Chapter 20

437.Cf. p.70.

438.Op. cit., I, iii.

439.Op. cit., p. 40; cf. also Dühring,Kritische Geschichte der Nationalökonomie und des Socialismus, p. 22.

440.Cyrop.viii. 2. 5 f., cited above.

441.Mem.iii. 9. 3.

442.Econ.viii.

443.Econ.iii. 4; v. 16; ix. 11; xiii;Rev.iv. 17 ff.

444.Econ.iii. 4.

445.v. 16; xiii.

446.Econ.ix. 11; cf. p. 38, n. 4, on the actual status of slaves at Athens.

447.Mem.ii. 8. 4.

448.Rev.iii. 2: ὅπου γὰρ ἂν πωλῶσιν αὐτὸ, πανταχοῦ πλεῖον τοῦ ἀρχαίου λαμβάνουσιν.

449.Ibid.; cf. Souchon,op. cit., p. 114.

450.Rev.iv, especially 7-12; Haney (op. cit., chap. iv) and Simey (“Economic Theory among the Greeks and Romans,”Economic Review, October, 1900, p. 472) point toRev.iii. 2 as distinguishing between money and wealth, but this hardly balances the above passage.Econ.i. 12-14 means merely that silver is not wealth unless properly used.

451.So Brants,Xen. Econ., p. 21; cf. Lenormanté La Monnaie dans l’antiquité, I, 179; III, 3.

452.Rev.iv. 8.

453.Rev.iii. 4; v. 3; iii. 2; cf. Ingram,History of Political Economy, p. 15; Kautz,op. cit., p. 129; Roscher, p. 12.

454.Rev.iv. 5-11.

455.iii. 2; and iv. The demand will increase with the supply.

456.iv. 10: χρυσίον ὅταν πολὺ παραφανῇ, αὐτὸ μὲν ἀτιμότερον γίγνεται, τὸ δὲ ἀργύριον τιμιώτερον ποιεῖ.

457.iv. 5-7.

458.iv. 10.

459.iv, especially 7-9, 11; he has no word against them.Lac. Pol.vii shows that he favors their free use.

460.Brants (Xen. Econ., pp. 17 f.) says that he grasped both bases of exchange, division of labor, and natural diversity of products, but he bases it onRep. Ath.ii. 12. 3.

461.Rev.iii., especially 5;Hieroix. 9; ἐμπόρια ὠφέλει πόλιν.

462.iii. 3. 4. 12 f.

463.iii. 4; v-vi.

464.vi. 1.

465.Econ.ii. 18: χρηματιστής; cf. iii, where Socrates teaches the art. Cf. above, p. 17, on the Sophists’ attitude.

466.Rev.iii. 4.

467.iii. 5.

468.iii. 14.

469.iv. 50.

470.Rev.vi. 1.

471.Mem.ii. 7. 12-14. Poehlmann’s attempt to turn the argument about, so as to favor the laborer, is strained (op. cit., I, 288), though the passage may be a sidelight on the economic conditions in early fourth-century Athens. Cf.Mem.ii. 8. 4-5, where, as Poehlmann (op. cit., I, 286 f.) points out, the free laborer was coming to feel himself to be on the same status with the slave.

472.Cf. e.g., his opposition to the free democracy of Athens, for evidence of which we do not need to depend upon theAth. Pol.

473.Rev.iv. 17; cf. p.70; but p.69might point the other way.

474.Mem.iv. 4. 16; ἄνευ δὲ ὁμονοίας οὐτ᾽ ἂν πόλις εῦ πολιτευθείν οὐτ᾽ οἶκος καλῶς, οἰκηθείν.

475.Econ.xi. 9, 13.

476.Cf. how naïvely he takes for granted the feasibility of his schemes in theRevenues. Cf. the opening sentence of the work, “As are the governors [προστάται], so are the governments [πολιτείας]” cited by Poehlmann (op. cit., I, 299) as the illusion of socialism; but it might easily be expressed by a conservative. Plato (Rep.544D) expresses a similar idea.

477.Rev.iii and iv.

478.iv. 33. The mines were already publicly owned, for the most part, but they were privately worked. Cf. Ardaillon,Les Mines du Laurion dans l’antiquité(Paris, 1897).

479.iii. 14.

480.iv. 17.

481.iv.

482.iv. 49.

483.iii. 9 f.

484.iv. 30-32.

485.iv. 33; 49-52; vi. 1. Cf. the excellent résumé of the whole plan by Poehlmann (op. cit., I, 299 ff.), though he reads into it too much of the modern socialistic spirit; e.g., 306-8, he makes it an example of the so-called psychological necessity by which socialism develops out of capitalism.

486.Cf. especially iv. 14: τῆς μέντοι πόλεως πάνυ ἄξιον θαυμάσαι τὸ αἰσθανομένην πολλοὺς πλουτιζομένους ἕξ αὐτῆς ἰδιώτας μὴ μιμεῖσθαι τούτους.

487.E.g., p. 106, n. 3, citingOr.xxxvi. 44 on πίστις.

488.Peace12, though the emphasis is on bribery.

489.Olynth.iii. 25 f.;Cont. Aristoc.xxiii. 207 f.;Or.xiii. 29 f. (Dem.), though the emphasis in all is upon patriotism. In these passages, he idealizes the past in the manner of Isocrates; cf.infra, p.143. n. 8.

490.Or.xxxvi. 44,For Phormio.

491.Or.lvii 45.

492.Cont. Aristoc.146;Cont. Aristog.xxv. 46, his scornful figurative use of the term κάπηλος.

493.Cont. Steph.i. 70: ἀλλὰ τοκίζων καὶ τὰς τῶν ἄλλων συμφορὰς καὶ χρειὰς εὐτυχήματα σαυτοῦ νομίζων.

494.Olynth.i. 15, referring to those who borrow money at high interest, and thus lose their property, may also be noted. Cf. pp.105f. and notes.

495.Nicocl.3. 50, against injustice in money-making.

496.Ibid.59.

497.Cont. Nicocl.(2). 32;Peace32; cf. p.26, n. 1, for Plato’s idea.

498.Cf. alsoPaneg.76.

499.Cont. Nicocl.(2). 4.

500.Peace7; moderation in money-making is most difficult for most men; cf. also34and93f.

501.Areop.4.

502.Cont. Nicocl.2;Panath.184.

503.Areop.51, 53, 83; νῦν δὲ πλείους εἰσίν οἱ σπανίζοντες τῶν ἐχόντων, a striking commentary on the economic conditions in the Athens of his day. In 44, poverty is called a source of crime. All these passages idealize the past.

504.Paneg.29, 33, 40;Areop.74. But cf.Panath.29 for a hint of prejudice against them.

505.Paneg.42.

506.Peace20 f.

507.Areop.32 f.; cf.infra, p.97, n. 6, for a fuller interpretation of Aristotle’s passage; cf.Letter to Timoth.3;Areop.44.

508.Bousiris16.

509.Areop.35.

510.Panath.259;Paneg.79; cf. also citations on poverty, above.

511.Or.15. 159 f.

512.Areop.21 f.

513.Areop.35: αἱ δὲ χρήσεις κοιναί; 31 f., 51; for further mention of these idealizations of ancient Athens and Sparta, cf.infra, p.143, n. 8.

514.Areop.53.

515.Ibid.83: ὁπόθεν τὴν ἀεὶ παροῦσαν ἡμέραν διάξουσιν.

516.Cont. Nicocl.31: ὅτι τὸ τῆς πόλεως ὅλης ἢθος ὁμοιοῦται τοῖς ἄρχουσιν.

517.Cf.infrafor theEconomica, which is generally recognised to be from a later member of the Peripatetic school, about 250-200B.C.; cf. Susemihl,Economica, Intro. to the ed.; Croiset,op. cit., IV, 710; Zeller,op. cit., II, 2, 944 ff. Moreover, it deals chiefly with the practical phase of economics. On the other hand, we shall citeEud. Eth.andMag. mor.under Aristotle, since, though later than him, they merely imitate his thought, in so far as they touch economics. For the numerous and diverse writings ascribed to Aristotle, cf. Christ,op. cit., IV [1905], 684 ff.

518.B. St. Hilaire (preface to his French translation of thePolitics, pp. 4-11) calls him“le créateur de l’économie politique.”Zmavc (Archiv f. d. Gesch. d. Philos.[1899], pp. 407 ff.) also tends to overestimate him.

519.Zmavc (ibid, and alsoZeitschr. f. d. gesammt. Staatswiss.[1902], pp. 48 ff.) emphasizes this fact.

520.Pol.i. 1. 1252a7-13, cited on p.9, n. 5, a criticism of Plato’sPolitics258E-259C; on the truth in this confusion, cf. p.10. Even Adam Smith said: “What is wise with a family can hardly be foolish with a great kingdom.”

521.Besides St. Hilaire and Zmavc, cited above, among those favorable are Cossa,Hist. des doctrines economiques, p. 149; Blanqui,op. cit., I, 49, 86. More reserved are Souchon,op. cit., p. 127; DuBois,op. cit., p. 50; Haney,op. cit., pp. 47 f.; unfair interpretation, Dühring,op. cit., pp. 20 f.

522.i. 9. 1257a6-9: ἑκάστου γὰρ κτήματος διττὴ ἡ χρῆσίς ἐστιν ἀμφότεραι δὲ καθ᾽ αὑτὸ μὲν ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὁμοίως καθ᾽ αὑτό, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μὲν οἰκεία ἡ δ᾽ οὐκ οἰκεία τοῦ πράγματος οἱον ὑποδήματος ἥ τε ὑπόδεσις καὶ ἡ μεταβλητική.

523.Wealth of Nations, I, chap. iv.

524.Cf. Souchon,op. cit., p. 127; Haney,op. cit., p. 47.

525.Unless this is implied in κτήματος, 1257a6, as ἔστι γὰρ ἡ μεταβλητικὴ πάντων (14 f.) might seem to indicate. Zmavc (Archiv., etc., p. 410) points to 1253b33-39, on the automatic tripods of Hephaestus, as implying it, but if so it was unintended by Aristotle. But cf.infra, pp.84and86, n. 4, where it is recognized.

526.1257a11; 5-19, but not specifically stated, and the term χρεία does not occur here.

527.i. 7. 14: καὶ τὸ σπανιώτερον τοῦ ἀφθόνου, οἷον χρυσὸς σιδήρου ἀχρηστότερος ὤν· ἄλλον δὲ τρόπον τε ἄφθονον τοῦ σπανίου, ὅτι ἡ χρῆσις ὑπερέχει· τὸ γὰρ πολλάκις τοῦ ὀλιγάκις ὑπερέχει· ὅθεν λέγεται ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ. Cf. Pind.Ol.i. 1 and Cope-Sandys ed. of Ar.Rhet.(I, pp. 130 f., 1877).

528.Ibid.

529.V, v. 8-14. 1133a5-1133b10 ff.

530.E.g., Stewart.

531.1133a5-12; 15 f.; 18; cf.Eud. Eth.vii. 10. 1243b28-38.

532.N. Eth.1133a5-12, etc., 12 f.: οὐθὲν γὰρ κωλύει κρεῖττον εἶναι το θατέρου ἔργον ἢ τὸ θατέρου. The emphasis seems to be on quality of labor, as suggested by κρεῖττον. Cf. both ὅσον and οἷον (15) and p.84n. 3.

533.Ibid.7-10; by joining means and extremes together, the proportionate exchange is effected. Cf. also 1133b4 ff.; 1133a32 f. As observed by Ritchie (Palgrave’sDictionary, art. “Aristotle”) and H. Sewall (op. cit., p. 3, n. 2), the proportion is clearer to moderns if we make our standard one hour of labor of each workman instead of the men themselves.

534.Stewart (Notes to N. Eth.I, 449) suggests that this gives what the economists call “natural value,” but that the market value oscillates from this because of supply and demand.

535.1133a25-27; 1133b6 f. Cf. p. 34, n. 5, for Plato’s use of the term.

536.Op. cit., pp. 47 f.

537.Cf. the discussion and notes above; also 1133a15 f., where both elements seem to be recognized, though the meaning of the passage is disputed. Cf.infra, p.108, n. 3.

538.1133a19 ff.; 29; 1133b10 ff., citedinfra, on money. It clearly distinguishes the quality of exchangeableness. Cf. iv. 1. 1119b26 f., citedinfra, n. 7. Cf. pp.38f. for Plato’s theory.

539.So Stewart,op. cit.,in loc.; Zmavc,Archiv., etc., p. 415, who criticizes Karl Marx (Kapital, 4th ed., I, 26) for denying this. Barker (op. cit., p. 379) says that Aristotle did not recognize the “seller’s cost of production”; but cf. 384, where he implies the opposite.

540.But cf. his definition of wealth, pp.85f.

541.Bonar (op. cit., p. 40) criticizes him for this. The words ἀξία and τίμη are not used in the passage, but for the former in a very dear economic sense, cf. iv. 1. 1119b26-27; χρήματα δὲ λέγομεν πάντα ὅσων ἡ ἀξία νομίσματι μετρεῖται.

542.For further discussion of thisEthicspassage, cf.infraon money, exchange, and distribution.Mag. mor.i. 33. 1193b19-1194b2 repeats the idea, citing PlatoRep.on the exchange of the four producers in his primitive state.

543.i. 8. 1256b28-32. The term ἄπειρος, as applied to wealth, is used by Plato and Aristotle of undue love of money (Rep.373D, 591D;Laws870A); for Aristotle, cf. passage above andinfra. There is a sense, even from the economic standpoint, in which wealth is not unlimited.

544.Prin. of Pol. Econ., preliminary remarks, and Book I, chap. iii, 3.

545.On this term in Plato and Aristotle, cf.infraunder exchange.

546.Op. cit., p. 374; cf.infraon the moral attitude of Aristotle to wealth.

547.His unfair criticism of Plato seems to argue otherwise (Rep.369C ff.;Pol.1291a12-19), but cf.infra.

548.ii. 7. 1267b10 ff.; 1254a16 f.;Rhet.i. 5. 1361a12 ff.

549.Pol.1254a16 ff.: κτῆμα δὲ ὄργανον πρακτικὸν καὶ χωριστὸν, similar to Walker’s term “transferability” (Pol. Econ., 3d ed., p. 5); cf. Mill,op. cit., preliminary remarks on the term.

550.N. Eth.iv. 1. 1119b26 f., cited on p.84, n. 7.

551.Cf. the discussion above on value; cf. Mill,op. cit., Book I, chap, iii, 3, on the quality of “storableness” as an attribute of wealth. Newman (Pol. of Ar., II, note to 1256b26 ff.) asks if θησαυρισμός can be applied to slaves and cattle, and if the definition can include land. These are all included; cf. n. 1, above.

552.Pol.i. 9. 1257a6 and 14 f., and the discussion above ofN. Eth.1133a5 ff.

553.Cf. n. 3.

554.Cf. Smith,op. cit., IV, for criticism of this basal confusion of the mercantile theory.

555.Rhet.B. 16. 1390-91.

556.Pol.i. 8. 1256b31 f.;N. Eth.i. 8. 1099a31-33, especially ἁδύνατον γὰρ ἢ οὐ ῥάδιον τὰ καλὰ πράττειν ἀχορήγητον ὄντα; 1101a14 f., in the definition of the εὐδαίμων man.

557.Pol.iii. 6. 1265a32 f.: ἐλευθέρως;N. Eth.iii., chaps. 13-14 on σωφροσύνη, and iv, chaps. 1, 2, on ἐλευθεριότης and ἀσωτία; but display of wealth is vulgar (iv. 2. 1123a19-22). Ruskin (Stones of Venice, VIII, 69 [Vol. X, 389]) refers to Aristotle on liberality.

558.ἡ δὲ πενία στάσιν ἐμποιεῖ καί κακουργίαν.

559.v. 1. 1129b3; soMag. mor.B. 3. 1199b6-9, 14-35; cf.N. Eth.i. 8. 1098b31 ff. for a similar distinction between habit (ἕξις) and practice (χρῆσις) of virtue.

560.v. 1. 1129b4-6; cf.Pol.i. 10. 1258a23-27 on the duty of the weaver or statesman; iv (vii). 15. 1334a36 f.; 13. 1332a22 f.

561.Pol.1332a25 f.

562.Pol.iv (vii). 13. 1332a26 f.

563.N. Eth.i. 8. 1098b12-15; cf.Pol.1323a25 f.;Rhet.i. 5. 1360b25 ff.; alsoMag. mor.A. 3. 1184b1-5 andEud. Eth.ii. 1. 1218b32.

564.Pol.1323a40 f.; cf. Jesus’ sentence, “Seek ye first,” etc.; cf. also 1323b19 f.; also pp. 24 ff., Plato.

565.Pol.1323b, 1-6.

566.N. Eth.i. 5. 1096a5 f.: ὁ δὲ χρηματιστὴς βίαιος τίς ἐστιν. Cf. alsoPol.1256b28-32, discussed above, and i., chaps. 8 and 9, discussed under exchange.

567.Cf. n. 2.

568.Pol.1323b7-11, and discussion above.

569.1256b36;N. Eth.i. 5. 1906a6 f.; χρήσιμον γὰρ καὶ ἄλλου χάριν; 7. 1097a27: δῆλον ὡς οὔκ ἐστι πάντα τέλεια.

570.Pol.i. 9. 1258a2 ff.; cf. alsoMag. mor.B. 3. 1200a-b.

571.1258a10-14, similar to PlatoRep.i. on the arts and their function; cf. a similar passage fromIsocrates(Paneg.76) on the virtues of the Persian War heroes.

572.Pol.iii. 9. 1280a25-32; the chief ambition of a state is not τῶν κτημάτων χάριν, but εῦ ζῆν. Cf. above on the similar preachments of Plato, for their relation to modern economic ideas and conditions. Cf. PlatoCrito48B: οὐ τὸ ζῆν περὶ πλείστου ποιητέον, ἀλλὰ τὸ εῦ ζῆν.

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