Aristotle on Slavery Usury Property[1]

8/6/2019 Aristotle on Slavery Usury Property[1]

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Ancient Slavery, Usury and

Property Regimes

PHIL 2011

2006-07


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Elaboration on ancient slavery

In Athens

j Debated and codified

j Personal dependence

j Essential element ofoikos(household)

j anumission rare &

contracts offered few

advantagesj Closed systemdid not

offer passage to

citizenship.

Elsewhere

j Slavery includeddependent communities

j

E.g. Spartan Helotsj Different from personal

servitude; communitieshad their own identities,customs, gods, etc.

j Romans usedmanumission strategicallyto create patron-clientnetworks.


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Uniform characteristics of

ancient slaveryjNo rights or privileges

jCould not marry

jCould not attain citizenshipjAt disposal of master

jHad no kin, no family gods (had to worship

those of masters family)jOwner gives him/her his/her name.


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anumisssion, to manumit

jLatin: man mittere


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Manumission Contracts

j Sophronahands over to the Pythian Apolloto be free the female house-born slave namedOnasiphoron, priced at three silver minae, and has

received the whole priceif anyone touchesOnasiphoron in order to enslave her, then she whohas sold her and the guarantor together are toensure that the sale to the god is valid

j

many of these contracts survive, inscribedonpublic buildings at Delphi and similarreligious centres (Thomas Wiedemann, GreekandRoman Slavery, p. 46-7).


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Manumission, cont.

j But,

j Onasiphoron is to remain with Sophrona for thewhole period of the latters life, doing whatever

she is ordered to do without giving cause forcomplaint. If she does not do so, then Sophrona isto have the power to punish her in whatever wayshe wishes to. And Onasiphoron is to give

Sophrona a child (quoted in Wiedemann, pp. 46-7).

j The slave might have to remain with the mastersheirs as well!


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Questions?

Comments?


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Unnatural Acquisition: usury

j Barter between persons (natural);

j Coinage enabled retail and international trade(starting to be unnatural);

j Banking/usury (lending money at interest): themost hated sort [of wealth-getting]..which makesgain out of money itself, and not from the naturalobject of it.

j Forbidden by the medieval Church;j Usury today means to exceed a certain rate of

interest and is still a crime;

j What is the usury rate in HK?


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The case of Islamic Finance

j Koran (the source of Islamic law and practice)forbids riba, or interest;

j Like Aristotle, Koran rejects money as

commodity; also forbids gambling;j Koran sees money as store of value. Does

Aristotle?

j HSBC, Deutsche Bank offer special investment

vehicles for Islamic investors: equity financing,not debt;

See: Financial Times, 24 Sept. 2006, pp. W5-6.


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Unnatural Trade 1.9

j Example of unnatural use of an object:

j A shoe is made for wear, not for exchange;

j Hence, we may infer that retail trade is not a natural partof the art of getting wealth; had it been so, men would haveceased to exchange when they had enough;

j How would Aristotle define enough?

j How would we? Do we accept this notion?

j Cf. idea of limits to growth put forward by

environmentalists.


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Why not stockpile money (1.9)?

j Some assume riches = large quantity of coin;

j Others say coin = convention (recall slavery

argument), and hence nothing;

j Example of Midas: how can that be wealth of

which a man may have a great abundance and yet

perish with hunger?

j These are riches of the spurious [false] kind.


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Other objections to

wealth-getting (1.9)j Object of life: To lead agoodlife (not just ANY life);

j This is also the purpose of the household;

some persons are led to believe [by confusion over means]

that getting wealth is the object of household management,and the whole idea of their lives is that they ought either to

increase their money without limit, or at any rate not to

lose it. The origin of this disposition in men is that they

are intent upon living only, and not upon living well.


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Todays Question

j On page 25, Aristotle calls usury, "the most hated sort [of]wealth-getting" and describes it as unnatural. Is this a validand sound argument? His writing focuses on practical

points regarding the state and household, and money ispractically useful in easing transactions, as person A andperson B may both not need what the other has at the sametime.

Would honour and desire for the good life be enough toensure repayment of borrowed money (which may be

necessary, for example, for a farmer during a drought), oris interest necessary to motivate those who borrow moneyto pay it back? Would usury then be natural since it arisesfrom human nature?


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Political Philosophy and the

Institution of Propertyj Plato (4th century BCE)

Guardians should have common property so that theywill all regard the same things as their own, therebyunifying the state.

j Aristotle (4th century BCE)

Property should not be common because of free-riding,and other social and moral problems, but its fruits can

be.

j John Locke (17th century CE) Private property is the basis of the state, and the reason

for the state to exist.


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Property Regime Options

All things in

common, e.g. in

PlatosRepublic

Some in

common, some

not

None in

common

Conceivable, but

plagued with

problems, e.g.

free-riding, 2.3

Possible, e.g.

fruits of soil, as

at Sparta, 2.5

Impossible

must at least

have city in

common


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Todays Question:

j Plato believes that common property creates

citizens that are more co-operative and kinder to

their fellow citizens. The concept of common

property has in recent history held much greatersway in mainlaind China than in Hong Kong.

With this in mind, do you believe the attitudes of

Hong Kongers and Mainlanders differ with regard

to their relationship with close family and friends,and also with that of other fellow citizens? If so, is

the cause political [property-related]?

Documents

Aristotle on Slavery Usury Property[1]