Aristotle's Political Ideal "It is not Fortune's power to make a city good; that is a matter of scientific planning and deliberative policy."".
Aristotle, along with most of the prominent thinkers of his time, theorized upon what the Ideal Political State would be and through what means it could be obtained. Aristotle wrote on this discussion of the Ideal State in books VII and VIII of The Politics. What Aristotle observed around him were the prevalent city-states of ancient Greece. It is commonly believed that he did not have a vision of the large nation-state and especially not such great federations as the United States and Russia. What Aristotle referred to when he spoke about state, is a limited sized city-state that is formed by the grouping of several villages. He also believed that a nation is too large for a state: his state was about the right size so that all members of the state could meet in a single assembly. Aristotle's state was nearly self-sufficient so that the bare needs of life were met and continued "for the sake of a good life- for its people. This continuing prosperity for the sake of a good life is what Aristotle believes the goal of the ideal state should be. Aristotle said "that life is best, both for the individuals and for the cities, which has virtue sufficiently supported by material wealth to enable it to perform the action that virtue calls for it-. He feels that since man, as individuals, strives for happiness, then man, as a collective group, should strive for the happiness of the state. Since it is now established what the ideal state should aim for, we may begin at what and by the Ideal State is composed. The Ideal State, of which Aristotle thought of, has as its quality of land that which is most universally productive. This would include natural resources, such as wood and crops, so that the inhabitants of the cities would have adequate amounts of food and other resources in order to be self-sufficient.
