Chapter 21

573.Cf. Souchon,op. cit., p. 69; for Greek terms for production, cf. p.66and notes.

574.i. 10. 1258a19-38; 4. 1254a7: ὁ δὲ βίος πρᾶξις, οὐ ποίησις ἐστιν.

575.10. 1258a33 ff., τῆς ὑπερετικῆς, impossible for the economist, but true, for the moralist; cf. p.69for his distinction (1254a1 ff.) between ὄργανα ποιητικά and κτῆμα πρακτικόν.

576.i. 2.; on both the above, cf. Newman,op. cit., in loc.

577.Cf. especially 1258a34 ff.: μάλιστα δὲ, καθάπερ εἴρεται πρότερον, δεῖ φύσει τοῦτο ὑπάρχειν. Cf. Susemihi and Hicks,Pol. of Ar., I (1894), Intro., p. 30.

578.1256a40 ff., αὐτόφυτος, “self-existent,” with ἔργασία, as here, equals αὐτουργία, “agriculture.”

579.1258b9-27.

580.Op. cit., pp. 96, 98 f., n. 1; cf. Haney,op. cit., p. 47; Kautz,op. cit., p.138; Ingram,op. cit., p. 18. The physiocrats thought that commerce and industry increased the value of raw materials only enough to pay for labor and capital expended. Commerce was an expensive necessity, a tax on agriculture. For a good summary, cf. Haney, pp. 138 ff. Quesnay (Tableau Econ.[1776]) followed Xenophon (Econ.v. 17) as his motto. But the motive of the physiocrats was economic, not moral and political, as was that of Aristotle.

581.Pol.1258b21 ff.; probably implied also in 1256a40 ff.; but cf. vi (iv). 4. 1291a1 ff., where the mechanic and hired laborer are counted among the necessary parts of the state.

582.1256 ff.; 1256b23 f. To him, production is a branch of acquisition. Cf. p.28, on Plato’s use of the terms.

583.1258a19-38; 1254a7, cited on p.88, n. 10.

584.Op. cit., pp. 358, 375 f.

585.Op. cit., p. 39, on the basis ofPol.1258b34 f.: τὸ δὲ κατὰ μέρος ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι χρήσιμον μὲν πρὸς τὰς ἐργασίας, φορτικὸν δὲ τὸ ἐνδιατρίβειν. φορτικόν may mean merely “tiresome,” not “vulgar.”

586.Cf. Zmavc,Archiv., etc., p. 431; cf. passages citedinfra, on the attitude of Aristotle to labor; cf. vi (iv). 4. 1291a1 ff., especially ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ περὶ τὰς τέχνας ὧν ἄνευ πόλιν ἀδύνατον οἰκεῖσθαι.

587.Pol.1258a34-38, cited on p.89, n. 2.

588.1258b9-21.

589.Ibid.40 ff.; cf. Newman,op. cit., II, 204, on the statements of VarroDe re rusticai. 1. 8 andColumellai. 1. 7 that Aristotle and Theophrastus wrote on agriculture. Cf. also (Plato)Axiochus368C.

590.Pol.iv (vii). 9. 1329a1 f.

591.1254a1 ff.; cf. pp.68and88for Greek terms.

592.1254a2-4.

593.Op. cit., ii, chap. i.

594.Pol.1254a7; cf. p.88, n. 10.

595.Pol.1254a8 ff. He thinks chiefly of the domestic slave.

596.Unto This Last, p. 61, an unjust criticism of Mill;ibid., IV, 78: “Production is primarily for the mouth, not for the granary.”

597.Op. cit., IV, chap. viii: “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; ... and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.”

598.For reference and Greek terms, cf. p.68.

599.For his term ἀφορμή cf. p.68, n. 8, andinfra. It probably was a mere business word to him. DuBois (op. cit., p. 38) thinks that he had a very clear idea of its significance.

600.Pol.1258b12-21; cf. 1258a37 f.

601.Ibid.21-27, and entire chaps., 8-11. For terms, cf.infra.

602.iv. 1121a29; 1122a14 f.; cf. the stress on δόσις and χρῆσις rather than on κτῆσις and λῆψις, 1120a8-13;b14-16, and Stewart’s notes, I, 323.

603.Rep.552B, discussed above.

604.Souchon (op. cit., p. 121) seems to think it was.

605.Pol.1258b8, but cf. p.39andinfraon this word τόκος. Cf. also Ar.Clouds20; 1285 ff.; A. Smith,op. cit., II, chap. iv.

606.Souchon (op. cit., p. 97) is hardly fair to Aristotle on this point, but cf. also p.96, n. 1; cf. Ruskin,Time and Tide, XV, 81 (Vol. XVII, 388);Mun. Pul., Pref., 21 (Vol. XVII, 144);ibid., VI, 139 (p. 264);ibid., 153 and note (p. 277), which citesLaws743C, on the doctrine that the just are neither rich nor poor.

607.Pol.v (viii). 2. 1337b8-11. The terms for mechanical labor are τέχνη, of ability through practice; δημιουργός, of one who works for the people, rather than for himself or one other; βάναυσος, originally of work by the fire, but later the common term for mechanical labor, usually with a derogatory sense in the philosophers; cf. βαναυσία, “vulgarity,”N. Eth.iv. 4. 1122a31; βάναυσος, “vulgar man,”ibid.1123a19;Etymol. mag; Schol. to PlatoRep.495E; Pollux i. 64. 50; Hesychius,s.v.The Greeks did not clearly distinguish the finer from the mechanical arts; cf. Büchsenschütz,op. cit., p. 266;Pol.vi (iv). 4. 1291a1 ff., where all are included under βάναυσον. Cf. Cope-Sandys,Ar. Rhet., 2d ed., I, 9, 27, note. Cf. above, p.33, n. 7, for Ruskin’s attitude.

608.Pol.1337b12; 1258b37.

609.1337b13 f.

610.1258b38 f.

611.vii (vi). 4. 1319a26-28.

612.v (viii). 2. 1337b5-7.

613.iv (vii). 9. 1328b37-41; cf. iii. 5. 1277b33 ff.

614.1329a1; 1330a25-31.

615.1330a25-31; cf. also the pseudo-Econ.i. 2. 1343a26 ff.

616.i. 3. 1260a40 ff.; cf.infrafor discussion of this idea.

617.1258b25-27;Rhet.i. 9. 27, 1367a; ἐλευθέρον γὰρ τὸ μὴ πρὸς ἄλλον ζῆν. His entire argument for the slave as a mere “instrument” (cf.infra) shows the same attitude. Stewart (op. cit., II, 316) says that he failed to see that labor is “an essential function of the social organism, something καλόν and not merely ἁναγκαῖον.”

618.Pol.iv (vii). 4. 1326a22-24.

619.1328b19-23; vi (iv). 1291a1-3.

620.1329a1; i. 11. 1258b38 f.

621.v (viii). 2. 1337b15-22, especially 17 f.: ἔχει δὲ πολλὴν διαφορὰν καὶ τὸ τίνος ἕνεκεν πράττει τις ἣ μανθάνει.

622.The difference in employments and studies is largely one of method and aim. The most humanizing pursuit becomes ἀνελεύθερον and βάναυσον, if followed to an extreme or with a sordid purpose, merely. Cf. PlatoLaws918B-919C, and the criticism of the superficial method and merely vocational motive in mathematical study (Rep.525C ff.). Cf. above, p.33, n. 7, for Ruskin’s idea on this point.

623.Aristotle also has the aristocratic idea of labor as robbing a freeman of his independence,Pol.v (viii). 1337b15-22;Rhet.1367a, cited on p.94, n. 9.

624.Pol.iv (vii). 9. 1328b39 ff.;N. Eth.x. 7. 1177b4; cf. Jowett,Ar. Pol., I, 144, cited by Stewart,op. cit., II, 446.

625.Pol.ii 3. 1261b33-38.

626.1325a31-33.

627.1258b12-20.

628.Rhet.ii. 4. 9. 1381a, where the word αὐτουργοί is used; cf. above on Euripides.

629.Cf. above on value, andN. Eth.v. 8-9. 1133a5-18.

630.Pol.vii (vi). 6. 1320a38 ff.; cf. p.92, n. 6.

631.i. 12. 1259b1 ff.

632.1252b1 ff.; cf. Adam’s note toRep.370B; Susemihl and Hicks’s note toPol.1252b3, for an exception to the rule (De part. Anim.iv. 6. 11. 683a22). ἀλλ᾽ ὅπου μὴ ἐνδέχεται καταχρῆται τῷ αὐτῷ ἐπὶ πλείω ἔργα.

633.Pol.ii 1261a30 f.;N. Eth.v. 5.

634.Pol.1261a37-39; 1328bff. Fontpertuis (op. cit., p. 359) accounts for the comparative superficiality of the Greek theory of labor by the fact that their political constitution diminished its importance, but cf. our introduction. Capitalistic employment of free labor was probably not extensive.

635.Cf. above, p.16, n. 6; p.17, n. 1.

636.On the theory of the Sophists, cf. above, pp.16f. On the Cynics, cf.infra; also Zeller,op. cit., II, 2, 376; Ar.Pol.1253b20-23. Barker (op. cit., p. 359), who has a very clear and discriminating criticism of Aristotle’s theory of slavery, also states that slavery had been attacked by the “logic of events”—e.g., the enslavement of Athenians in Sicily, and the freeing of Messenian Helots, during the Theban supremacy, by which Greek freemen had become slaves and Greek slaves had become free. Cf.Pol.1255aff., especially 17 f. and 21-23, for the two theories.

637.Thelocus classicusfor his theory isPol.i. 4-7. 1253b14 ff.; 13. 1259b21 ff. For good criticisms, cf. Wallon,Histoire de l’esclavage dans l’antiquité, 2d ed., pp. 372 ff.; and Barker,op. cit., 1. Cf. also Newman,op. cit., I, 143 ff.

638.Pol.i. 8. 1256b36; 1253b32.

639.Ibid.33-39. Aristotle would have been satisfied with electricity.

640.1254a8, cited on p.88, n. 10. This relieves the severity of the doctrine, since it shows that he thinks chiefly of domestic slavery. But in his proposed state, all industry is manned by slaves. Cf. iv (vii). 1330a25-31.

641.Pol.1254a9-13; cf.Eud. Eth.1241b17-24.

642.1254a13-17.

643.Op. cit., p. 362.

644.1254a28-31; 1254b15. As Wallon (op. cit., p. 391) points out, his radical error is a constant confusion of hypothesis with reality.

645.1254a23-24.

646.Ibid.33 f.

647.Ibid.30-40; 1254b10-13; 1253b7; 18 f., cf.Eud. Eth.1241b17 ff.

648.1254b16-19.

649.Ibid.20-26.

650.Ibid.26 ff.

651.1254a21 f.

652.1254b6-10; 11 f.; 16-20; 1255b6-15; a doctrine emphasized by Plato,Rep.590D;Laws645B, 714A, 818A, 684C, as also by Carlyle and Ruskin; cf. Shorey,Class. Phil., IX (1914), 355 ff. Though Ruskin believed that natural slavery was the inevitable lot of many men, he did not uphold negro slavery,Mun. Pul., v, 133 (Vol. XVII, 256 f.); Time and Tide, p. 149 (Vol. XVII, 438). But he pointed to the white economic slavery as equally bad,Stones of Venice, II (Vol. X, 193); Time and Tide, p. 105 (Vol. XVII, 403);Crown of Wild Olive, 119;Cestus Aglaia, p. 55.

653.1254b32-34; 1255b5 ff.

654.1254b38 f.

655.1255a3-7.

656.Ibid.19-21 and next note.

657.Ibid.24 f.

658.Ibid.25 f.: καὶ τὸν ἀνάξιον δουλεύειν οὐδαμῶς ἂν φαίη τις δοῦλον εἶναι.

659.Ibid.26-28.

660.Ibid.33 ff.

661.1255b20-22. Barker (op. cit., p. 369, n. 1) well observes that this is a challenge of the right of slavery, not an argument for it, and that it may have impressed his contemporaries so. Cf. Ruskin: “So there is only one way to have good servants; that is to be worthy of being well served.” (Letters on Servants and Houses, Vol. XVII, 5-18, App. V); cf. also pp. 520 ff.

662.1259b26-28.

663.Ibid.36-38.

664.Ibid.39-41.

665.1260a2-4; 14-16; cf. 33 ff., which sets a limit on the slave’s virtue.

666.1260a39-42; 1260b2 f. Cf. Ruskin,Fors Clav., III, Letter 28, 14, on the virtue of the “menial” condition.

667.Cf. Barker,op. cit., p. 370.

668.N. Eth.1161b1-10, especially 5: ᾗ μὲν οῦν δοῦλος, οὔκ ἐστι φιλία πρὸς αὐτόν, ᾗ δ᾽ ἄνθρωπος.

669.Cf. his reference to Cleisthenes’ gift of Athenian citizenship to many slaves; also his own emancipation, by will, of five of his own slaves (Diog. L. V. 1. 9).

670.Cf. Barker,op. cit., p. 370.

671.Sesame and Lilies, end of lecture on “Kings’ Treasuries”; cf.Fors Clav., VII, 9 (Vol. XXIX, 230);Mun. Pul., 130, note; cf.Fors Clav., III (Vol. XXVII, 515 f.). Lett. 28, 13 ff., on the workman as a serf.

672.Barker,op. cit., 368.

673.On the servile condition of the modern laborer, cf. Ruskin as above; a common idea also of Carlyle and of many modern economic writings.

674.Pol.1257a31 ff., praised for its exactness and insight. Cf. Poehlmann,op. cit., I, 585; Dühring (op. cit., p. 23) belittles it. Newman (op. cit., II, 184) points to ξενικωτέρας as implying that the increased distance between buyers and sellers also caused the origin of money.

675.N. Eth.v. 5. 1133b26-28.

676.Pol.1257a31-36; ξενικωτέρας γὰρ γενομένης τῆς βοηθείας τῷ εἰσάγεσθαι ὦν ἐνδεεῖς καὶ ἐκπέμπειν ὦν ἐπλεόναζον, ἐξ ἀνάνκης ἡ τοῦ νομίσματος ἐπορίσθη χρῆσις, etc.

677.Ibid.36-38; εὐμεταχείριστον could mean “malleability,” but probably not, since he considers coinage to be an afterthought.

678.Ibid.38 f.

679.Ibid.39-41.

680.1257b1-5.

681.As a symbol of exchange (ξύμβολον τῆς ἀλλαγῆς) it is a medium of exchange and a measure of value (Rep.371B;Laws742A-B, 918B).

682.v. 8. 1133a18-1133b28.

683.1133a29.

684.Ibid.5-19; 25; 27 f.; 1133b10, etc.

685.1133a19-22, 25 f.; 1133b16; 22; ix. 1164a1 f.;Pol.1258b1-5, μεταβολῆς χάριν; 1257a30 ff. Stewart (op. cit., I, 416 ff.) thinks that the author meant to apply the corrective (διορθωτικόν) function of justice also to money, in that it makes exchange more fair and uniform. As evidence, he points toN. Eth.1131a18 ff. and 1133a19-22, where the functions of justice and money are defined in similar terms. Cf. also his interesting remarks on the dianemetic function, which prompts exchange and distribution.

686.1133b10-13.

687.Ibid.15-18: οὔτε γὰρ ἂν μὴ οὔσης αλλαγῆς κοινωνία ἦν, etc.

688.Pol.1257b8 f.

689.1257b10-18; for the theory of the Cynics, cf.infra, especially onEryxias. Cf. Newman,op. cit., II, 188, note, and his reference to Macaulay’s note on the margin of his edition of thePolitics.

690.1257b19 ff.; cf. the transitional sentence, 18, a slight hint that he accepts the theory.

691.N. Eth.v. 5. 1133a29-31; cf. 1133b20 f., ἐξ ὑποθέσεως, cf.infra, where the pseudo-Economicatakes it for granted.

692.Pol.1257a36 f., cited on p.102.

693.N. Eth.v. 5. 1133b13 f.: οὐ γὰρ ἀεὶ ἴσον δύναται· ὅμως δὲ βούλεται μένειν μᾶλλον.

694.Cf. p.86, n. 1, for passages.

695.Blanqui (op. cit., pp. 36, 88), Ingram (op. cit., p. 18), DuBois (op. cit., p. 51 and n. 1), Zmavc (Zeitschr. f. d. ges. Staatswiss.[1902], pp. 76 f.), Palgrave’sDictionary(art. “Aristotle,” p. 54), all admit this conclusion. Barker (op. cit., p. 380) says that the idea is hinted at. Souchon (op. cit., pp. 110 f.) accepts the other view, stating that this was his purpose, to show the folly of making merely imaginary goods the goal of all life.

696.Cf.N. Eth.v. 5. 1133b13 f.

697.Pol.1257b5-8, and the whole of 1257b; 1258b1-5.

698.1258b25.

699.N. Eth.1121b34: καὶ τοκισταὶ κατὰ μικρὰ καὶ ἐπὶ πολλῷ. Cf. Zell’s translation.

700.Pol.1258b1-8; but cf. p.39on this point. The etymology should not be taken seriously. Ruskin cites Aristotle on this point. Cf. above, p.39, n. 10.

701.Cf. Barker,op. cit., p. 385 and n. 2, where he criticizes Poehlmann for his idea that Aristotle “is attacking a great credit system,” and “is enunciating a gospel of socialism.” But cf.infra.

702.Pol.1257b5 ff.

703.Ibid.33 ff.; for further discussion of chrematistik, cf.infra.

704.Cf. Haney,op. cit., p. 49: “In Athens, the circulation of capital was inconsiderable, and money was not lent for productive purposes as often as for the purpose of relieving distress”; Souchon,op. cit., p. 93, though (pp. 106 f.) he recognizes the other side.

705.Cf. Paley and Sandys ed., especiallyOr.xxxvi; Isoc.Trapeziticus; Boeckh,op. cit., I, 160 ff.; V. Brants, “Les operations de banque dans la Grèce antique,”Le Muséon, I, 2, 196-203; Koutorga,Le trapézites, (Paris, 1859); cf. also E. Meyer,Kleine Schriften.

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