Between Slavery and Freedom ─ Philosophy and American Slavery

Using the writings of slaves and former slaves, as well as commentaries on slavery, Between Slavery and Freedom explores the American slave experience to gain a better understanding of six moral and political concepts—oppression, paternalism, resistance, political obligation, citizenship, and forgiveness. The authors use analytical philosophy as well as other disciplines to gain insight into the thinking of a group of people prevented from participating in the social/political discourse of their times.

Between Slavery and Freedom rejects the notion that philosophers need not consider individual experience because philosophy is "impartial" and "universal." A philosopher should also take account of matters that are essentially perspectival, such as the slave experience. McGary and Lawson demonstrate the contribution of all human experience, including slave experiences, to the quest for human knowledge and understanding.

HOWARD MCGARY, Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, has published widely in African American philosophy and social philosophy. BILL E. LAWSON, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Delaware, is the editor of and a contributor to The Underclass Question. His research has focused on issues regarding political obligations and political oppression.