Quote:
“It is clear, then, that some men are by nature free, and others slaves, and that for these latter slavery is both expedient and right.”
Source:
Quote: Aristotele: Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 1991, 1255a1–2.
Picture: Nach Lysipp - Jastrow (2006). Wikimedia. Creative Commons.
Author Bio:
Aristotele (384 BCE - 322 BCE), ancient philosopher, student at the Platonic Academy and tutor to Alexander at the court of King Philip, taught from 335/4 at the public gymnasium (Lykeion) in Athens and then founded his own school, later named after Peripathos.
Context:
The quote comes from Aristotle's first book of his "Politics", in which he attempts to demonstrate the inequality of the distribution of power and the subordination and superiority of people as a natural fact. In response to the objection that prisoners of war could fall into slavery by chance without having previously been slaves, he argues that it is precisely in their defeat in battle that their previously hidden "slave nature" is revealed. Aristotle's defense of the institution of slavery was a powerful source of justification for the conquerors, slaveholders and settlers of the pre-modern as well as the modern era.Further Reading:
*New York Times (Agnes Callard, 21.07.2020): Should We Cancel Aristotle?
*Olivia Haynie (27.11.2022): Aristotle and the Argument for American Slavery, Penns.
Year:
4 BC