Aristotle’s doctrine framed medieval debates justifying or refuting slavery

Evidence

Prior to the nineteenth century, European colonialism was explained primarily through the lens of Christianity. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europeans justified their slaughter and exploitation of the “Indians” in the New World through the argument that the Indian “savages” were wild animals, idolaters whom God had ordained to be dominated by Christians. They similarly justified their enslavement of Africans through the book of Genesis, arguing that Africans were a cursed people (drawn from the myth of the curse of Ham) whose black skin color marked their curse. The “curse” conveniently meant that even African slaves who converted to Christianity could still be retained as slaves. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 118 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A semantic slip in Aristotle’s language authorized centuries of Western corporal punishment. — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 458; Marx’s blind spot on slavery descended directly from Aristotle’s philosophy of slaves; Aristotle’s racial ideology was sustained until a scientistic rationale replaced it (+2 more)

Related

• Religious justifications for slavery used curses to keep converts enslaved (similarity 0.87)
• Aristotelian justifications for slavery persisted until modern scientific racism (similarity 0.82)
• Both defenders and opponents of slavery argued through Aristotle’s natural-slave doctrine (similarity 0.81)
• Aristotle’s racial ideology was sustained until a scientistic rationale replaced it (similarity 0.80)
• Marx’s blind spot on slavery descended directly from Aristotle’s philosophy of slaves (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Marx’s blind spot on slavery descended directly from Aristotle’s philosophy of slaves #expands (0.80)
• Aristotle’s racial ideology was sustained until a scientistic rationale replaced it #expands (0.75)
• Religious justifications for slavery used curses to keep converts enslaved #exemplifies (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 118