Humanitext Reader

Aristotle · Politics §1.1256a

Acquisition, Household Management, and Modes of Life

Passage 8 of 155 · Greek

Summary

The passage raises the question of how the art of acquisition relates to household management, and analyzes how the various modes of life of both animals and humans (such as nomadism, hunting, and agriculture) are determined by their methods of procuring food.

§1.1256aὅλως δὲ περὶ πάσης κτήσεως καὶ χρηματιστικῆς θεωρήσωμεν κατὰ τὸν ὑφηγημένον τρόπον, ἐπείπερ καὶ ὁ δοῦλος τῆς κτήσεως μέρος τι ἦν.
In general, let us investigate concerning all property and the art of acquisition according to our prescribed method, since the slave also was a certain part of property.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἀπορήσειεν ἄν τις πότερον ἡ χρηματιστικὴ ἡ αὐτὴ τῇ οἰκονομικῇ ἐστιν ἢ μέρος τι, ἢ ὑπηρετική, καὶ εἰ ὑπηρετική, πότερον ὡς ἡ κερκιδοποιικὴ τῇ ὑφαντικῇ ἢ ὡς ἡ χαλκουργικὴ τῇ ἀνδριαντοποιίᾳ (οὐ γὰρ ὡσαύτως ὑπηρετοῦσιν, ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν ὄργανα παρέχει, ἡ δὲ τὴν ὕλην· λέγω δὲ ὕλην τὸ ὑποκείμενον ἐξ οὗ τι ἀποτελεῖται ἔργον, οἷον ὑφάντῃ μὲν ἔρια ἀνδριαντοποιῷ δὲ χαλκόν).
First, then, one might raise the question whether the art of acquisition is the same as household management, or a part of it, or subordinate to it; and if subordinate, whether in the way that the art of making shuttles is to the art of weaving, or as the art of bronze-working is to the art of statue-making (for they do not minister in the same way, but the one provides tools, the other the material; and by material I mean the substrate from which a work is completed, as for instance wool for the weaver and bronze for the sculptor).
ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐχ ἡ αὐτὴ ἡ οἰκονομικὴ τῇ χρηματιστικῇ, δῆλον (τῆς μὲν γὰρ τὸ πορίσασθαι, τῆς δὲ τὸ χρήσασθαι· τίς γὰρ ἔσται ἡ χρησομένη τοῖς κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν παρὰ τὴν οἰκονομικήν; )·
It is clear, then, that household management is not the same as the art of acquisition (for the province of the one is to provide, and of the other to use; for what other art than household management will be the one to use the things in the house?).
πότερον δὲ μέρος αὐτῆς ἐστί τι ἢ ἕτερον εἶδος, ἔχει διαμφισβήτησιν· εἰ γάρ ἐστι τοῦ χρηματιστικοῦ θεωρῆσαι πόθεν χρήματα καὶ κτῆσις ἔσται, ἥ δὲ κτῆσις πολλὰ περιείληφε μέρη καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος, ὥστε πρῶτον ἡ γεωργικὴ πότερον μέρος τι τῆς οἰκονομικῆς ἢ ἕτερόν τι γένος, καὶ καθόλου ἡ περὶ τὴν τροφὴν ἐπιμέλεια καὶ κτῆσις;
But whether it is a part of it or a different kind is a matter of dispute; for if it belongs to the expert in acquisition to consider whence money and property are to come, and property and wealth embrace many parts, so that first, is agriculture a part of household management or some other kind of thing, and in general, the care for and acquisition of food?
ἀλλὰ μὴν εἴδη γε πολλὰ τροφῆς, διὸ καὶ βίοι πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν ζῴων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰσίν· οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε ζῆν ἄνευ τροφῆς, ὥστε αἱ διαφοραὶ τῆς τροφῆς τοὺς βίους πεποιήκασι διαφέροντας τῶν ζῴων.
Yet there are indeed many kinds of food, and therefore many modes of life both of beasts and of human beings; for it is not possible to live without food, so that the differences in food have made the modes of life of animals differ.
τῶν τε γὰρ θηρίων τὰ μὲν ἀγελαῖα τὰ δὲ σποραδικά ἐστιν, ὁποτέρως συμφέρει πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ τὰ μὲν ζῳοφάγα τὰ δὲ καρποφάγα τὰ δὲ παμφάγα αὐτῶν εἶναι, ὥστε πρὸς τὰς ῥᾳστώνας καὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν τὴν τούτων ἡ φύσις τοὺς βίους αὐτῶν διώρισεν, ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐ ταὐτὸ ἑκάστῳ ἡδὺ κατὰ φύσιν ἀλλὰ ἕτερα ἑτέροις, καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν ζῳοφάγων καὶ τῶν καρποφάγων οἱ βίοι πρὸς ἄλληλα διεστᾶσιν· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
For of beasts, some are gregarious and others solitary, in whichever way is advantageous to them for their food, because some of them are carnivorous, others herbivorous, and others omnivorous, so that nature has defined their modes of life with a view to the facility and the choice of these; and since the same thing is not naturally pleasant to each, but different things to different ones, the modes of life even of the carnivorous and the herbivorous themselves differ from one another; and similarly also among human beings.
πολὺ γὰρ διαφέρουσιν οἱ τούτων βίοι.
For their modes of life differ greatly.
οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀργότατοι νομάδες εἰσίν (ἡ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμέρων τροφὴ ζῴων ἄνευ πόνου γίνεται σχολάζουσιν· ἀναγκαίου δʼ ὄντος μεταβάλλειν τοῖς κτήνεσι διὰ τὰς νομὰς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀναγκάζονται συνακολουθεῖν, ὥσπερ γεωργίαν ζῶσαν γεωργοῦντες)·
Those who are the laziest are nomads (for the food from domesticated animals is obtained without labor for those who lead a life of leisure; but since it is necessary for the cattle to move on account of the pastures, they themselves are also forced to follow along, as if they were cultivating a living farm).
οἱ δʼ ἀπὸ θήρας ζῶσι, καὶ θήρας ἕτεροι ἑτέρας, οἷον οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ λῃστείας, οἱ δʼ ἀφʼ ἁλιείας, ὅσοι λίμνας καὶ ἕλη καὶ ποταμοὺς ἢ θάλατταν τοιαύτην προσοικοῦσιν, οἱ δʼ ἀπʼ ὀρνίθων ἢ θηρίων ἀγρίων·
Others live by hunting, and different men by different kinds of hunting: for instance, some by piracy, others by fishing—such as those who dwell near lakes, marshes, rivers, or a sea of that kind—and others by hunting birds or wild beasts.
τὸ δὲ πλεῖστον γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ζῇ καὶ τῶν ἡμέρων καρπῶν.
But the greatest class of mankind lives from the land and domesticated crops.
οἱ μὲν οὖν βίοι τοσοῦτοι σχεδόν εἰσιν, ὅσοι γε αὐτόφυτον ἔχουσι τὴν ἐργασίαν καὶ μὴ διʼ ἀλλαγῆς καὶ καπηλείας πορίζονται τὴν τροφήν,
The modes of life, then, are pretty much so many—at least those which have an active employment that is self-produced and do not procure their food by exchange and retail trade,

Notes

  1. 1256a1ἦν — The past tense ἦν (imperfect) does not express a counterfactual situation, but is an 'imperfect of reminder' (the so-called philosophic imperfect), recalling the fact established in the preceding discussion (e.g., 1253b32) that the slave is a part of property.
  2. 1256a14αὐτῆς — The antecedent of the demonstrative pronoun αὐτῆς (feminine genitive singular) is 'household management' (οἰκονομική), in relation to which the question is asked whether the art of acquisition is a part of it.
  3. 1256a34ὥσπερ γεωργίαν ζῶσαν γεωργοῦντες — A cognate accusative construction combining the participle γεωργοῦντες with its cognate noun γεωργίαν. It paradoxically describes the nomadic mode of life, where people must move along with their living livestock, through the metaphor of 'cultivating a living farm'.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Politics §1.1256a. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:1.1256a

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