1. Views on Slavery
by
Aristotle
Presented by-
Sanket Gogoi
B.A., LL.B (Hons)
Dept. of Law, Guwahati University

2.  The person who is not his own men is a
Slave.
 According to Aristotle-
Slave is a living possession and property of
his master. Though he has sufficient power
to understand and follow reason he has no
reasoning power

3.  In order to develop-
1. Moral and
2. Intellectual Excellence
 P.S.- Development of these faculties needs
leisure which can be provided only my
slavery.

4.  Three Grounds on which Aristotle justified
Slavery-
1. Natural.
2. Usefulness.
3. Expediency.

5.  Nature provides different persons with
different qualities and ordains that superior
should rule over the inferior.
 Acc. to Aristotle another general rule of
nature is that the inferior should be
subordinate to the superior.
 Nature has endowed the masters with
intellectual strength and bestowed physical
strength on the slaves.

6.  Aristotle asserts that masters should be free
from material worries so the they may be
able to concentrate on the public affairs.
 Aristotle says that slavery is not only useful
to the master but also to the slave, because
he is also to share the virtue of his master
and get elevated.

7.  Aristotle says that during his time slavery
played a vital role in the maintenance and
operation of the Greed economy. A major
portion of the population residing in the
city-state consisted of states and their
emancipation would have greatly upset the
balance of power in the city-state and
damage the social fabric. This would have
given rise to social disorder and chaos.

8.  First, Aristotle wrongly assumes that some are
born to rule because they are intelligent and
virtuous. This is contrary to the modern notions
of equality which assumes that all are born equal
and some develop the faculties which equip them
to rule over others.
 Secondly even we accept Aristotle's conception
that only superior should rule over the inferior.
On the other hand Aristotle presumes the
existence of only two classes the master and
slaves.

9.  Thirdly, Aristotle treats slavery as a hereditary
institution and asserts that some people are by
nature slaves.
 Finally, his theory of slavery is also contrary to the
notions of social justice. On the other hand he
considers the slavery essential to enable the masters
to devote themselves fully to the service of the
society, but on the other hand he does not
acknowledge their importance or properly reward
them for their services. This is clear violation of the
notion of social justice