SUMMARY: ARISTOTLE POLITICS BOOK 1

Transcription

1 Here are the notes I took on our reading. They are not exhaustive, but summarize most of what Aristotle has to say in Politics bk 1. Chapter 1 In general, every community is established for the sake of some good just like every action is performed for the same reason. Natural masters and natural slaves differ in kind not in degree, and so do different types of masters The best way to study this subject, like many other subjects is through analysis that is we start from the bottom, with the smallest part of the whole, which is the individual. Chapter 2 Natural masters are those who are capable of rational foresight A natural slave can only use his or her body to labour. The first type of community is the male/ female couple who come together naturally not just for the sake of procreation (since this in an instinct not a deliberate choice) but because they cannot exist without each other. Similarly, natural rulers and natural slaves need each other and their community is beneficial for both master and slave The household (made up of man, woman, children, slaves and animals) comes about naturally for the sake of satisfying everyday needs The village is made up of several households and exists for the sake of satisfying needs other than everyday ones (e.g. blacksmith, cobbler, etc.) A complete community constituted out of several villages, once it reaches the limit of total selfsufficiency, practically speaking, is a city-state. The city-state comes to be for the sake of living, but remains in existence for the sake of living well Since the city-state is made up of smaller communities that are all natural, the city-state exists by nature. For the city-state is the end of these communities, and the nature of a thing is its end (actuality). The city-state is the natural end of humans, animals and communities as it allows them to fulfil their potentiality to complete their coming-into-being. Moreover, the city-state exists for the sake of self-sufficiency, which is both its end and its best A city-state is among the things that exist by nature, [and] a human being is, by nature, a political animal. No animal has speech except humans and since nature makes nothing pointlessly, there must be a purpose to this. The purpose of speech is to distinguish good and bad, and to make clear what is beneficial or harmful. Human beings alone have perception of what is good or bad. The city state is prior to the household and to each of us individually since the whole is necessarily prior to the part, since everything is defined by its task and its capacity (which is why a dead hand is not really a hand) Page 1 of 6

2 In the same way, an individual is not self-sufficient; apart from a city-state he is not really a human individual, he is either a beast or a god A human being is the best of animals when perfected, he is the worst when separated from law and justice or when he lacks virtue, in which case, he is the worst of animals. Virtue and practical reason are humanity s weapons which can be used for good or bad purposes. Chapter 3 Aristotle turns to the subject of masters and slaves in order to examine whether mastership is a science like that of household management, statesmanship, kingship and whether slavery is natural or involves force. Chapter 4 Some tools are inanimate, others animate A household manager needs tools to perform his task, some of which are animate (living) and others inanimate Ordinary tools are tools for production Property (such as slaves) is a tool for action, which is what life is about. Since action and production differ in kind, their tools must differ in the same way A part is not just a part of another thing, but is entirely that thing s. That s why a slave belongs entirely to the master but the master does not belong to the slave. Chapter 5 Aristotle is still examining whether there are natural slaves or not. Whenever two or more things are combined into one thing, a ruling element and a subject element appear. The basic parts of an animal are the soul and the body of which the soul is the natural ruler and the body is the natural subject One should study the human being whose soul and body are in the best possible condition In depraved people, the body rules the soul, but this is bad and unnatural The soul rules the body like a master whereas understanding rules desire like a statesman or king. (The difference is that virtuous desires obey the understanding willingly) Males are superior to females and masters to slaves and it is best if the superior rules the inferior. Therefore those beings for whom the best thing would be to use their bodies are natural slaves and to be used in a similar way to domestic animals. For them, slavery is both just and beneficial. Chapter 6 However, the fact is that natural free men are often made into slaves by law Is the use of force (e.g. to make others slaves) a virtue or not? Inasmuch as it allows us to conquer others, it would seem to have some good qualities. However it seems unjust. Page 2 of 6

3 Page 3 of 6 SUMMARY: ARISTOTLE POLITICS BOOK 1 What is justice? One side (Socrates in Plato s Republic) believes it is benevolence whereas the other (Thrasymachus) believes justice is rule of the more powerful (i.e. the use of force) In any case, both agree with Aristotle that whoever is most virtuous (whether this includes power and use of force or not), should rule. If slaves are made by law following a war which is unjust, those slaves cannot be said to deserve to be such, otherwise, those who are best born could become slaves too. The same people are slaves everywhere and others are slaves nowhere Hence there is a certain mutual benefit and mutual friendship for such masters and slaves as deserve to be by nature so related. When their nature is not that way, however, but is based on law and they have been subjected to force, the opposite holds. Chapter 7 Thus the rule of master is not like that of statesman which is rule over people that are naturally free and equal. A slave possesses sciences (like cookery and other services) whereas a master has practical wisdom Masters possess the science of using slaves, but those who can afford it employ someone else to do this and spend their time doing philosophy or politics. Chapter 8 Property and wealth acquisition in general will be studied in accordance with the method outlined earlier i.e. a composite analysed until we reach things that are incomposite Is wealth acquisition the same as household management, a part of it or an assistant (ancillary) to it? If assistant, does it provide the tools or the matter (the substrate, or raw material)? Wealth acquisition provides the resources that household management uses so they are not the same. Whether wealth management is part of household management depends on whether farming and other forms of food production are. There are many ways of obtaining food and nature has provided animals and humans with different ways of life so that they might get what they need. Nomadic life, raiding, fishing, hunting and farming are natural ways of life, since they do not provide food through exchange or commerce. Nature itself gives all living things property e.g. larvae are born with enough food to last them until they can provide for themselves. Mature animals too get everything they need from nature. Nature makes nothing incomplete or pointless. Therefore, plants are for the sake of animals, and other animals are for the sake of humans (food, labour, clothes, tools). (This doctrine is known as Scala Naturae) Even warfare, since hunting is a part of it, is natural, and a part of wealth acquisition, to be used against those who are naturally supposed to be ruled (natural slaves) but who do not want this. True wealth consists in goods that are necessary for life.

4 Solon is wrong in claiming there is no limit to the wealth that has been provided for humans wealth is a collection of tools (slaves and others) and no tool is unlimited in size or number. Conclusion: There is a natural kind of property acquisition for household managers and for statesmen. Chapter 9 The reason many think wealth is infinite is money; they confuse wealth with property. According to Aristotle, property acquisition isn t the same as wealth acquisition; one is natural, the other involves experience and craft. Every piece of property has two uses: one which is proper to it (e.g. wearing of shoes) and another which is not (e.g. exchanging shoes for money). The science or craft of exchange first arises for natural reasons some people have more than others. However commerce goes beyond nature to the point where people have more than enough. Using a piece of property for its proper use is natural; commerce and exchange are not. Wealth acquisition and commerce are not natural because naturally people only need to exchange up to the point at which they had enough. The purpose of exchange was to fill a lack in human s natural self-sufficiency. Wealth is often assumed to be piles of money However, money is wholly conventional, not natural. Someone with a lot of money may be unable to acquire food and therefore money is not wealth, as the tale of King Midas shows Commerce is unnatural because it has to do with production of goods, but not in fullest sense, rather it is limited to exchange for money. The reason that people mistake money for wealth is that they are concerned with living not with living well (remember that the city state comes to be for the sake of living and remains in existence for the sake of living well). They are wrong, because money is not the final good. E.g. the aim of medicine in to promote health, the aim of courage to produce confidence in the face of danger. But these people think money and wealth acquisition is the final end of everything. They forget for example that the end of courage is to produce confidence in the face of danger, not wealth, the end of medicine is health, etc. Chapter 10 Wealth then is not produced by the household, but by nature, just like a statesmen does not produce humans but takes them from nature, and the same with household managers, weavers. With wealth and health, there is a way in which it is up to managers to oversee it, and a way in which it is up to an assistant craftsman (techne, incl. medicine) Above all, nature must ensure there is wealth to begin with food in particular. Wealth acquisition that has to do with exchange is rightly disparaged because it is unnatural. Usury in particular is to be detested, since it gets money from money itself. Page 4 of 6

5 Chapter 11 Here Aristotle distinguishes between theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge and distinguishes between the various branches of wealth acquisition: 1. Livestock, farming and bee-keeping are the primary and most appropriate kind 2. Exchange involves trading (ship-owning, transport, marketing), money-lending (banking), and wage-earning (craftsman, unskilled) 3. Mining is a mix of natural wealth acquisition and exchange, since it exchanges natural resources (that are not food) for money. Aristotle recounts the story of Thales, who had managed to make a lot of money by predicting a good olive harvest, to show that philosophy is not useless, if it is combined with practical knowledge. Thales made his money to show people that it could be done. Chapter 12 Household management has three parts: master (discussed already), father, husband Because wives and children are free a man does not rule them as a master. Instead, a man rules his wife the way a statesman does, and his children the way a king does. This might seem untrue at first, since husbands always rule their wives, whereas statesmen take turns at ruling (e.g. they are elected for five years). However while they are ruling, although they are made of the same stuff as other people, the rulers try to distinguish themselves. Men are permanently like this with respect to women. With respect to children, they are ruled as a king because there is no equality, but rather a natural superiority in age and completion, and affection. A male is more naturally fitted to lead than a woman and someone older and completely developed (Actuality) is naturally more fitted to lead someone younger. Chapter 13 Household management is more concerned with people than with property, with their virtue more than (the virtue of property which is) wealth, and with the virtue of free people more than with that of slaves. Do women, children and slaves have virtues like temperance, courage, justice (Platonic virtues). Since they are human, they have a share in reason. They all share in what-is-noble-and-good and in virtue (otherwise they couldn t do their jobs at all), however there are differences (in kind) in their virtues. The soul by nature contains a part which rules (reason, deliberative part) and a part which is ruled (non-rational) and each part has its virtue (compare this to Plato) While the parts of the soul are present in all people, they are present in different ways. The deliberative (rational) part is missing from slaves Women have reason, but it lacks authority. Children have reason but it is incompletely developed Page 5 of 6

6 The same goes for the other virtues (courage, temperance, justice) and these are not the same in men and women (as Socrates, Plato thought). Contra Plato, it is better to make a list of all the different virtues, as Gorgias did, rather than to define them in a general way. Since every part must be shaped for the good of the whole, and individuals are parts of households, which are part of city-states, children must be educated with an eye to the constitution, that is, they must be made virtuous for the good of the city-state. Page 6 of 6