Abstract
In the Politics, Aristotle is committed to distinguishing the economic sphere and the political sphere in order to articulate and prioritize them. While recognizing the specific autonomy of economic activities, the Stagirite exposes the reasons that legitimize the limitation of these activities by the political power. By consecrating the eminence of politics in relation to the commercial sphere Aristotle manifests the imperious need to subordinate the search for an acquisition of material goods – legitimate in its order – to the highest activities of man which alone are likely to bring him true happiness. Sought for themselves, these are the expression of an exit by man from a logic of utility and testify to an authentic form of freedom in which his virtue and his excellence are deployed. It is ultimately only an education in the life of leisure that brings into the community individuals able to assume the moral and political destination the city is called to.