Aristotle And Censorship
The world as we have once known has changed dramatically over the last few centuries, and yet many of the same questions that were asked more than two thousand years ago are still being asked today. As our world becomes more and more universal, with the help of mass communication, mass transit, and the ability for the common citizen to travel and experience diverse cultures, we are witnessing an enormous integration of these distinct cultures through inter-cultural marriages, foreign residents, and new citizenship. The question of citizenship and what makes a citizen a citizen is not a new question to ponder. As far back as the life and times of Aristotle, philosophers and political thinkers have been examining the questions of citizenship and how it relates to political and social situations of the time. So, what was considered a citizen in the life and times of Aristotle and what is considered a citizen today? Let us analyze the strong and the weak aspects of Aristotle’s philosophical and political thinking on this subject and compare it to the modern day viewpoint. Aristotle’s view on citizenship is one of the largest points of argument in his composition of The Politics. Many scholars believe this is to be true si
Politically and socially speaking, we do not have slavery as in the days of Aristotle in modern day society. In viewing the times of slavery in the United States leading up to the American Civil War, slaves were viewed similarly in some ways as they were during the life and times of Aristotle. They were not considered citizens and were not allowed to participate in any political or social issues. Slaves were to do slave-like duties and citizens were to perform citizen-like duties. The slaves of North America were not only slaves because they were born into slavery. Many were conquered and transported to the area where they would be enslaved. One aspect of the late North American slave situation that is not mentioned in Aristotle’s views on slavery was the fact that race played a very important aspect in determining who was a slave and who was a citizen. In most cases, that was the only determining factor. nce, after the Greek philosopher’s teaching of political theory in Asia Minor, Aristotle was not offered Athenian citizenship on his return to the polis of Athens. Thus, his questioning of what is citizenship not only took on a political and philosophical significance but also a personal one. Aristotle believed that to ask who is a citizen was to ask of the nature of a citizen. He believed that birth, ancestry, and location were not direct links to citizenship, but rather an individual that participated in ruling and judging. According to Aristotle, one who rules and is ruled should be considered a citizen of the polis. Thus the mere activities that the individual plays within the society and the sharing of a constitution meet the criteria for citizenship. In other words, doing the deeds of a citizen within the polis will make that individual a citizen regardless of family ancestry or heritage. “A citizen is a citizen in being a citizen” (Winthrop, 1975). In a political sense, this aspect of Aristotle’s view on citizenship is not particularly followed in the polis or city-state societies of today. More emphasis is placed on an individual’s place of birth and the citizenship of one’s parents are viewed in order to determine this, and in some cases it is the place of birth that decides a person’s citizenship. In a theoretical perspective, a person is a citizen of a modern polis community if he or she participates in the activities of the polis, or as Aristotle would state, an activity which has in itself it’s own end. A citizen is then deemed to be a person who is ruled or ruled and shares a common constitution. Like in the case of slaves, the role of women in Aristotle’s society mirrored tha
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Approximate Word count = 1786
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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