Slavery

By Esquith, Stephen L.; Smith, Nicholas D.

The moral, economic and political value of slavery has been hotly disputed by philosophers from ancient times. It was defended as an institution by Plato and Aristotle, but ...

Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803–82)

The American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson developed a philosophy of flux or transitions in which the active human self plays a central role. At the core ...

Molina, Luis de (1535–1600)

By Freddoso, Alfred J.

A leading figure in sixteenth-century Iberian scholasticism, Molina was one of the most controversial thinkers in the history of Catholic thought. In keeping with the strongly libertarian account ...

Locke, John (1632–1704)

John Locke was the leading English philosopher of the late seventeenth century. His two major works, An Essay concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of ...

Douglass, Frederick (1818–95)

By Boxill, Bernard R.

Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave, an abolitionist, an orator, an agitator for black civil and political rights, an editor, an ambassador, a lecturer, a feminist, a journalist, ...

Postcolonialism

By Quayson, Ato

The term ‘postcolonialism’ is sometimes spelled with a hyphen – post-colonial – and sometimes without. There is no strict general practice, but the hyphenated version is often used ...

Price, Richard (1723–91)

By Darwall, Stephen

Richard Price was a Welsh dissenting minister who contributed widely to philosophy and public life in latter-eighteenth-century Britain. The leading British ethical rationalist of the period, Price did ...

Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759–1797)

By Berges, Sandrine

Wollstonecraft was a republican thinker who produced influential texts on education, women’s rights, and the French revolution. Her writings were informed by Rousseau’s political and educational writings, and ...

Historical redress

By Vernon, Richard

Historical redress comprises restitution (the return of unjustly appropriated items), compensation (transfers of resources made in acknowledgment of unjust appropriations), and apologies or memorial events; all with respect ...

Suffering

By DeGrazia, David

Although sometimes identified with pain, suffering is better understood as a highly unpleasant emotional state associated with considerable pain or distress. Whether and how much one suffers can ...

Conscientious objection in healthcare

By Clarke, Steve

When healthcare professionals ask for a conscientious objection to be accommodated, they are requesting an exemption from a work role they object to, on moral or religious grounds. ...

Hutcheson, Francis (1694–1746)

By Norton, David Fate

Francis Hutcheson is best known for his contributions to moral theory, but he also contributed to the development of aesthetics. Although his philosophy owes much to John Locke’s ...

Pan-Africanism

By Appiah, K. Anthony

Pan-Africanism covers a wide range of intellectual positions which share the assumption of some common cultural or political projects for both Africans and people of African descent. The ...

Amo, Anton Wilhelm (c.1703–56)

By Wright, John S.

The first European-trained African philosopher, Amo pursued a scholarly career in jurisprudence and then in rationalist psychology, logic, and metaphysics. He trained at Halle, Wittenberg and Jena universities, ...

Black nationalism

By Shelby, Tommie

The philosophical underpinnings of black nationalism date back to the mid-nineteenth century, prior to the abolition of chattel slavery in the United States. Its key ideas are that ...

Brazil, philosophy in

By Sturm, Fred Gillette

It is possible to distinguish between European philosophy in Brazil and Brazilian philosophy. The former refers to Brazilians who participate in discussions of issues occurring in the European ...

Eusebius (c. AD 264–c.339)

By Stead, Christopher

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine from c.314, was the foremost Christian scholar of his age and wrote extensively on history, geography, chronology, apologetics and philosophical and ...

Needs and interests

By Weale, Albert

To have an interest in something is to have a stake in how that thing goes. Needs can be thought of as interests instrumental to a specified purpose, ...

Positivist thought in Latin America

By Martí, Oscar R.

Between 1850 and the 1920s European positivism became a major intellectual movement in Latin America. It asserted that all knowledge came from experience; that scientific thinking was the ...

Soto, Domingo de (1494–1560)

By Doyle, John P.

The sixteenth-century Spanish Dominican, Domingo de Soto, was a mainstay of the Thomistic revival begun at Salamanca by Vitoria. After study at Paris (where he was taught by ...

Martineau, Harriet (1802–76)

By Vetter, Lisa

Harriet Martineau (1802–76), recognised as one of the founders of sociology, was one of the most prolific professional female writers in the nineteenth century. Martineau wrote over 2,000 ...

Political thought, modern Islamic

By March, Andrew F.

For Islamic thought, the problem of modernity is inseparable from the problem of the relative power imbalance between the West and the lands of Islam. The variety of ...

Social science, history of philosophy of

By Manicas, Peter T.

The history of social science can conveniently be divided into four uneven periods, starting with the beginnings of both western science and philosophy in the ancient Greek ...

Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund (1903–69)

Philosopher, musicologist and social theorist, Theodor Adorno was the philosophical architect of the first generation of Critical Theory emanating from the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany. ...

Agamben, Giorgio (1942–)

By Abbott, Mathew

Born in Rome in 1942, Giorgio Agamben is one of the most important and influential figures in contemporary continental philosophy. Profoundly influenced by both Martin Heidegger and Walter ...