Category: Race

Aristotle’s Defense of Slavery

Enslaved people working in a mine in Laurium, Greece.
~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 2 Comments

Author: Dan Lowe Categories: Historical Philosophy, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Race Word Count: 999 Aristotle (384-322 BC) is one of the greatest philosophers, and his moral and political philosophy remains especially influential. But he also believed that, for some people, being enslaved was just and even beneficial for them. How could Aristotle … Continue reading Aristotle’s Defense of Slavery

The Death Penalty

The “death chamber” at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit.
~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 5 Comments

Author: Benjamin S. Yost Category: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy Word Count: 1000 The death penalty—executing criminals, usually murderers—is more controversial than imprisonment because it inflicts a more significant injury, perhaps the most serious injury, and its effects are irreversible.[1] Some advocates of the death penalty, or capital punishment, argue that it is justified because murder … Continue reading The Death Penalty

Reparations for Historic Injustice

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Montgomery, Alabama.
~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 4 Comments

Author: Joseph Frigault Category: Philosophy of Race, Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics Word Count: 996 History is marked by large-scale injustice. In the United States alone, Native Americans were violently displaced, Africans were enslaved and their descendants subject to lynchings and Jim Crow laws, and Japanese Americans were interned during World War II, among other … Continue reading Reparations for Historic Injustice

Responding to Morally Flawed Historical Philosophers and Philosophies

Image: Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik, whose “Selected Maxims and Aphorisms” addresses a similar question as this article: namely how to understand the teachings of sages, mostly Greek philosophers, whose lives were highly morally flawed according to Islamic viewpoint of his day. - Political Animal Press
~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 6 Comments

Authors: Victor Fabian Abundez-Guerra and Nathan Nobis Categories: Ethics, Historical Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Metaphilosophy Wordcount: 1000 Many historically-influential philosophers had profoundly wrong moral views or behaved very badly. Aristotle thought women were “deformed men” and that some people were slaves “by nature.” Descartes had disturbing views about non-human animals. … Continue reading Responding to Morally Flawed Historical Philosophers and Philosophies

The Ontology of Race

A 1891 map from the philosopher Alfred Caldecott, which shows only three races.
~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 5 Comments

Author: Abiral Chitrakar Phnuyal Category: Philosophy of Race, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy Word Count: 998 Various racial concepts have been employed at different times in human history – most prominently since the 17th century[1] – to classify humans into groups, often to great social, political, ethical, medical, and scientific significance. … Continue reading The Ontology of Race