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Unit 4: Aristotle’s Theory of Revolution

invoked a distinction between a natural and unnatural slave. A natural slave had reason only to Notes
the point of recognizing a command and obeying it, for he lacked the capacity to direct himself.
“The master must simply know how to command what the slave must know how to do”. He did
not say what would be done with conventional slaves. Interestingly, he expressed in his will that
his own slaves would be freed and not sold. In the Ethics, he suggested that a slave could become
his master’s friend. In Book VII of the Politics, he recommended their emancipation as a reward for
good service. He also realized that the institution of slavery was not permanent. It would go with
advancement in technology:
If every instrument would accomplish its own work, obeying or antici-pating the will
of others ... if the shuttle would weave, or the plectrum touch the lyre, without a hand
to guide them, the chief workmen would not need assistants, nor masters slaves.
Women and Family

Aristotle provided a common-sense defence of the family. He did not abolish private households,
for the family was a source of pleasure for both men and women, since it created and established
a bond that united members, allowing them the space for the exercise and development of their
individual talents. Writing on the family, the relationship between the husband and wife, parents
and children he observed:
“There seems to be a friendship between man and woman by nature. For the human
being by nature is more disposed to live in pairs than in polis, in asmuch as the
household is prior in time and more necessary than the polis, and the creation of
children is more common with other animals. Among other animals, the community
extends only this far (to the creation of children), [not only] for the sake of reproduction,
but also for various aspects of their lives. Immediately, the work is divided, and there
is one task for men and another for women. So they assist one another, putting their
individual talents into the common good. On account of these things, there seems to
be both usefulness and pleasure in this sort of friendship. This friendship also exists in
accordance with virtue, if they are both good. For there is a virtue of each, and they are
pleased by this .... It seems that children are a bond, wherefore marriages without
children dissolve more quickly. For children are a common good for both and what is
common holds them together.
Aristotle was critical of the Socratic-Platonic conception of communism, on the premise that to
abolish the family would mean its destruction as a school of moral and civic virtues for the young.
The family fostered love and friendship, and established a bond between its members in an
orderly way. Its natural hierarchy ensured stability, and offered the preconditions for the pursuit
of virtue. His defence of the family was similar to the arguments developed by Hegel. He was
appreciative of the attention that Socrates and Plato gave to women’s education, but he was
critical of their proposal for sexual equality as it ignored the diversity that existed in the private
sphere. For Aristotle, the private sphere was the foundation on which the public was organized.
To ignore this link would result in an unstable and unnatural enterprise.
Aristotle was equally critical of the Spartan model, which granted unrestricted freedom to its
women, resulting in divisiveness and disunity. By emphasizing virile power, men were made
martial and ascetic, while women were left uncontrolled by both traditions and the laws of the
state making them self-indulgent and luxurious. As a result, women could not be trained in the art
of courage, nor did they learn to submit to authority, thus leaving them to pursue their private
interests rather than common good. He concluded that to ignore women was to overlook one-half
of the happiness of a society, making the latter unstable and vulnerable.
Aristotle was emphatic that women should be made a part of the city and its educational process,
but could be left out of the political process.

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