Domination and Mastery

“those who are as different [from other men] as the soul from the body or man from beast – and they are in this state if their work is the use of the body, and if this is the best that can come from them – are slaves by nature….For he is a slave by nature who is capable of belonging to another – which is also why he belongs to another”

The question is how does one know that one person is a “natural” slave. Firstly, Aristotle opposes slavery “by law” such as the slavery of the conquered, or the slavery of children of slaves. Which notably was a very progressive view at the time. I have held for a while that legalized slavery would obviate and make impossible true consensual slavery. This is so because only when slavery is always and only entered into freely can one truly know that the person entering that state of being feels it “natural” for him or herself to be in that state. By the same token, Mastery, as something not freely entered into is a responsibility that many if not most would refuse. Those who do freely feel that it is their appropriate state, and who want and thrive on the responsibility, can only choose to do so in a situation where they never and in no way are asked to take that responsibility as a matter of law, tradition or inheritance.

I’m actually emailing this post to myself so that nobody in IT sees my browser going to a site called Domination and Mastery.  I’m very unused to hiding my proclivities, even at work, so it’s a bit of a new experience for me.   Not that my new job is restrictive in the way my last one was – there they simply told me up front that they watched all browser activity and any “non compliant” activity would result in dismissal.  Even posting to technical forums was absolutely disallowed, what a joke for a programmer!
I’m waiting for the girls to drop by with my sunglasses, I left this morning while it was still dark out and as a result didn’t think to bring them, and now the sun is shining fiercely and with my eyes hurting already I don’t feel like driving home without.  And why are my eyes hurting?  Well I just got contact lenses, for the first time in over ten years, and I am not used to them.  I do see better with them as they cure the astigmatism better than glasses, and I found out I actually have peripheral vision when not wearing glasses!  I think I’d really favour Lasic surgery but funds don’t support that idea at present.
The girls attended the Democratic caucus for our precinct last night.  I didn’t attend due to not being American but apparently it wouldn’t have mattered – I just wouldn’t have signed in or voted.  While our precinct went 7-4 for Obama Texas as a whole went for Hillary, as mitda was hoping. 
I’ve actually done so much work this morning my hands are cramping from typing, so I’m going to end this post and see whereabouts the girls are at.  After they arrive I’m going to take the new (to us) car in for an oil change and Spring checkup around the corner and let my eyes and hands rest for an hour or so.

“those who are as different [from other men] as the soul from the body or man from beast – and they are in this state if their work is the use of the body, and if this is the best that can come from them – are slaves by nature….For he is a slave by nature who is capable of belonging to another – which is also why he belongs to another”

“Slaves get the guidance and instructions that they must have to live, and in return they provide the master with the benefits of their physical labor, not least of which is the free time that makes it possible for the master to engage in politics and philosophy. “

“not everyone currently held in slavery is in fact a slave by nature. The argument that those who are captured in war are inferior in virtue cannot, as far as Aristotle is concerned, be sustained, and the idea that the children of slaves are meant to be slaves is also wrong”

“Aristotle uses the discussion of household management to make a distinction between expertise in managing a household and expertise in business. The former, Aristotle says, is important both for the household and the city; we must have supplies available of the things that are necessary for life, such as food, clothing, and so forth, and because the household is natural so too is the science of household management, the job of which is to maintain the household. The latter, however, is potentially dangerous.”

“expertise in business is not natural, but “arises rather through a certain experience and art” (1257a5). It is on account of expertise in business that “there is held to be no limit to wealth and possessions” (1257a1). This is a problem because some people are led to pursue wealth without limit, and the choice of such a life, while superficially very attractive, does not lead to virtue and real happiness. It leads some people to “proceed on the supposition that they should either preserve or increase without limit their property in money. The cause of this state is that they are serious about living, but not about living well; and since that desire of theirs is without limit, they also desire what is productive of unlimited things”