Pisanyi D. The Ideological justification of slavery in the social thought of the Western Europe and the USA in the second half of the XV - late XIX centuries.

The dissertation deals with the complex research of the ideological justification of slavery and slave trade in the social thought of the Western Europe and the USA, XV - late XIX centuries. The main prerequisites of emergence of slave apology in the Catholic and Protestant Church's doctrine are characterized. The influence of the processes of economic, social and political development of Western countries on the clergy's attitude towards slavery is traced. The opinions of the eminent Modern Age philosophers on the slavery are discovered. It is exposed that even prominent Humanists and Enlighteners approved slavery and didn't consider it as archaism or crime but regarded it as institution fully suitable for new age. The main arguments of the authors of racist theories in favour of the slavery institution preservation are highlighted. It is ascertained that it were racists who raised slavery apology to a highest level of anti-humanism and cynicism.