests, is nevertheless
exercised primarily with a view to the interest of the master, but
accidentally considers the slave, since, if the slave perish, the rule
of the master perishes with him.
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