ARISTOTLE ON WOMEN: DIMINISHED DELIBERATION AND DIVINE MALE RULE

What is the deliberative part (to bouleutikon) of the soul for Aristotle and what does it mean for it to be akuron in women, incomplete in children, and missing in natural slaves? A new answer is proposed to this question based, first, on an account of deliberation, and the role of understanding (nous), imagination, memory, and virtue of character in it; second, on an account of male marital rule and its nature and justification; and, third, on an account of what akuron means, stemming from its connection to the decrees (psephismata) in which deliberation terminates. The biological and metaphysical correlates of the account, which serve to support it, are then explored.