Should Women and Children Be Held in Common?

In Aristotle's Politics, Aristotle successfully criticizes Socrates' proposal of "having wives and children in common"(Plato 449d) by pointing out a number of flaws in Socrates' proposal. In the following pages, I will explain the view held by Socrates that women and children should be held in common as well as the reasoning behind his view as reported in Plato's Republic. Second, I will explain Aristotle's criticism of Socrates' proposal as well as the reasoning behind his criticisms. Thirdly, I will assess the criticism given by Aristotle and explain why the criticism is successful.

Socrates' proposal of "having women and children in common"(Plato 449d) appears in Plato' Republic in which Socrates attempts to define justice. In attempting to define justice, Socrates attempts to describe a just city. It is in this just city which Plato proposes the idea that women and children should be held in common. The idea comes in an overall system in which there are different levels of society, each following their own duty. Socrates proposes this system for the guardians, or the political leaders of the state, but he remains

Aristotle provides multiple criticisms of Socrates' proposal showing that it is impractical to hold women and children in common based on unity. Aristotle begins by stating that Socrates has, in fact, taken unity to far as the goal of the state. This is because "the nature of a state is to be a plurality, and in tending to the greater unity, from being a state it becomes a family, and from being a family, an individual."(Aristotle1261a20) He also argues that unity can be taken to a level that is not good for a state when he says that the "extreme unification of states is not good: for a family is more self-sufficing than an individual, and a city than a family, and a city only comes into being when it is large enough to become self-sufficing."(Aristotle1261b11) This shows that self-sufficiency and extreme unity do not coexist, and self-sufficiency is necessary for a city. Hence, Socrates' proposal is impracticable. Also, Aristotle criticizes Socrates on the point that Socrates' plan actually leads to less unity in that each person would have thousands of brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers, sons, and daughters. He believes that this system will actually cause disunity as the bond between family will not be replicated among the masses, but it will be diluted "as a sweet little wine mingled with a great deal of water is imperceptible in the mixture."(Aristotle1262b16) Therefor, all of the citizens would not only care little for one another, but also be cared for less. Aristotle also mentions two other more technical refutes to the proposal. First, he suggests that it would be impossible for children to be held in common due to the fact that some will resemble their parents so much that it will be obvious who is related. The se

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Approximate Word count = 1178
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)