Geordnete Gemeinschaft. Politische Autarkie bei Aristoteles

Abstract

In Aristotelian understanding, political autarky does not imply individual isolation, but the order of all human relationships within the (political) community. The final aim is not ‘not-needing-anybody-else-anymore’, the independent identity, but the collective-cooperative shaping and ordering of life in the immediate forms of community. This includes in a special way (i) basic social-anthropological elements, (ii) economic activities, (iii) civic organization, (iv) social-ethical reflection and (v) friendship. These core elements of Aristotle’s specific political autarky make it clear that man is not only a zōon politikon but also a zōon koinonikon and that he can only realize this ‘political autarky’ in community.