Aristotle on Natural Slavery

Abstract

Abstract Aristotle's claim that natural slaves do not possess autonomous rationality (Pol. 1.5, 1254b20-23) cannot plausibly be interpreted in an unrestricted sense, since this would conflict with what Aristotle knew about non-Greek societies. Aristotle's argument requires only a lack of autonomous practical rationality. An impairment of the capacity for integrated practical deliberation, resulting from an environmentally induced excess or deficiency in thumos (Pol. 7.7, 1327b18-31), would be sufficient to make natural slaves incapable of eudaimonia without being obtrusively implausible relative to what Aristotle is likely to have believed about non-Greeks. Since Aristotle seems to have believed that the existence of people who can be enslaved without injustice is a hypothetical necessity, if those capable of eudaimonia are to achieve it, the existence of natural slaves has implications for our understanding of Aristotle's natural teleology.

Cite this

Malcolm Heath (2008). Aristotle on Natural Slavery. Phronesis. https://doi.org/10.1163/156852808x307070

@article{malcolm2008aristotle,
  title  = {Aristotle on Natural Slavery},
  author = {Heath, Malcolm},
  year   = {2008},
  journal = {Phronesis},
  doi    = {10.1163/156852808x307070}
}

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