The Influence of Aristotle’s Political Philosophy on the Spanish Colonial Wars: Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and His Just War Thought

Yıl 2025, Sayı: Advanced Online Publication

Muza Azak

Öz

This study aims to reveal the influence of Aristotle’s political philosophy on the
Spanish colonial wars through the example of Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (1490–1573)
and his just war thought. The study argues that Aristotle’s political philosophy was
not merely a political theory proposed at a particular moment in history and then
forgotten; rather, nearly two thousand years later it was invoked as a political guide
in legitimizing Spanish colonialism. This argument is grounded within the framework
of Sepúlveda’s treatise called Democrates Secundus: On the Just Causes of War
Against the Indians. The study first examines the four arguments of Sepulveda, which
seeks to legitimize war, political domination, and slavery against the Indigenous
peoples of the Americas. The most prominent critic of Sepúlveda was Bartolomé de
Las Casas (1474–1566), whose objections to these four arguments will constitute the
second focus of the study. The study arrives at three conclusions. Firstly, it becomes
evident that in the early modern period, although Aristotle’s views on logic,
cosmology etc. had been severely criticized and abandoned, his conception of just war
thought found wide support. Secondly, the universalist rhetoric of power -laid bare in
Sepúlveda’s thought and used to legitimize imperialism through appeals to universal
values- continues today in the policies of the United States, seen clearly in George W.
Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump administrations. Finally, it is understood
that the Sepulvedan mindset, which justified colonial violence by ontologically
denying indigenous peoples’ full recognition as human beings, today can be seen in
the actions of Israel’s occupation of Palestine which has intensified since October 7,
2023. Since this Sepulvedan mindset rests upon Aristotle, it is understood that
Aristotle is not dead; his ghost still haunts the contemporary world.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Aristotle , Juan Gines de Sepulveda , Bortolomeo de Las Casas , Just War Thought , U.S.A.

Kaynakça

• Ambrosius, S. (1896). Selected works and letters (H. De Domestin, Trans.; P. Schaff & H. Wace, Eds.). In A select library of Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church (Vol. 10). The Christian Literature Company.
• Aquinas, T. (1952). The summa theologica (Vol. 2; Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Trans.; D. J. Sullivan, Rev.). Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
• Aquinas, T. (1983). Quodlibetal questions 1 and 2 (S. Edwards, Trans.). Universa Press.