Dr. Clifford Angell Bates, prof. ucz., a native of Rhode Island, specializes in political science with a focus on political philosophy and theory, including comparative politics, international releations, literature and politics, and American constitutional thought. He is the author of Aristotle’s Best Regime (LSU, 2004) and The Centrality of the Regime for Political Science (WUW, 2016).
Business as Part of Household
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
1. The Role of Goods-Getting in Household and Political Management
Aristotle discusses the art of goods-getting as it relates to household and political management, emphasizing that these roles manage resources provided by nature rather than creating them.
2. Parallel to the Art of Weaving
Just as a weaver uses wool without producing it, the household manager or political ruler utilizes natural resources effectively without generating them.
3. Why Goods-Getting Belongs to Household Management but Not Medicine
While both health and wealth are necessary for households, their management falls under different expertise: health under a doctor and goods under a household manager.
4. Goods-Getting in Household Management vs. Subordinate Arts
The household manager ensures the availability and proper use of resources, similar to how a doctor manages health but does not provide all health-related services directly.
5. Two Types of Goods-Getting: Natural and Unnatural
Natural goods-getting involves managing essential resources like crops and animals, while unnatural goods-getting through commerce focuses on profit from the exchange and trade of goods.
6. Criticism of Usury
Usury, the charging of interest on loans, is criticized as the most unnatural form of goods-getting, likened to producing money from money, akin to offspring being born from parents.
Key Themes in Chapter 10:
Use vs. Creation of Resources: The household manager and political ruler are tasked with using, not creating, resources, akin to the weaver who transforms provided wool.
Goods-Getting vs. Other Arts: Goods-getting is integral to household management in utilizing resources, whereas other arts, like medicine, involve direct service provision.
Natural vs. Unnatural Goods-Getting: Natural goods-getting is necessary and beneficial, focusing on essential resources for sustenance; in contrast, commerce, especially usury, is seen as unnatural and exploitative.
Criticism of Usury: Usury is condemned for its unnatural practice of generating profit from money itself, diverging from money's intended role as a medium of exchange.
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