Platonic and Aristotelian universals masked Athens’ social exclusions

Evidence

By virtue of the claim to universal validity, the philosophic concepts with which Plato and Aristotle represented the world, elevated the conditions they were used to substantiate to the level of true reality. These concepts originated, as Vico puts it, in the marketplace of Athens; they reflected with equal clarity the laws of physics, the equality of full citizens and the inferiority of women, children and slaves. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 43

Categorization

• XREF: The claim that universal concepts conceal exclusions parallels the reader’s compliment-about-immodesty article, where moral universals mask class/identity politics. — connects to: Enlightenment universalism made racial exclusion the sole unjustifiable barrier to free-colored citizenship; Universalist reason itself produced the exclusion of religious others as irrational — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1381; Modern law’s abstract individual ideal enables its systematic social exclusions — Sherene Razack, Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims…, 404 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Enlightenment universalism made racial exclusion the sole unjustifiable barrier to free-colored citizenship #expands (0.82)
• Universalist reason itself produced the exclusion of religious others as irrational #expands (0.78) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1381
• Modern law’s abstract individual ideal enables its systematic social exclusions #expands (0.75) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 404