Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
He who can be, and therefore is, another's, and he who participates in reason enough to apprehend, but not to have, is a slave by nature.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Aristotle implies that true freedom requires self-awareness and reasoning, as being dependent on others diminishes one's autonomy.
In this quote, Aristotle posits that an individual who can be defined by the will or desires of another is inherently a slave, for they lack true independence. He emphasizes the importance of reason as a means to understand oneself and one's place in the world, suggesting that simply having the capacity to understand without the ability to act upon that understanding forces one into a subordinate position, reducing their essence to that of servitude.
Themes
FreedomReasonAutonomySlaveryPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about personal autonomy, you might quote this to emphasize the importance of self-governance.
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But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.
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The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
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