Slavery

Slavery belongs to the household of the just city; the question is treatment, not legitimacy.

Some men are slaves by nature, fitted by their constitution to serve under the direction of a master.

Slavery is not natural but penal: a consequence of sin imposed by the just order of God.

Slavery is against the first intention of nature but may be permitted as a consequence of sin and for the common good.

Slavery is dominion acquired by conquest: the vanquished submits to preserve his life.

No man can sell himself into slavery; the institution is legitimate only as a continued state of war.

Slavery is contrary to nature and corrupts both master and slave; no argument in its favor withstands scrutiny.

The right of slavery is null and void; force does not create right, and no man can renounce his freedom.

The master-slave dialectic reveals that bondage, not mastery, generates genuine self-consciousness and freedom.

The subjection of any person or people is unjust; freedom is the necessary condition of individual and social progress.