Aristotle on the Concept of Shared Life

According to the terms of Aristotle's Politics, to be alive is to instantiate an operation of power. In the growth of plants, the perceptual capacities and movement of animals, and the impulse that motivates thinking, speaking, and deliberating Aristotle sees the working of a powerful generative force come to expression in an array of forms of life, and it is in these, if anywhere, that one could find the resources needed for a philosophic account of the nature of life as such.0Aristotle on the Concept of Shared Life addresses this intertwining of power and life in Aristotle's thought, and argues that Aristotle locates the ground of human political life in the capacity to share the most intimate aspects of life with others. A comprehensive study of the relationality which shared life reveals tells us something essential about Aristotle's approach to human political phenomena; namely, that they arise as forms of intimacy whose political character can only be seen when viewed in the context of Aristotle's larger inquiries into animal life, where they emerge not as categorically distinct from animal sociality, but as intensifications of it. Tracing the human capacity to share life thus illuminates the interrelation between the zoological, ethical, and political0lenses through which Aristotle pursues his investigation of the polis. In following this connection, this volume also explores-and critically evaluates-the reception of the ancient sources for some of the most vital concepts of contemporary critical theory.