Politics

​For if he is licentious and cowardly, he will perform none of his duties. It is clear, then, that while both must share in virtue, there are differences in this virtue, just as there are among those who are by nature ruled. And this is immediately indicated by the facts concerning the soul; for in this there is by nature a ruling part and a ruled part, whose virtue we say is different, for example, that of the part possessing reason and that of the irrational part. It is clear, then, that the same relation holds in other cases as well, so that there are by nature several ruling and ruled parts. For the free rules the slave in one way, the male the female in another, and the man the child in another, and in all of them the parts of the soul are present, but they are present in different ways. For the slave does not possess the deliberative part at all, while the female possesses it but it lacks authority, and the child possesses it but it is incomplete. Therefore, the ruler must possess intellectual virtue in completeness (for the work is absolutely that of the master-craftsman, and reason is the master-craftsman), but each of the others must possess it in such measure as falls to their share. We must suppose, then, that the same necessity applies to the moral virtues: all must share in them, but not in the same way, but only as much as is required for each to perform his own work. Hence it is clear that there is a moral virtue belonging to all those mentioned, and that the temperance of a woman and that of a man are not the same, nor are their courage and justice, as Socrates thought, but the one is ruling courage and the other is serving courage, and similarly with the other virtues. This also becomes clear to those who examine the matter in detail; for those who speak generally deceive themselves by saying that virtue is a good state of the soul, or right action, or anything of the kind. For those who enumerate the virtues, as Gorgias did, speak much better than those who define them in this way. Therefore, we must think of all as the poet has spoken concerning the woman: ’Silence brings ornament to a woman,’ but this is no longer the case for a man. And since the child is incomplete, it is clear that his virtue too is not relative to himself alone, but to his completion and to his leader; and similarly, that of the slave is relative to his master. But we laid down that the slave is useful for necessary things, so that it is clear that he needs only a small amount of virtue, and only so much as will prevent him from failing in his duties through licentiousness or cowardice. One might raise the question, if what has just been said is true, whether artisans will also need to have virtue; for they often fail in their duties through licentiousness. Or does this differ in the highest degree? For the slave is a partner in life, but the artisan is more remote, and shares in virtue only as much as he shares in slavery;

​for the vulgar craftsman has a certain defined slavery, and while the slave is among those who are by nature, no shoemaker is so, nor any of the other craftsmen. It is clear, then, that the master must be the cause of this kind of virtue in the slave, but not as merely possessing the art of teaching him his duties. Therefore, those who deprive slaves of reason and say that they should use only command speak not well; for slaves ought to be admonished even more than children. But let these matters be defined in this way. As for husband and wife, children and father, and the virtue concerning each of them, and their association with one another, what is good and what is not good, and how one must pursue the good and flee the bad, it is necessary to go into these matters in the discussions concerning constitutions. For since every household is a part of a city, and these are parts of a household, and the virtue of the part must look to the virtue of the whole, it is necessary to educate both children and women with a view to the constitution, if indeed it makes any difference to the city being excellent that the children are excellent and the women are excellent. And it must make a difference; for women are half of the free population, and from the children come those who share in the constitution. So, since these matters have been defined, and the rest must be spoken of in other places, let us leave the present arguments as completed, and make another beginning and speak, and first let us examine those who have expressed opinions concerning the best constitution.