Aristotle on Slavery

When trying to figure out the function of a human being, Aristotle says, "the remaining possibility, then, is some sort of life of action of the [part of the soul] that has reason. One [part] of it has reason as obeying reason; the other has it as itself having reason and thinking" (118). This quotation explains that there are two kinds of people: the people who can reason for themselves, and people who can only be …

…have people that work as janitors or construction workers. Although the reason we have people to do these jobs is because they are incapable of doing jobs that require reason, and they can naturally realize their place in the workforce. Therefore, they are not enslaved while still fulfilling the beneficial relationship that Aristotle describes. The fact that they do these jobs out their own free will is what separates it from Aristotle's perception of slavery.