In This Paper I Want To Look Closely At Aristotle's... Essay - 848 words

In this paper I want to look closely at Aristotle's view of slavery and how does his view relates to his conception of human nature and political life? But before explaining why Aristotle justified this institution I want to say that many of issues and doctrines that Aristotle defended were morally wrong and they are not accepted in the modern political world. And I consider slavery to be one of these institutions. In the Politics Aristotle justifies slavery. No argument is needed to conclude that Aristotle made a terrible ethical and moral error in defending slavery. Why did he justify and defend his morally wrong statement and is there and logic in his defense and how does it correspond to the rest of his work. Some scholars have claimed that Aristotles defense of slavery is a battered shipwreck of an argument. Yet, others maintain that the argument is in fact internally consistent.


As for me I want to look at what arguments Aristotle gave in order to defend slavery. But let me say a few words about slavery of those times because it is impossible to investigate or criticize his view without this knowledge. First and foremost, slavery was ubiquitous. Furthermore, they were employed not only as household servants and stewards, but in Aristotles Athens, they worked in the fields, the mines, as craftsman, traders, secretaries, accountants, teachers, doctors, public servants, and participated in the arts. Hence they were indispensable for satisfying the needs of Athenians of even modest affluence. Without their exploitation, the middle and upper classes good life would cease to exist.


Moreover, the Aristotelian, ideal citizen would not be free to engage in the rational activities prescribed. While Aristotles defense of slavery can be considered morally repugnant to most, it is important to recognize that it arose in a society where slavery was part of the phenomenology of the day. The fact that slavery was a part of normal, everyday Greek life, embraced by many, likely had an effect upon Aristotles thinking. He had a respect for commonly held beliefs and activities, believing that there was some striving towards good in mans activities. Kraut also argues that it may have been almost impossible for him to reject an institution that was approved by so many of his contemporaries. In the Greece of Aristotle, slaves were either made or born. Under the rules of war, one could be enslaves by other Greek or non-Greek states.


Thus, bad fortune could red ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

...................You are reading a preview................... Visit our Blog and Unlock Full Access to this essay

Continue READING the FULL Essay by clicking HERE

Essay Tags: aristotle, aristotle's, clarendon press, university press, princeton university

This is an Essay sample / Research paper, you can use it for your research of: In This Paper I Want To Look Closely At Aristotles