Aristotle notes two political communities that are "less" than the polis: the family and the village. Of these two communities, the family is the subject of much more discussion and is the foundation of much of Aristotle's political theory. The origins of the family lie in the fundamental human partnership between a male and a female for the purposes of reproduction. The family unit is born from the collaboration between men and women and is organized to satisfy the primary needs of daily life. In addition to satisfying these primary needs, the most important task of the family is the education of women, children and slaves in the virtues that favor life in the polis. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the second book of Politics, Aristotle rigorously defends the family and strongly opposes the communism of women and children found in Plato's Republic. Plato believed that the family would create a conflict between the public and private interests of the polis, and responds to this problem by completely removing private interests such as wives, children, and private property. Aristotle argues that these devices seen by Plato as private interests are not the source of disputes in the polis, but rather that these disputes arise from human wickedness (1263b20-7). Aristotle also believes that people will not extend the same care and affection to their wives and children in common that they would to members of their personal family (1261b32-1262a24). On the other hand, Aristotle does not totally reject Plato's argument that the private interests of the family can clash with the interests of the polis as a whole. He writes that every family is part of a polis and that the virtue of the part must be examined in relation to the virtue of the whole. Among the primary functions of the family is the education of women and children regarding their participation in the polis. Aristotle wisely notes, since women make up half the adult population and children will grow up to participate in the establishment of the polis, that for the polis to be good as a whole, its women and children must also be good (1260b13 -20). Within the family there are three different types of relationships: husband/wife, father/son and master/slave. The head of the family is the primary figure in each of these relationships. In a husband's relationship with his wife, Aristotle argues that the husband must govern his wife in a political or statesmanlike manner. Elsewhere in the Politics, this type of government will be called government of and over free and equal people (1255b18-20). Aristotle is critical of other societies that mishandle the role of women in the polis, and he is extremely critical of the Spartans in this regard. Aristotle argues that among the main reasons for their downfall was their failure to educate women (1269b12-1270a9). On the other hand, Aristotle would not argue that women's education makes them politically equal to men. It would also reject arguments for treating women as slaves. Aristotle contrasts the woman with the slave by arguing that while the woman has the deliberative faculty, this faculty lacks authority in women (1260a13). Interestingly, the basis on which Aristotle rejects equality between men and women actually has to do with a particular role that Aristotle believes women have within the family. In rejecting an argument for equality that compares man to beast, Aristotle notes that women (unlike beasts) have duties in the home (1264b4-6). Therefore, his reasons for rejecting thewomen as equals to men are twofold: women's deliberative faculties lack authority and women have particular duties within the family that preclude their participation in government. Women, however, should not be treated the same way as children. Rather than politically ruling his children (as a husband would rule his wife), the father's rule over his children is monarchical (or kingly). The rule of a father over his children is similar to the rule of a king over his subjects because he is naturally superior to them. Like women, children are also distinguished from slaves by their deliberative faculty. While slaves lack deliberative faculties and women lack authority, children possess an immature or underdeveloped deliberative faculty. Children depend on their parents for their well-being (1260a14), and this well-being would necessarily include education about the function and constitution of the polis. At this point, we have considered how the family functions as an educational body within the polis where the head of the family teaches virtue to women and children similar to him in that they are capable of deliberation. The question of slave education leads us to consider Aristotle's discussion of natural slavery. His definition of natural slavery takes us back to his discussion in the Nicomachean Ethics of the proper relationship between the body and the soul. In his brief recapitulation of this discussion in the Politics, Aristotle reminds us that the soul governs the body in the same way that a master governs a slave. A slave, for Aristotle, is "a possession of an animate type", in the sense that he is an instrument of action and belongs completely to the master. A slave by nature is one who does not belong to himself by nature and who does not have the full use of reason. The natural slave, although he perceives reason, does not possess it (1245b1). This person is as different from other men as the body is from the soul. For these reasons, the slave is ruled despotically while women are ruled royally and women are ruled politically. The main difference between women, children and slaves is that women and children possess reason or are capable of possessing reason while slaves do not. Aristotle harshly criticizes the use of slaves as a means of production. Rather, he sees slaves as the means by which the master secures his livelihood. In his Commentary on the first book of Aristotle's Politics, Trevor J. Saunders believes this is the point of confining a slave to action rather than production. The master's purpose is to live well and the slave participates in the master's life (1260a39-40). Since Aristotle believes that the master should be concerned with action, rather than production, it would be an abuse of slaves to employ them for production. Saunders also believes that Aristotle's argument against the use of slaves for production has to do with his more general criticism of unnatural acquisition. Too often production becomes overproduction and leads to the kind of excessive wealth that Aristotle condemns. We can see that there is also an element of education when it comes to the management of natural slaves in the family. It is the master's job to give orders to the slave and it is the slave's job to obey those orders. The will of the master and the slave are one because the slave has no reasoning of his own to exercise (1254b20-3). The master's virtue in the master-slave relationship is knowing how to command the slave (consistent with Saunder's assessment above). The virtue of the slave is obedience to the master's orders and the master trains him in this virtue (1260b2-4). Therefore, one could say that the family also exists for the education of the slavenatural, which is a part of the family, by the master so that he (like women and children) can achieve his goal. Although there is much debate about the existence or otherwise of natural slavery, the focus of our discussion is the importance and functions of the family in the polis. Returning to our thesis, we have now demonstrated that the function of the family in the polis is not only that of the education of women and children, but also that of natural slaves. Aristotle insists that virtue in the family is necessary for there to be virtue in the polis, which is why the head of the family has the task of educating those he governs. However, there is another element of the family that differs from education: the art of acquisition. The last essential function of the family in the polis is the acquisition of wealth in the form of private property. Although property is left in private hands, Aristotle continues to believe that the accumulation of property is a problem for the polis (1263a21-38). Aristotle seems to believe that the accumulation of wealth and means of acquisition affects the values ​​of the polis as a whole, and therefore devotes a good portion of the first and second books to the discussion of how the head of the household should provide for his family. . It is not surprising that Aristotle rejects the idea that the art of acquisition is identical to the art of household management, because, as we have shown above, household management is about much more than the acquisition of wealth (1256b24-39). For Aristotle, the acquisition of the family unit is that which aims at the accumulation of primary needs. . Aristotle examines acquisition by the head of the household by distinguishing between natural and unnatural acquisition. Aristotle discusses four different ways of life that he finds synonymous with natural acquisition: the farmer, the hunter, the gatherer, and the pirate. This assurance of food, shelter, and other necessities is called natural acquisition because it is an indispensable part of running a household. All these things are necessary for the proper functioning of the family, and Aristotle certainly is not opposed to obtaining them. On the other hand, unnatural acquisition is accumulating wealth for its own sake. Aristotle notes that the types of goods that would be obtained through natural acquisition have both a "use value" and an "exchange value." Money has no such value because it is useless except as a means of exchange (this is equivalent to saying that it has an "exchange value" but not a use value). Money has no intrinsic or natural value, but derives its value from conventions. The purpose of acquiring a business is the accumulation of money and wealth rather than the natural acquisition of assets. It also disfavors unnatural acquisition (especially usury) because there is no limit to the amount of currency one can accumulate, leading people to indulge in excess enjoyment. As for the question of why the family is not fully discussed in the first book, this probably has to do with the connection of the family to the polis. The family depends on the lifestyle of an established regime which should be based on adequate family relationships such as those described above (husband-wife, father-son, master-slave). Therefore, before Aristotle can discuss the family in more depth, he must consider the question of the best constitution. Once this question is subjected to careful consideration, Aristotle will be able to more adequately describe the relationship between the home and the polis. In conclusion, we have shown through the examination of Book One and Book Two of Aristotle's Politics what was stated previously in our thesis. The family is important for the polis as an organism in which the head of the family provides the.. 1995