Overview

Slavery in Early Modern Philosophy 1500-1765 contains thirty-four philosophical texts about slavery composed in Europe and America between 1500 and 1765. These readings demonstrate that debates about slavery deserve a central place in the history of philosophy, and are crucial for understanding early modern moral and political philosophy, as well as the development of the concept of race and the history of racism.Included here are many previously unpublished and newly translated texts that discuss various aspects of slavery and represent many different perspectives. Some treat slavery as a purely theoretical issue, others explicitly examine transatlantic slavery, the enslavement of American Indians, or other specific historical institutions. Some criticize slavery, others defend it. Some focus on ethical or political questions, others on epistemological or psychological ones. Some explore the general permissibility of enslavement, others the morality of slave rebellions or the obligation to pay reparations. Some are by widely known authors -such as Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith-and others may be unfamiliar to most scholars but are at least as important for the history of philosophical debates about slavery. Including an introduction by volume editor Julia Jorati, this volume - along with its companion volume covering the late 18th century - will interest scholars and students exploring the history of philosophical thinking about slavery.

Full Product Details

Author:   Julia Jorati (Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 6.10cm , Height: 9.30cm , Length: 2.10cm
Weight:   0.524kg
ISBN:  

9780197833292

ISBN 10:   0197833292
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   07 January 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Series Editors' Foreword Acknowledgements Note on the Texts Introduction 1. Francisco de Vitoria, Lecture on the Indians (1538) 2. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Second Democrates (c. 1544) 3. Francisco de Vitoria, ""Letter to Bernardino de Vique"" (1546) 4. Bartolomé de las Casas, Defense of the Indians (c. 1550) 5. Francisco Tenamaztle, ""Letter to Charles I and the Council of the Indies"" (1555) 6. Bartolomé de las Casas, History of the Indies (before 1561) 7. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, On Royal Power (1571) 8. Hugo Grotius, The Rights of War and Peace (1625) 9. Alonso de Sandoval, The Nature, Authority, Customs, and Rites of all Blacks (1627) 10. Thomas Hobbes, ""Of the Right of Masters over Slaves"" (1642) 11. Richard Baxter, ""The Duties of Masters Towards their Servants"" (1673) 12. Morgan Godwyn, The Negro's and Indians Advocate (1680) 13. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, ""Division of Society"" (1680) 14. Epifanio de Moirans, A Just Defense of the Natural Freedom of Slaves (1682) 15. Thomas Tryon, ""The Negroes' Complaint"" (1684) 16. Aphra Behn, Oroonoko: Or, the Royal Slave (1688) 17. John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689) 18. Gabrielle Suchon, Treatise on Ethics and Politics (1693) 19. Samuel Sewall, The Selling of Joseph (1700) 20. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, ""On the Common Notion of Justice"" (1703) 21. Anonymous, A Letter from a Merchant at Jamaica to a Member of Parliament in London, Touching the African Trade (1708) 22. Anonymous, ""A Speech Made by a Black at Gardaloupe Gardaloupe at the Funeral of a Fellow Negro"" (1709) 23. Anonymous, ""Arguments Against Making Slaves of Men"" (1713) 24. John Hepburn, The American Defense of the Christian Golden Rule (1714) 25. William Snelgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade (1734) 26. Aaron Hill, ""Editorial for The Prompter"" (1735) 27. Moses Bon Sáam, ""The Speech of Moses Bon Sáam"" (1735) 28. Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein, Political-Theological Dissertation about Slavery (1742) 29. Francis Hutcheson, A System of Moral Philosophy (before 1746) 30. Montesquieu, ""How the Laws of Civil Slavery are Related to the Nature of the Climate"" (1748) 31. John Woolman, Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1754/1762) 32. Anonymous, Two Dialogues on the Man-Trade (1760) 33. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762) 34. Adam Smith, Lectures on Jurisprudence (1763) Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Julia Jorati is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She specializes in early modern philosophy with a focus on metaphysics, political philosophy, and ethics. In addition to numerous articles about early modern philosophers, she has authored the books Slavery and Race: Philosophical Debates in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Oxford 2024), Slavery and Race: Philosophical Debates in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford 2024), and Leibniz on Causation and Agency (Cambridge 2017). She is currently working on the companion volume to this anthology, Slavery in Early Modern Philosophy 1765-1800: Essential Readings.

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