User:Nateasplund

Hello I am Nathan Asplund The article I will be researching for this class is "Natural Slavery", a term used by Aristotle to explain people who are slaves by nature in their behavior.

Formal Proposal For this upcoming assignment, I plan on editing the Wikipedia page for “Natural Slavery”. Natural slavery is an idea discussed by Aristotle in his book “Politics”. In a section of Politics, Aristotle essentially describes what a “natural slave” is, and how they interact with the world. It is a term that was coined and created by Aristotle, and it is not discussed much on Wikipedia. In Wikipedia, natural slavery is only lightly talked about. The only information on the page is the definition of natural slavery, a quote on Aristotle’s belief system when it comes to slavery, and some brief background history on the subject. I plan on elaborating on what Aristotle thought natural slavery was all about. I plan on explaining Aristotle’s definition and viewpoints on natural slavery through Joseph Karbowski's article "Aristotle's Scientific Inquiry into Natural Slavery". The main bit of information I plan on adding from Karbowski’s writings is Aristotle’s “breakdown” of the natural slave. Natural slavery’s definition is broken down into two categories in Aristotle’s Politics; the existing and the doing. Karbowski does a great job at explaining these two concepts. The first concept talks about what a natural slave is, and what characteristics define this type of individual. The second concept talks about how a natural slave reacts to his or her environment, and how they exist in society. I also found some more information on slave’s interaction with their environment in Malcom Heath’s article “Aristotle on Natural Slavery”. Heath does a good job at elaborating on Aristotle’s work. He helps define a slaves actions and reactions clearly. He also is a great resourse because there is a nice criticism of Aristotle. I hope these concepts can be broken down simply and clearly through modern philosophers ideas. To put it simply, I plan on editing the “Natural Slavery” wikipdea page, adding more information on the definition of natural slavery. The information will include what defines a natural slave, and how they interact with their environment. The editing will be concise, but insightful.

Bibliography (ANNOTATED)

Aristotle. Politics - Aristotle. S.l.: Nuvision Publications, 2009. Print.

This is the central point for my wikipedia article. I will be editing the wikipedia page "Natural Slavery" which is a concept brought up in Aristotle's "Politics". Most of the information will be unbiased and straight forward. Aristotle's "Politics" is where the concept of natural slavery is first discussed in his works. Natural slavery is the concept that some people are slaves by nature given certain characteristics and reactionary actions. Aristotle explores natural slavery in "Politics", and this is an idea that I found interesting, and I would like to explore what Aristotle defines as a natural slave.

Heath, Malcolm. "Aristotle on Natural Slavery." Phronesis: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy 53.3 (2008): 243-70. Web.

This source will be used for brief insight on Aristotle's Concept of natural slavery. It will also offer some criticism on Aristotle's works. Heath talks about Aristotle and his viewpoints on natural slavery, specifically natural slaves and how they act in greek households. He discusses Artistotles belief that natural slaves (at least within greek society), so not have the ability to think about things rationally. Aristotles belief was that natural slaves best service society as tools for the greater good rather than thinking individuals. He talks about natal slavery and how Aristotle saw it as completely necessary.

Karbowski, Joseph. "Aristotle's Scientific Inquiry Into Natural Slavery." Journal of the History of Philosophy 51.3 (2013): 331-53. Web.

This source will be the center of my explanation for Aristotle's "Natural Slavery". Karbowski does a great job of taking Aristotle's work and putting it into modern terms that are more simple to understand. It will also provide the breakdown for what defines a natural slave in two parts. The first part describes the characterization and existence of a natural slave. The second part describes the master vs slave concept, exploring how slaves are placed in society. This article takes Aristotle's works on natural slavery and modernizes it so it is easier to understand essentially.