Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Paladin, How Are You Righteous?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7892784" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I would think that the evil is <em>irredeemable </em>only because it took place so long ago, and in such different circumstances, that there is no one left to hold to account, no one to atone, and no meaningful way in which reparation might be made.</p><p></p><p>But to say that classical slavery was an evil isn't to posit anything about whether or not those who participated in and perpetrated it were themselves capable of redemption, or not.</p><p></p><p>I would also say that to suggest that moral judgements about slavery are a matter of <em>definition </em>is a big thing. Many people, me included, would be more inclined to say that the whole point of moral and political improvement is that the definitions stay constant but reappraisal of various states of affairs by reference to them takes place.</p><p></p><p>My own favourite book on classical slavery is MI Finley's <em>Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology</em>. One of the interesting methodological aspects of the book is that Finley is unflinching in his readiness to address classical slavery as a social evil, but his actual analysis is unsentimental and relatively rigorous social history; whereas the authors whom he is criticising adopt (at least as he sees it) a sentimental and moralised method of analysis which ends up being an apology for the institution of slavery. I would hope that future historians are able to write without sentiment and apology about the world that you and I are part of.</p><p></p><p>And putting to one side any sort of sophisticated analysis, and bringing this back to more of a D&D lens: when I watch Spartacus I know who I'm barracking for.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7892784, member: 42582"] I would think that the evil is [I]irredeemable [/I]only because it took place so long ago, and in such different circumstances, that there is no one left to hold to account, no one to atone, and no meaningful way in which reparation might be made. But to say that classical slavery was an evil isn't to posit anything about whether or not those who participated in and perpetrated it were themselves capable of redemption, or not. I would also say that to suggest that moral judgements about slavery are a matter of [I]definition [/I]is a big thing. Many people, me included, would be more inclined to say that the whole point of moral and political improvement is that the definitions stay constant but reappraisal of various states of affairs by reference to them takes place. My own favourite book on classical slavery is MI Finley's [I]Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology[/I]. One of the interesting methodological aspects of the book is that Finley is unflinching in his readiness to address classical slavery as a social evil, but his actual analysis is unsentimental and relatively rigorous social history; whereas the authors whom he is criticising adopt (at least as he sees it) a sentimental and moralised method of analysis which ends up being an apology for the institution of slavery. I would hope that future historians are able to write without sentiment and apology about the world that you and I are part of. And putting to one side any sort of sophisticated analysis, and bringing this back to more of a D&D lens: when I watch Spartacus I know who I'm barracking for. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Paladin, How Are You Righteous?
Top