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Why did Aristotle argue in Politics that animals exist for the sake of humans?

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Three PETA protesters in animal masks and green clothing hold signs reading No Fur at a demonstration against fur in clothing at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea. — Animal rights A PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration in Seoul, South Korea, against the use of animals for fur in clothing.

In his work Politics, Aristotle argued that animals exist for the sake of humans due to his teleological view of the universe, which posited that all beings are arranged in a hierarchy based on their complexity and perfection.1

Within this framework, often referred to as the Great Chain of Being, Aristotle believed that everything in nature has a specific function and that lower forms of life exist to serve those higher in the hierarchy. Because humans possess the unique capacity for reason, they occupy the highest position among corporeal beings. Consequently, Aristotle concluded that the function of less rational beings—including nonhuman animals—is to serve the needs of rational beings, providing a philosophical justification for their use as resources for food and clothing. This hierarchical perspective, while influential for centuries, is now widely recognized as an erroneous way of conceiving the natural world.123