Climatic Determinism in Aristotle’s Idea of Natural Slavery Essay

One of the more influential texts in ancient literature is Aristotle’s seminal work on governance, â€Å"Politics: A Treatise on Government. † In â€Å"Politics,† Aristotle sought to establish the superiority of Greek social and political order; particularly the rigid segregation between master and slave, by invoking the patterns of organization observed in nature which he perceived to support the moral and natural correctness of Greek society and institutions. Arguably, Hippocrates’ earlier work, â€Å"On Airs, Waters, and Places,† which emphasized the central role of climatic and environmental factors in the development of human beings and societies, plays a huge influence on Aristotle’s treatise particularly in his defense of slavery. In â€Å"Airs, Waters, and Places,† Hippocrates posits that climatic factors are responsible for differences in the physical, mental, and psychological characteristics of human populations. (Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, and Places, 2. ln. 18-20; 13. ln. 7-15) Arguably, most of Aristotle’s assumptions on the nature of relationships between races, individuals, and societies are based on Hippocratic notions of inherent differences in human physical and psychological constitution that arises from differences in climate and the forces of nature. The role of climatic determinism in Aristotle’s ideas about natural slavery is evident in his belief on the decisive part of a nation or society’s location on earth in establishing racial superiority. Among the most obvious evidence of this is his reference to the differences between European, Asian, and Greek populations owing to the differences in geographic location and climate. Aristotle argues that Northern Europeans, on the one hand, were made courageous by the cold climate in their countries but the same climate also made them unintelligent and incapable of dominating others; the Asians, on the other hand, were intelligent but their cowardice made them easy to enslave. He then rationalizes that Greece’ position between Europe and Asia enabled the Greeks to possess a balanced capacity for intelligence and courage that is necessary of conquerors and masters. (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1327b. 14-20) Thus, Aristotle’s justification of slavery carries with it strains of climatic determinism, which espouses the natural superiority of some races over others brought about by the superiority of the particular climate in their place of habitation. Conversely, the inferiority of the climate leads to the inferior development of human populations. It is worthy to note that in making these claims, Aristotle simply echoes Hippocrate’s earlier observation of the racial dissimilarities arising from regional and climatic disparities. Hippocrates argues, for instance, that Asians display a gentler and more peaceful nature than Europeans because of â€Å"the nature of the seasons, which do not undergo any great changes either to heat or cold, or the like. † (Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, and Places, 16. ln. 2-4) Accordingly, the relative uniformity of seasons in Asia, which causes â€Å"neither excitement of the understanding nor any strong change of the body† (Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, and Places, 16. ln. 5) conditions its inhabitants to a passive existence that predisposes them to slavery. Hippocrates’ ideas therefore serve as the basis used by Aristotle in rationalizing slavery as a natural order among races. Aristotle’s idea of the existence of natural differences between races and the natural superiority of the Greek race makes it easy for him to justify the distinction between Greeks and barbarians that, in his view, justifies the enslavement of the latter by the former. This is illustrated in how Aristotle considers non-Greek cultures and societies as being â€Å"more prone to slavery than the Greeks† (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1285a. 13) by virtue of their outsider status relative to Greek civilization. This assumption is clearly based on Hippocrates’ survey of the diverse characteristics of populations of different countries with respect to their position relative to sunlight, winds, soil, and waters. In particular, Aristotle draws his assumption of Greek superiority from Hippocrates’ assertion that a country that is â€Å"blasted by the winter and scorched by the sun† produces individuals endowed not only with superior physical beauty and composition but also finer thinking skills that make them â€Å"acute and ingenious as regards the Arts, and excelling in military affairs. † (Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, and Places, 24. ln. 40-49) Aristotle’s climatic determinist thought extends to his idea of the qualities that differentiate a superior individual from the inferior one. For Aristotle, the existence of innate differences in human beings owing to the nature’s design justifies slavery as a natural and beneficial societal arrangement (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1255a. 1-2) Underlying this claim is clearly the belief that nature creates hierarchies between the superior and the inferior, as shown by the fact that climatic forces shape individuals either into conquerors or slaves. He claims, for instance, that â€Å"those men therefore who are as much inferior to others as the body is to the soul†¦are slaves by nature, and it is advantageous to them to be always under government. † (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1254b. 11-13) Aristotle attributes the innate inferiority and enslavement of some individuals to â€Å"the first principles of herile and political government† (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1254b. 2) which shows that â€Å"it is both natural and advantageous that the body should be governed by the soul. † (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1254b. 4-5) Thus, in the same way, it is proper that â€Å"the soul governs the body as the master governs his slave. † (Aristotle, Politics, ln. 1254b. 3)