Citizens, slaves, and foreigners : Aristotle on human nature
By: FRANK, Jill
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ArticlePublisher: new York : Cambridge University Press, February 2004American Political Science Review 98, 1, p. 91-104Abstract: To most readers, Aristotle´s many references to nature throughout the first book of the Politics imply a foundational role for nature outside and prior to politics. Aristotle, they claim, pairs nature with necessity and, thus, sets nature as a standard that fixes the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion in political life. Through readings of Aristotle on the nature of citizens, slaves and foreigners in the Politics, this essay argues, in constrast, that, to Aristotle, nature, especially human nature, is changeable and shaped by politics. Through an analysis of Aristotle´s philosophical and scientific treatments of nature in the Metaphysics ad Physics, this essay demonstrates that in order to preserve what he takes to be characteristic and also constitutive of a distinctively human way of living - prohairetic activity - Aristotle is especially keen to guard against any assimilation of nature to necessity.
To most readers, Aristotle´s many references to nature throughout the first book of the Politics imply a foundational role for nature outside and prior to politics. Aristotle, they claim, pairs nature with necessity and, thus, sets nature as a standard that fixes the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion in political life. Through readings of Aristotle on the nature of citizens, slaves and foreigners in the Politics, this essay argues, in constrast, that, to Aristotle, nature, especially human nature, is changeable and shaped by politics. Through an analysis of Aristotle´s philosophical and scientific treatments of nature in the Metaphysics ad Physics, this essay demonstrates that in order to preserve what he takes to be characteristic and also constitutive of a distinctively human way of living - prohairetic activity - Aristotle is especially keen to guard against any assimilation of nature to necessity.
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