Aristotle thinks of membership of a state as community in pursuit of the good.

He wishes to confine membership in it to those who are capable of that pursuit in the highest and most explicit manner.

His citizens, therefore, must be men of leisure, capable of rational thought upon the end of life.

He does not recognise the significance of that less conscious but deep-seated membership of the state which finds its expression in loyalty and patriotism.

His definition of citizen includes only a small part of the population of any Greek city.