One of the most brilliant disciples of Plato, founder of the Lyceum that originated the Peripatetic school and author of The Politics and Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) philosophized about politics, ethics, slavery and women leaving an important contribution to the study of political philosophy.
His controversial theory on slavery still causes polemic discussions as in today's world, slavery is seen as unacceptable and evil. However, in order to understand Aristotle's philosophy properly, one has to go back in time and see how the Greek society was organized to comprehend the context in which his theory emerged.
Slavery in Ancient Greece
Slaves were an important part of the Greek economy as they worked in the mines, in the fields and did all the hard work that the other citizens rejected. They also played an important role in a household, as they were in charge of the cleaning, the food and the master's children. Those who were domestic slaves did have a comfortable life and some of them had access to medical care and even retirement plan.
Usually, slaves were prisoners captured during wars. It was common that the winners of the battles transformed prisoners into slaves. The children of the slaves would also become slaves automatically.
Some suggest that if there were no slaves in Greece, Greece would have never become the cradle of the western philosophy and art, as great thinkers would be too busy working to maintain their properties, with no time left to philosophize about life, death and beyond. In fact, Plato was one of those who argued that slaves should work hard so that philosophers wouldn't have to. Sounds strange? Aristotle did not think so.
Aristotle on Slavery
Aristotle argued that some people cannot govern themselves as they do not have the wisdom and the intellectual skills to know what is best, right or just, so, they need other people to rule for them. Slaves are good workers and it's easy to recognize a natural slave because the hard work is the best that can come from them, just as the best that can come from an artists, is his art.
So, in a perfect place, those who are naturally slaves (for lack of intellectual skills) should be slaves, those who are naturally philosophers, should be philosophers and those who are naturally artists, of course, should indeed be artists. So, slavery was good for both slaves and masters.
This theory, however, raised a problem. If a person was either born a slave or transformed into a slave following a defeat in a war, this meant that it was not one's nature that determined if they were going to be slaves, but birth or outside events (such as wars).
Aristotle, then, said that indeed there were slaves that were not meant to be slaves and one could not know who should be slave and who shouldn't just by looking at them. So, he rejected the idea that all children born slaves and those captured in wars were necessarily slaves by nature but defended that there are people who are natural slaves.
The Natural Hierarchy
Aristotle's theories on slavery are in accordance with the classical concept of the natural hierarchy that says that everything in nature obeys to a system divided into degrees of consciousness/skills in which those who are in a lower level must be commanded by those who are in a higher level, creating a perfect harmony. When this hierarchical model is broken, then the nation falls into an anarchy.
Would Aristotle's theory on slavery be still valid today? This question is yet to be answered. Read Aristotle on Politics to learn more about Aristotle's philosophy. Readers might also want to read Plato on Democracy to know why Plato was against democracy and in favour of an aristocratic state.
Sources:
Aristotle, Politics. (Read online version)
Join the Conversation