Probabilismo y esclavitud negra

Little is known yet about the normative discussions on black slavery that were had by scholastic thinkers from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. In this article, we connect the writings of Diego de Avendano S.J. (1594–1688) to the conceptual history of the slavery of black people. We highlight in particular the connection that Avendano promotes between the legitimacy of the slave trade, slave ownership and probabilism. This new perspective is acknowledged and criticized by Francisco Jose de Jaca O.F.M. Cap. (c. 1645–1689) and Epifanio de Moirans O.F.M. Cap. (1644–1689). The main purpose of the present essay is to describe and interpret the reactions of these two authors to Avendano’s discussion. Their anti-slavery works provide views on slavery in the ius gentium, freedom as a good and a right, and the insufficiency of moral probabilism as a doctrine when applied to the problem of the slavery of Africans.