Greek philosopher Aristotle did not merely condone slavery, he defended it; he did not merely defend it, but defended it as beneficial to the slave. His view was that some people are, by nature, unable to pursue their own good, and are best suited to be "living tools" for use by other people: "The slave is a part of the master, a living but separated part of his bodily frame."
Aristotle's anti-liberalism does not stop there. He believed that women were incapable of authoritative decision-making. And he decreed that manual labourers, despite being neither slaves nor women, were nonetheless prohibited from citizenship or education in his ideal city.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Read the full story and more at $9.90/month
Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month
ST One Digital
$9.90/month
No contract
ST app access on 1 mobile device
Unlock these benefits
All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com
Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device
E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you