Structured Social Inequality : A Reader in Comparative Social Stratification (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Structured Social Inequality: A Reader in Comparative Social Stratification

Among the earliest written thoughts and judgments about social inequality were those Of the Hebrew prophets who denounced the excesses Of the rich and mighty. And as could easily be guessed - because there is hardly a subject that cannot be traced to them - Plato and Aristotle paid attention to this phenomenon. Plato was preoccupied with the conception Of a society in which social inequality would correspond perfectly to the inherent inequality of men. Thus, his Republic is a utopian society where each man assumes the occupation for which he is best fitted. Aristotle, the great classifier, gave us the scheme Of three classes present in all states: One class is very rich, another very poor, and a third is a mean. 7 Knowing his preference for the mean in all things, it is not surprising that he thought the middle class the best of the three and those states possessing a large middle class the best administered. In his Politics we also find differing dichotomous schemes: One is the basic division Of people everywhere into free and slave; and the other is the division Of every population into those who work and those who do not.

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