Scene 12
p. 88
"once the shuttle weaves by itself and the plectrum plays the zither..." -
Aristotle's Politics; full text: “if shuttles could weave on their own and plectra could play the zither, then architects would not need workers to build a house and masters would not need slaves”
Two elements of Aristotle’s teaching affected European political institutions for many centuries: his justification of slavery and his condemnation of usury. Some people, Aristotle says, think that the rule of master over slave is contrary to nature and therefore unjust. But they are quite wrong: a slave is someone who is by nature not his own property but someone else’s. Aristotle agrees, however, that in practice much slavery is unjust, and he speculates that, if nonliving machines could be made to carry out menial tasks, there would be no need for slaves as living tools. Nevertheless, some people are so inferior and brutish that it is better for them to be controlled by a master than to be left to their own devices.
"his book" -
See Dialogue on Two World Systems in Scene 11
"once the shuttle weaves by itself and the plectrum plays the zither..." -
Aristotle's Politics; full text: “if shuttles could weave on their own and plectra could play the zither, then architects would not need workers to build a house and masters would not need slaves”
Two elements of Aristotle’s teaching affected European political institutions for many centuries: his justification of slavery and his condemnation of usury. Some people, Aristotle says, think that the rule of master over slave is contrary to nature and therefore unjust. But they are quite wrong: a slave is someone who is by nature not his own property but someone else’s. Aristotle agrees, however, that in practice much slavery is unjust, and he speculates that, if nonliving machines could be made to carry out menial tasks, there would be no need for slaves as living tools. Nevertheless, some people are so inferior and brutish that it is better for them to be controlled by a master than to be left to their own devices.
"his book" -
See Dialogue on Two World Systems in Scene 11