more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Nobody attributes happiness to a slave, unless he also attributes to him a life of his own.
Gist of Idea
Slaves can't be happy, because they lack freedom
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1177a08)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.328
A Reaction
Give them freedom then! In 'Politics' he allows a degree of friendship between masters and slaves, and recognises that not all slaves are stupid.
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5845 | Niceratus learnt the whole of Homer by heart, as a guide to goodness [Xenophon] |
139 | A good person is bound to act well, and this brings happiness [Plato] |
5142 | Oxen, horses and children cannot be happy, because they cannot perform fine deeds [Aristotle] |
2689 | Good people enjoy virtuous action, just as musicians enjoy beautiful melodies [Aristotle] |
101 | Slaves can't be happy, because they lack freedom [Aristotle] |
3562 | Fine things are worthless if they give no pleasure [Epicurus] |
7499 | Stoicism was an elitist option to lead a beautiful life [Stoic school, by Foucault] |
14815 | We get enormous pleasure from tales of noble actions [Nietzsche] |
7501 | Why couldn't a person's life become a work of art? [Foucault] |