Aristotle's Politics

natural slaves in aristotle's politics

By Aristotle's definition, are "natural slaves" everyone who is uneducated and/or incapable of learning (is learning a fair proxy for "reason")? I.e., is someone with the ability to reason, but no desire to, a natural slave? And similarly, is someone with the ability to reason, but who is denied the right to (no education, etc), in this category or would they be elevated above it?

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Slavery Natural or Conventional? Aristotle believes it is natural. Slavery is not a violation of nature. It is one thing to be ruled and yet another to be owned, But man are to rule over women and slaves, and Greeks should rule over Barbarians (all of them). So I ask you; is this natural or conventional? According to Aristotle, Greek men should rule the world. Well, maybe not.

Slavery and War- Prisoners can legitimately be enslaved- Aristotle's view justifies taking the "spoils of war."

Source(s)

Politics (Book I- Chapters 3-7)

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