Slavery and Race

Philosophical Debates in the Eighteenth Century

Julia Jorati

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
30 March 2024

Slavery & abolition of slavery; Philosophy; Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900; Social & political philosophy; History of ideas

Series: Oxford New Histories of Philosophy

Millions of Africans were enslaved and transported to the Americas in the eighteenth century. Europeans--many of whom viewed themselves as enlightened--endorsed, funded, legislated, and executed the slave trade. This atrocity had a profound impact on philosophy, but historians of the discipline have so far neglected to address the topics of slavery and race. Many authors--including enslaved and formerly enslaved Black authors--used philosophical ideas to advocate for abolition, analyze racist attitudes, and critique racial bias. Other authors attempted to justify the transatlantic slave trade by advancing philosophical defenses of racial chattel slavery.

Slavery and Race: Philosophical Debates in the Eighteenth Century explores these philosophical ideas and arguments, with a focus on the role race played in discussions of slavery. In doing so, author Julia Jorati reveals how closely associated Blackness and slavery were at that time and how many White people viewed Black people as naturally destined for slavery. In addition to examining well-known authors like David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jorati also discusses less widely studied philosophers like Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, Lemuel Haynes, and Olympe de Gouges. By revealing important aspects of debates about slavery in North America and Europe, this book and its companion volume on the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries are valuable resources for readers interested in a more complete history of early modern philosophy.

By: Julia Jorati
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 226mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 499g
ISBN: 9780197659243
ISBN 10: 0197659241
Series: Oxford New Histories of Philosophy
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 30 March 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Julia Jorati is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She specializes in early modern philosophy with a particular focus on metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics. In addition to numerous articles about Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and several other early modern philosophers, she is the author of Leibniz on Causation and Agency and the editor of Powers: A History.

Reviews for Slavery and Race: Philosophical Debates in the Eighteenth Century

Jorati has written a fine synthesis of the philosophical debates about slavery and race in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This book complements her separate companion volume for the same series, Oxford New Histories of Philosophy, in which she focuses on the eighteenth century. Together, both volumes will prove indispensable to college professors hoping to familiarize undergraduates with key debates in the history of slavery and race. * Gregory D. Smithers, Journal of Southern History *