Humanitext Reader

Aristotle · Great Ethics §1.33.10-1.33.16

Justice in Exchange and Political Justice

Passage 36 of 71 · Greek

Summary

This chunk discusses the proportionate justice that holds the state together, illustrated by division of labor and the introduction of money in Plato's *Republic*. It then criticizes the Pythagorean concept of simple retaliation, arguing that genuine justice is "political justice" based on equality among citizens, rather than domestic relations of domination.

§1.33.10ἔοικεν δὲ καὶ Πλάτων τῇ ἀναλογίᾳ ταύτῃ τοῦ δικαίου χρῆσθαι ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ.
And Plato too seems to use this proportion of the just in the *Republic*.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ γεωργός, φησί, σῖτον ποιεῖ, ὁ δʼ οἰκοδόμος οἰκίαν, ὁ δὲ ὑφάντης ἱμάτιον, ὁ δὲ σκυτοτόμος ὑπόδημα.
For the farmer, he says, produces food, the builder a house, the weaver a cloak, and the shoemaker a shoe.
ὁ μὲν οὖν γεωργὸς τῷ οἰκοδόμῳ σῖτον δίδωσιν, ὁ δʼ οἰκοδόμος τῷ γεωργῷ οἰκίαν· ὁμοίως δὲ οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες οὕτως ἔχουσιν ὥστε τὰ παῤ αὑτοῖς ἀντικαταλλάττεσθαι τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις.
Now the farmer gives food to the builder, and the builder a house to the farmer; and similarly all the others are in such a relation as to exchange what they have of their own for what is in the possession of the others.
§1.33.11ἔστιν δʼ ἡ ἀναλογία αὕτη· ὡς γὰρ ὁ γεωργὸς τῷ οἰκοδόμῳ, οὕτως ὁ οἰκοδόμος τῷ γεωργῷ· ὁμοίως τῷ σκυτεῖ, τῷ ὑφάντῃ, τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν ἡ αὐτὴ ἀναλογία πρὸς ἀλλήλους γίνεται· καὶ συνέχει δὴ αὕτη 〈ἡ〉 ἀναλογία τὴν πολιτείαν.
And this proportion is as follows: for as the farmer is to the builder, so is the builder to the farmer; and similarly with the shoemaker, the weaver, and all the others, the same proportion arises in relation to one another; and indeed this proportion holds the state together.
ὥστε τὸ δίκαιον ἔοικεν εἶναι τὸ ἀνάλογον.
So that the just seems to be the proportionate.
τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον συνέχει τὰς πολιτείας, τὸ αὐτὸ δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ δίκαιον τῷ ἀνάλογον.
For the just holds states together, and the just is the same as the proportionate.
§1.33.12ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ οἰκοδόμος πλείονος ἄξιον ποιεῖ τὸ αὑτοῦ ἔργον ἢ ὁ σκυτεύς, καὶ ἦν ἔργον ἀντικαταλλάτεσθαι [καὶ] τῷ σκυτεῖ πρὸς τὸν οἰκοδόμον, ἀνθʼ ὑποδημάτων δʼ οὐκ ἦν οἰκίαν λαβεῖν, ἐνταῦθα ἤδη ἐνόμισαν, οὗ ταῦτα πάντα ὠνητὰ ἐστίν, ἀργύριον προσαγορεύσαντες νόμισμα, τούτῳ χρῆσθαι, καὶ τὴν ἀξίαν ἕκαστον ἑκάστου διδόντας τὴν ἄλλαξιν ποιεῖσθαι παρʼ ἀλλήλων, καὶ τούτῳ τὴν πολιτικὴν κοινωνίαν συνέχειν.
But since the builder makes his own product of greater value than the shoemaker does, and it was a task for the shoemaker to exchange with the builder, but it was not possible to get a house in exchange for shoes, here they established by law that by which all these things are purchasable, calling silver 'money', and decided to use this, and by giving each person the value of each thing to make the exchange with one another, and by this to hold the political community together.
§1.33.13ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ δίκαιόν ἐστιν ἐν τούτοις καὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἔμπροσθεν, ἡ περὶ ταῦτα δικαιοσύνη ἂν εἴη τῇ ἕξει ὁρμὴν ἔχουσα μετὰ προαιρέσεως περὶ ταῦτα καὶ ἐν τούτοις.
Since, then, the just is in these things and those mentioned before, the justice concerned with these would be a state having its impulse accompanied by deliberate choice concerning these things and in them.
ἔστιν δὲ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ ἀντιπεπονθός, οὐ μέντοι γε ὡς οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι ἔλεγον.
And the reciprocal is also just, though not indeed as the Pythagoreans used to say.
ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ ᾤοντο δίκαιον εἶναι, ἅ τις ἐποίησεν, ταῦτʼ ἀντιπταθεῖν· §1.33.14τὸ δὲ τοιοῦτον οὐκ ἔστιν πρὸς ἅπαντας.
For they thought that it is just for a person to suffer in return those very things which he did; But such a thing is not applicable towards everyone.
οὐ γάρ ἐστι δίκαιον οἰκέτῃ πρὸς ἐλεύθερον ταὐτόν· ὁ οἰκέτης γὰρ ἐὰν πατάξῃ τὸν ἐλεύθερον, οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος ἀντιπληγῆναι, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις.
For the just is not the same for a slave towards a free man; for if a slave strikes a free man, it is not just that he should be struck back with a single blow, but many times.
καὶ τὸ ἀντιπεπονθὸς δὲ δίκαιόν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ἀνάλογον.
And the reciprocal is just in the proportionate.
ὡς γὰρ ὁ ἐλεύθερος ἔχει πρὸς τὸν δοῦλον τῷ βελτίων εἶναι, οὕτως τὸ ἀντιποιῆσαι πρὸς τὸ ποιῆσαι.
For as the free man is related to the slave in being better, so is the doing in return related to the doing.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐλευθέρῳ πρὸς ἐλεύθερον ἕξει.
And it will be similar for a free man towards a free man.
οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον, εἴ τις τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἐξέκοψεν τινός, ἀντεκκοπῆναι μόνον, ἀλλὰ πλείονα παθεῖν, ἀκολουθήσαντα τῇ ἀναλογίᾳ· καὶ γὰρ ἦρξε πρότερος καὶ ἠδίκησεν, ἀδικεῖ δὲ κατʼ ἀμφότερα, ὥστε ἀνάλογον καὶ τὰ ἀδικήματα, καὶ τὸ ἀντιπταθεῖν πλείω ὧν ἐποίησεν δίκαιον ἐστίν.
For it is not just, if someone knocked out another's eye, that he should merely have his own knocked out, but he should suffer more, following the proportion; for he both began it first and committed injustice, and he commits injustice in both ways, so that the injustices too are proportionate, and to suffer in return more than he did is just.
§1.33.15ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ δίκαιον πολλαχῶς λέγεται, διοριστέον ἂν εἴη ὑπὲρ ποίου δικαίου ἐστὶν ἡ σκέψις.
Since, however, the just is spoken of in many ways, we must define about what kind of just our inquiry is.
ἔστιν δὴ δίκαιόν τι, ὡς φασίν, οἰκέτῃ πρὸς δεσπότην καὶ υἱῷ πρὸς πατέρα.
There is indeed a certain just, as they say, for a slave towards a master, and for a son towards a father.
τὸ δʼ ἐν τούτοις δίκαιον ὁμωνύμως ἂν δόξειεν λέγεσθαι τῷ πολιτικῷ δικαίῳ (ἔστιν γὰρ 〈τὸ〉 δίκαιον, ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐστιν ἡ σκέψις, τὸ πολιτικὸν δίκαιον)· §1.33.16τοῦτο γὰρ μάλιστά ἐστιν ἐν ἰσότητι (κοινωνοὶ γὰρ οἱ πολῖταί τινες, καὶ ὅμοιοι βούλονται εἶναι τῇ φύσει, τῷ δὲ τρόπῳ ἕτεροι), τῷ δὲ υἱῷ πρὸς πατέρα καὶ οἰκέτῃ πρὸς δεσπότην οὐκ ἂν δόξειεν εἶναι δίκαιον οὐθέν.
But the just in these cases would seem to be spoken of homonymously with the political just (for the just, about which our inquiry is, is the political just); for this is most of all in equality (for citizens are a kind of partners, and wish to be equal in nature, though different in their character), whereas for a son towards a father and for a slave towards a master there would seem to be no just at all.
οὔτε γὰρ τῷ ποδὶ τῷ ἐμῷ πρὸς ἐμὲ οὔτε τῇ χειρί, ὁμοίως δὲ οὐδʼ ἑκάστῳ τῶν μορίων· ὡσαύτως ἂν οὖν δόξειεν ἔχειν καὶ ὁ υἱὸς πρὸς πατέρα· ὥσπερ γὰρ μέρος τί ἐστι τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ υἱός.
For neither is there any just for my foot towards me, nor for my hand, and similarly nor for each of my parts; and so the son would seem to stand in a similar relation to his father; for the son is, as it were, a part of the father.
πλὴν ὅταν ἤδη λάβῃ τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τάξιν καὶ χωρισθῇ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, τότʼ ἤδη ἐν ἰσότητι καὶ ὁμοιότητί ἐστιν τῷ πατρί· οἱ δὲ πολῖται τοιοῦτοί τινες ἐθέλουσιν εἶναι.
Except when he has already taken his place as a man and has been separated from him, then indeed he is in equality and similarity to his father; and the citizens wish to be people of this kind.

Notes

  1. §1.33.10τὰ παῤ αὑτοῖς ἀντικαταλλάττεσθαι τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις — The verb ἀντικαταλλάττεσθαι (to exchange) takes the thing given in exchange in the accusative (functioning here as the subject of the passive/middle infinitive: τὰ παρ' αὑτοῖς) and the thing taken in exchange in the genitive (τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις).
  2. §1.33.12καὶ ἦν ἔργον ἀντικαταλλάτεσθαι [καὶ] τῷ σκυτεῖ πρὸς τὸν οἰκοδόμον — The construction ἦν ἔργον with the infinitive denotes "it was a difficult task/trouble" for someone. The dative τῷ σκυτεῖ is the dative of interest or agent of the infinitive, highlighting the difficulty of direct barter with a builder due to the unequal value of their goods.
  3. §1.33.12ἐνόμισαν... τούτῳ χρῆσθαι... τὴν ἄλλαξιν ποιεῖσθαι... συνέχειν — The verb ἐνόμισαν here functions in the sense of "they established by custom/law" or "they resolved," governing the subsequent infinitives χρῆσθαι (to use), ποιεῖσθαι (to make), and συνέχειν (to hold together) as its objective complements.
  4. §1.33.14τῷ βελτίων εἶναι — An articular infinitive in the dative case. It functions as a dative of cause or respect ("in being better" or "by virtue of being better"), explaining the ground of the proportion between a free man and a slave.
  5. §1.33.16ὁμοίως δὲ οὐδʼ ἑκάστῳ τῶν μορίων — There is an ellipsis of the predicate. One must supply the negative predicate from the preceding clause, namely οὐκ ἂν δόξειεν εἶναι δίκαιον οὐθέν (there would seem to be no just at all), meaning that likewise no justice exists in relation to any of one's own bodily parts.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Great Ethics §1.33.10-1.33.16. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg022.humanitext-grc1:1.33.10-1.33.16

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