Aristotle and Slavery

A point that I find oddly familiar in the Politics was how Aristotle described slavery. He defined it as something that is natural. Some people are naturally slaves and some are naturally masters. But, it is only just if the relationship is beneficial to both parties. It seems to me that he is arguing that it is just at least in part because the slave benefits from slavery.

I found it interesting that this same kind of rhetoric was used to justify slavery in the South only 150 years ago. Slave owners often argued that slavery was actually beneficial to black people as well. They claimed that the slaves were incapable of taking care of themselves so the masters taking care of them was actually a service.

While I don't think that the system of slavery of the south is too comparable to the one that Aristotle is dealing with, its interesting how the same justifications are used. Some are naturally masters (whites) and that the slavery is benevolent.