On Materialism, Freedom, and Self-consciousness in advance
Tapji Garba
Philosophy Today 2023 DOI: 10.5840/philtoday2023104505 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that racial slavery is a philosophical problem where the slave figure serves as the negative measure of ethical capacity, and that contemporary theoretical debates about materialism, freedom, and self-consciousness are intertwined with the legacy of racial slavery and its classification system. |
Abstract
As a problem for thought, racial slavery is seated at the intersection of moral philosophy and philosophy of nature where the figure of the slave, a being who is wholly determined by external forces, serves as the negative measure of the capacity to make ethical judgments beyond one’s own private inclinations or exercise self-restraint for the sake of the common good. Recent theoretical interventions into our political-ecological predicament tend to split when it comes to the modern autonomous subject. This essay engages with contemporary theorizing on matters of materialism, freedom, and self-consciousness as they relate to our current predicament and to racial slavery and its system of classification.