The modern idea of slavery is that of a racially based enslavement. The slavery of the United States in the 19th century was based upon the belief that blacks were inferior to whites. This white supremacy provided a justification to the slave industry. The beliefs that defended enslavement were not always this way. In Ancient Greece, the philosopher Aristotle viewed the institution of slavery through a different justification. Aristotle viewed slavery as a fulfillment of natural order and necessity and believed the barbarians were unavoidably “Otherized” based on their culture and uncivilized nature.
The philosopher Aristotle lived between the years 384 and 322 BC. The time period Aristotle lived during is considered the Classical period which …show more content…
To both, the barbarians of the north were the converse of the Greek culture. The barbarians represented everything Greece and Aristotle despised and rejected. Aristotle states in his work Politics that communities of civil nature had natural leaders. He believed the barbarians had no natural leader and were therefore uncivilized. The barbarians also functioned with a tyrannical government which was the polar opposite of the Greek democracy which Aristotle praised. The lack of an established barbarian state further separated them from Aristotle’s ideals. For “he who by nature and not by mere accident is without a state, is either a bad man or above humanity; he is like the ‘tribeless, lawless, hearthless one5.” In the Greek culture, citizens had virtues they were to live by if they were to keep the gears of society turning. Women, slaves, blacksmiths, and warriors, among others, had individual expectations of them. Aristotle claimed that the women and slaves of the barbarian society had no distinction to separate the two, much unlike the Greeks rigid …show more content…
“One that can foresee with his mind is naturally ruler and naturally master10.” In accordance with the natural order, there should be an elite who did the ruling and a slave class who carried out the labor which society depended on. According to Aristotle, Greece, which resided between both northern Europe and Asia geographically, was a combination of both societies intelligence, spirit, and Greek government, and therefore superior and capable are “ruling all mankind11.”
The ideas that have justified slavery and the separation of “The Other” have not always been the same. Modern ideas base the belief on the physical characteristics of race and connects an inferiority to these traits, much like the American slavery of the 19th century. Arisotles views did not justify slavery by physical characteristics but by the inherent nature of an individual and by the natural order of the
The philosopher Aristotle lived between the years 384 and 322 BC. The time period Aristotle lived during is considered the Classical period which …show more content…
To both, the barbarians of the north were the converse of the Greek culture. The barbarians represented everything Greece and Aristotle despised and rejected. Aristotle states in his work Politics that communities of civil nature had natural leaders. He believed the barbarians had no natural leader and were therefore uncivilized. The barbarians also functioned with a tyrannical government which was the polar opposite of the Greek democracy which Aristotle praised. The lack of an established barbarian state further separated them from Aristotle’s ideals. For “he who by nature and not by mere accident is without a state, is either a bad man or above humanity; he is like the ‘tribeless, lawless, hearthless one5.” In the Greek culture, citizens had virtues they were to live by if they were to keep the gears of society turning. Women, slaves, blacksmiths, and warriors, among others, had individual expectations of them. Aristotle claimed that the women and slaves of the barbarian society had no distinction to separate the two, much unlike the Greeks rigid …show more content…
“One that can foresee with his mind is naturally ruler and naturally master10.” In accordance with the natural order, there should be an elite who did the ruling and a slave class who carried out the labor which society depended on. According to Aristotle, Greece, which resided between both northern Europe and Asia geographically, was a combination of both societies intelligence, spirit, and Greek government, and therefore superior and capable are “ruling all mankind11.”
The ideas that have justified slavery and the separation of “The Other” have not always been the same. Modern ideas base the belief on the physical characteristics of race and connects an inferiority to these traits, much like the American slavery of the 19th century. Arisotles views did not justify slavery by physical characteristics but by the inherent nature of an individual and by the natural order of the