ohn Duns Scotus on Slavery

The contributions by medieval thinkers to the debate on slavery are still little known in their details. Together with the approaches in ancient philosophy, patristics, Roman law, and Canon law, they constitute a body of texts and ideas that are fundamental to understanding the treatment of slavery...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Pich, Roberto Hofmeister
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2020
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repository:Trans/Form/Ação (Online)
Language:Portuguese
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.www2.marilia.unesp.br:article/9615
Online Access:https://revistas.marilia.unesp.br/index.php/transformacao/article/view/9615
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Slavery
Freedom
Aristotle
Thomas Aquinas
John Duns Scotus
Escravidão por natureza
Aristóteles
Escravidão legal
Liberdade
Tomás de Aquino
João Duns Scotus
Description
Summary:The contributions by medieval thinkers to the debate on slavery are still little known in their details. Together with the approaches in ancient philosophy, patristics, Roman law, and Canon law, they constitute a body of texts and ideas that are fundamental to understanding the treatment of slavery from the 16th to the 19th centuries. In this article, we examine John Duns Scotus’ account of the theme, contrasting it with the views of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. The position of Scotus depends on his views about freedom, property, and positive law, as well on the meaning of free will as a practical-rational condition of all human beings. Based on these ideas, Scotus severely restricts the conditions of positive law according to which servitude can be justly introduced, and the scope of the loss of freedom that can be accepted in the contract of slavery. Recebido: 30/12/2019Aceito: 30/12/2019