The Atlantean revolutionaries believed that the liberation of humanity was not possible without a radical reform of their society, leading to greater political and economic equality.
But their radicalism had its limits. While many eighteenth-century revolutionaries vociferously protested the metaphorical slavery
to which haughty kings and arrogant patricians subjected them, they owned real slaves themselves and were involved in the slave trade.
The most egregious example of this was the American colonies, which in 1776 were home to about half a million slaves.
In Europe itself, slavery was formally banned in many countries, including France. But thousands of slaves lived in France's overseas colonies.
The Dutch also had slave colonies, most notably the Suriname plantation colony. In addition, their merchant ships played a crucial role in the transatlantic slave trade.
ln Poland-Lithuania, the status of small farmers resembled that of serfs. For example, by law, Polish peasants were not allowed to move without permission from their “master”.
The discrepancy between the freedom ideals of the eighteenth-century revolutionaries and the persistence of physical slavery and serfdom in the Atlantic world is not something we are just discovering.
On the contrary, contemporaries vehemently criticized the revolutionaries for failing to live up to their own ideals.
"How is it that we hear the loudest wailing for freedom among the negro drivers?" note the British politician Samuel Johnson in 1775.
Also, John Millar (22 June 1735 – 1801), a Scottish philosopher, historian, and Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Glasgow, condemned the American settlers in 1778 for their inconsistency.
While the Americans spoke excitedly of their "political liberty" and the "inalienable right of mankind," Millar lamented,
they deprived much of their fellow-creatures of almost every kind of right. Beautiful philosophical views, but with little impact on people's behaviour.
A great difference grew between Europe, later on, along with America, and the rest of the world.
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a period of brutal economic protectionism, violent mercantilism,
an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy,
and a form of imperialism and colonialism that, thanks to industrialization, was able for the first time to penetrate deep into all continents and exploit them.
And that was almost all over the world: South America, Africa, India, China. However, this so celebrated freedom and human rights and democracy applied only to white males, not to the rest of the world.
We can spend a lot of time elaborating on how the classic freedom culture of Ancient Greece was revived, how Founding Fathers wrote a constitution, and so on,
but when you put this period of history under a looking glass you see, that this is the moment in history that the well-to-do, well-educated white male reached his summit of power.
Low educated poor people of all races and women, to all of these fellow creatures nothing of these philosophies of rights, equality, and freedom applied.
This is the moment in history when white male supremacy was institutionalized and became the fundament of Western culture.
Thank you for your attention again....
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
The Discussion
[13:15] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:15] Somedirtycat Saule: Thanks for the lecture
[13:16] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm interesting
[13:16] herman Bergson: What is wanted to say is how arrogant and smug the white males of the 19th century were
[13:17] Somedirtycat Saule: Is it better now?
[13:17] herman Bergson: no no....that is my point....
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): no We still have Trump and his henchmen
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and Prutin
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ect
[13:17] herman Bergson: the 18-19th century was just the cradle of white supremacism
[13:18] herman Bergson: There is an interesting detail....the picture behind me
[13:18] herman Bergson: it shows how this attitude and philosophy lives on til today
[13:18] herman Bergson: I mean the bottom one....
[13:18] Somedirtycat Saule: As it looks today I think it was good to put the politics onto white males
[13:19] herman Bergson: there you see a woman on the left...the symbol of freedom...
[13:19] Somedirtycat Saule: Are women happier today?
[13:19] herman Bergson: in her hand she has a stick and on top of it is something that looks like a red flag...
[13:19] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): she still stands behind a man
[13:20] herman Bergson: it is not a flag but a socalled freedom hat....a cap worn by the French revolutionaries...
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok
[13:20] herman Bergson: Trump uses also a red cap as his symbol :-)
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes
[13:20] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): if she was free she should in front of the man
[13:20] herman Bergson: His clearing the swamp revolution
[13:21] herman Bergson: trash goes in front of the broom Beeertje :-))
[13:22] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i know:)
[13:22] herman Bergson: But if you look at history...it is remarkable what this white male dominance achieved in colonialism and imperialism
[13:23] herman Bergson: And what a fight it is for non white males for equality and equal chances
[13:23] Somedirtycat Saule: Yes. It's awfull. Males build civilization. White ones never the less
[13:23] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): and not to forget the woman
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed :(
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): after all we are all same
[13:24] herman Bergson: India and Japan and china built civilizations too Saul
[13:24] Somedirtycat Saule: nods
[13:24] herman Bergson: Incas Mayas
[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): but all built by man
[13:25] herman Bergson: it is not a white male prerogative
[13:25] Somedirtycat Saule: Not as good as ours, tho
[13:25] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): where were the woman?
[13:25] herman Bergson: Not as good as ours.........hmmmm
[13:25] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): who are 'ours"?
[13:26] herman Bergson: That is a difficult theme.....after all.....what is the definition of good in this context?
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:26] herman Bergson: That too Beertje...good observation
[13:26] Somedirtycat Saule: Not as good as ours, tho japan and china have western civilizations now
[13:26] herman Bergson: Hello Sinne
[13:27] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano) waves to everyone. "I missed it, right?"
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hi Sinne
[13:27] Somedirtycat Saule: That text went wrong...
[13:27] herman Bergson: I wouldnt say so Saule...
[13:27] herman Bergson: Japan and China have adopted some features of Western civilization
[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): they use western products, but western civilization?
[13:28] oola Neruda: all of them have backstories that offend
[13:28] oola Neruda: including the US
[13:29] Somedirtycat Saule: When thinking about it. Didn't Japanese men build Japanese civ? and same for India and China?
[13:29] herman Bergson: I just keep wondering why Europe developed in that way....
[13:29] herman Bergson: Yes Saule...in general it is a male dominated world we live in
[13:30] Somedirtycat Saule: Men build civilizations.
[13:30] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): The difference between Europe and China is that China is a vast plain, with easy transportation.
[13:30] Somedirtycat Saule: Interesting
[13:30] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): Meanwhile, Europe is mountains.
[13:30] oola Neruda: I'm talking about wars and uncontroversial "head men"
[13:30] herman Bergson: No...for that you also need women, Saule :-)
[13:30] Somedirtycat Saule: Women make new small men
[13:30] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): This means that China unified long before Europe did, because invading neighbours was relatively cheap.
[13:31] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): European warfare was FAR more expensive, and countries stayed smaller.
[13:32] herman Bergson: That is what we definitely see today Sinne :-)
[13:33] Somedirtycat Saule: We needed bankers to loan out money for the wars too
[13:33] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): Like the Fuggers.
[13:33] herman Bergson: Financing the wars in Europe was one of the biggest problems of kings
[13:34] herman Bergson: Rothschild
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i see
[13:34] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): Actually no. Rothschild is quite a bit later.
[13:35] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): What the kings did was borrow money from jews, and then when they wanted the money back, start a pogrom.
[13:35] Sinne (sousinne.ceriano): Which happened to the Fuggers.
[13:36] herman Bergson: And still there is the question....why developed Europe into a while male supremacist culture in the 18-19th century?
[13:36] Somedirtycat Saule: War would been smaller. Wonder how we would have it without all small kingdoms in Europe
[13:36] herman Bergson: You only can do that once Sinne :-)
[13:37] Somedirtycat Saule: If Rome still was a thing as example
[13:37] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): maybe due to the philosophers and the literature?
[13:37] herman Bergson: I am inclined to blame christianity :-)
[13:37] herman Bergson: a male dominated religion
[13:37] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yes
[13:37] oola Neruda: me too
[13:38] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): still is
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true
[13:38] herman Bergson: the woman as producer of new believers
[13:38] Somedirtycat Saule: But is male domination of all except domestic issues really bad?
[13:38] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ga en vermenigvuldigd u....
[13:38] oola Neruda: never think... just obey
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its inequality
[13:39] herman Bergson: I would say Yes Saule...and I'll tell you why....
[13:39] Somedirtycat Saule: Equallity between sexes and races is overestimated
[13:39] herman Bergson: It si bad, this male domination
[13:39] Somedirtycat Saule: *Equality
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): women can do the same things like men, sometimes even better
[13:39] herman Bergson: Ok...let me tell you this.....
[13:39] Somedirtycat Saule: But are women happy of be men?
[13:40] herman Bergson: By denying women education and job careers, you leave 50% of the human intellectual capacity of a society unused, for instance
[13:41] oola Neruda: RIGHT
[13:41] Somedirtycat Saule: Looking at how we have it today far to many have opinions.
[13:41] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): no..everybody can have an opinion
[13:41] herman Bergson: what do you mean by that, Saule
[13:42] herman Bergson: A second argument is.....
[13:42] oola Neruda: also... try living with a drunk who can't tie his shoelaces... beats you up... try that for awhile and see if you like cleaning up his messes... an then... "obey"
[13:42] Somedirtycat Saule: Expressing oppinion is overestimated.
[13:42] herman Bergson: By who? who decided on the standard of how opinions have to be estimated?
[13:42] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): even you can have an opinion Saul
[13:43] herman Bergson: Let me give you a second argument
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): everyone can have one
[13:43] herman Bergson: it IS a fact that men and women differ in a lot of respects....
[13:43] Somedirtycat Saule: I just masturbating my brain instead of doing something useful.
[13:44] herman Bergson: by leaving our women only the male features shape our society...the female qualities are mainly ignored and not valued...
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed
[13:45] herman Bergson: it is like having a rainbow and ignoring half of the colors
[13:45] herman Bergson: so there are good arguments for equality and equal chances for men and women in a free society
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for ex most discoveries made by women were not noticed and forgotten bout, one of few exeptions are Marie Curie and Ada Lovelace
[13:46] Somedirtycat Saule: What color is housework and child birth?
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): the brightest Saul
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): mut there were many more but we have nopt heard of then, only the male made discoveries were noticed
[13:46] herman Bergson: If you talk of freedom, this should not only apply to males, who then define what freedom may mean for the not males
[13:46] herman Bergson: ^_^ Beertje
[13:47] Somedirtycat Saule: Perhaps males are better for everything else than housework and child birth
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): lol... you makeme smile
[13:47] herman Bergson: So, if you look at the present situation we still operate on a rather primitive level with respect to the use of all available human talent and recourses in our societies
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): wij meisjes zijn geen fokvee
[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): use google...
[13:49] herman Bergson: I guess you can't cook, Saule ^_^
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well i can confess that dishes and housekeeping can fall behind now and then. I mostly prioritizes my projects, a bit too much sometimes
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i guess cause its more fun
[13:49] herman Bergson: I know the male problem Bejiita ^_^
[13:50] Somedirtycat Saule: I I guess I live more equal than I preach. I cook good
[13:50] herman Bergson: You can blame it n the role confirming education you had to endure :-)
[13:50] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): we do
[13:50] herman Bergson: well,well...a confession :-)
[13:50] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): grins
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): at least ill do a big spring cleaning soon and then i make that as a project, then it will be more fun, wiping off everything vaccuum everywhere and MOST IMPORTANT, the balcony funiture and decorations will be carried out
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for nice summer evenings again soon
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): with a beer and more coding and nice music on the balcony
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): music
[13:51] herman Bergson: You can do it, Bejiita ^_^
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aa
[13:52] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): give your sister a compliment too when she cleans her house
[13:52] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): sister
[13:52] herman Bergson: Anyway....the cry for freedom still has to sound and be heard
[13:53] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed!
[13:53] herman Bergson: So....as I said last time...
[13:53] herman Bergson: We still got work to do :-))
[13:53] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): a lot:))
[13:53] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true true
[13:53] herman Bergson: For now we may take a rest :-)
[13:53] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yay
[13:54] herman Bergson: Thank you all again and happy cooking Saule ^_^
[13:54] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): happy cleaning
[13:54] herman Bergson: Class dismissed....
[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaaa
[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ill do that this weekend
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for now its SNOWING AGAIN OUTSIDE!
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): sigh
[13:55] bergfrau Apfelbaum: Thank you! Herman and class
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): cold have returned!
[13:55] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i'm dreaming of a white.....
[13:55] herman Bergson: what? Snowing Bejiita????
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): was snowstorm when driving from work
[13:55] herman Bergson: the tulips are flowering here
[13:55] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ...easter....
[13:55] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): lalallalalala
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): at least its not staying on ground
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): what i can see now
[13:56] Somedirtycat Saule: Bye bye
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