The Economic Thought Of Aristotle and Plato, Aristotle Economics
It is natural to pass from the Orient to Greece. Both by geography and by the character of her people, Greece was closely related to Asiatic civilization. However much scholars differ as to the extent of the contributions made by Asia and Africa to Greek culture, it may safely be said that such contributions were considerable. But, while certain similarities exist, there are important differences; and so directly essential has been the part played by Greek ideas in the development of modern thought that they demand no small share of attention.
More specifically, the teachings of Aristotle and Plato contained important economic ideas, and became a distinct factor in shaping economic doctrines.
It is natural to pass from the Orient to Greece. Both by geography and by the character of her people, Greece was closely related to Asiatic civilization. However much scholars differ as to the extent of the contributions made by Asia and Africa to Greek culture, it may safely be said that such contributions were considerable. But, while certain similarities exist, there are important differences; and so directly essential has been the part played by Greek ideas in the development of modern thought that they demand no small share of attention.
More specifically, the teachings of Aristotle and Plato contained important economic ideas, and became a distinct factor in shaping economic doctrines.
Origin of the State; First Economic Interpretation of
History. — One of the striking facts about the political thought of
certain Greek thinkers is that it rests upon what may be truly called an
economic interpretation of history. To be sure, the Athenian
philosopher's conception of history was imperfect, and by an economic
interpretation is not meant a materialistic one; but with these
modifications, the statement is broadly true. Witness the following from
Plato: "A State, . . . arises, as I conceive, out of the needs of
mankind; no one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants. . . .
Then, as we have many wants, and many persons are needed to supply them,
one takes a helper for one purpose and another for another; and when
these partners and helpers are gathered together in one habitation the
body of inhabitants is termed a State. . . . And they exchange with one
another, and one gives, and another receives, under the idea that the
exchange will be for their good." The origin of the state, then, is
traced to the lack of individual self-sufficiency in the satisfaction of
wants, and to the advantage of specialization and exchange. Such
reasoning indicates an important step toward the development of
economic analysis.
On this point, the doctrine of Aristotle, who was probably the greatest of all the thinkers of antiquity, begins in a less purely rational way. He assumes that an impulse to political association is innate in all men: "Man is naturally a social animal." The genesis of the state, however, is found in the household, which, in its turn, rests upon the inability of male and female to exist independently, and upon the inequality among men which leads to slavery. The household is "the association naturally formed for the supply of everyday wants." Then comes the village, and finally the state: "Lastly, the association composed of several villages in its complete form is the State, in which the goal of full independence may be said to be first attained." The state is formed to make life possible