The philosophers of the axial age were primarily involved in the discussion of justice as the principal condition of citizens’ wellbeing. However, their views on the subject were extremely biased since the socially accepted constructs, such as the inferior position of women, did not contribute to ensuring the above provision. As a result, equality was partial as people did not admit the possibility of female citizens being active in a political sense. One of the authors, which promoted this perspective, was Aristotle, and in his work “The Politics,” he explicitly presented his opinion on the matter. It complied with the generally accepted “truth” as per the ideas of philosophers of the time who were obliged to base their judgment on the existing perceptions of gender roles.
Evidence and Society
The selected piece of evidence explains male dominance of the axial age with regard to society and its norms. Thus, the exclusion of women from the discussion of essential matters was conditional upon the common belief in their compassionate and impulsive nature, which was unsuitable for this purpose. Consequently, this stance affected all the spheres of their lives since they could not occupy any positions of leadership regardless of the field. First, female citizens were not allowed to be priests or bishops, and their religious importance was purely symbolic. Second, they could not exercise authority in the Greek society and, therefore, were not admitted to any formal or informal institutions. These two factors led to the conclusion that women had no reason at all, and Aristotle’s works were basically grounded on this assumption.
The Politics of Aristotle and Societal Concerns
The historical importance of “The Politics” is in its comprehensiveness concerning the demonstration of societal beliefs connected to women. His ideas of “the male ruler and the female subject” were widely spread, and the significance of this philosopher for other thinkers helps understand the culture of the time. This work highlighted the dominant societal concerns of the time while implying that females were not a priority in the life of cities. Thus, Aristotle claimed that constitutional government was one of the optimal systems in which only men could hold authority. The same applies to the aristocracy as well as kingship, which were distinguished by the author as alternative ways of organization. Therefore, this philosophical text reflects on the priorities of people of the time, which were connected to equality in terms of income or laws, whereas the gender issue was completely neglected.
Political Pressures and Social Constraints
The above ideas of Aristotle were mainly shaped by political pressures and social constraints. The former was reflected in the perceived priority of the conflicting interests of the rich and the poor, which constituted the main topic of Aristotle’s works. In turn, the latter was presented by the above considerations, according to which the varying privileges of different categories of citizens were viewed as societal norms. As a result, the sole orientation of the philosopher was establishing prosperous cities rather than the satisfaction of all people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, “The Politics,” written by Aristotle, is one of the works, which demonstrated the biased perceptions of women of the time. They were deprived of opportunities granted to men in all fields, including religion and politics, in the first place. In addition, the emphasis on financial matters overweighed other types of equality, and this circumstance added to the neglect of the above problem alongside other societal issues of a less critical nature.