[??/??]????? ??? ??? ?????(??)

1. Introduction

Have you ever thought of the life of slaves during middle ages? You would already know that slaves were treated as beasts and had no right as human. Although slavery declined in the middle ages as serfdom slowly rose, slavery was still widespread and slave-trade was common in medieval Europe.

Today, most countries are democratic and people naturally think all men are equal. From the modern point of view, slavery is irrational and unfair, so slavery is banned legally. Then, How was slavery justified during the middle ages? Was there any theory to defend slavery?

I will explain the theories to defend slavery from different point of view focusing on various philosophers` thought in detail : Aristotle, Plato, St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas (I will more focus on St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas) and also explain how the Bible was used to justify slavery. After the explanation of some arguments, I will criticise these arguments from modern point of view