Hegel's Argument Against Slavery

In § 57 of the Philosophy of Right, Hegel presents his argument against slavery. In doing so, he criticizes both justifications of slavery and what he takes to be weak arguments against it. In what follows, I will examine Hegel’s arguments and expound on the reasoning behind his critique. I will first ex- plain why Hegel believes that justifications of slavery are based on the prem- ise that some humans are not endowed with a free will in fact. I will secondly explain why Hegel is critical of arguments based on the premise that all hu- mans are endowed with a free will by definition. I will thirdly argue that He- gel’s own argument against slavery is based on the premise that all humans are endowed with a free will both by definition and in fact. I will argue lastly that with his argument against slavery, Hegel rejects the dehumanization of slaves that is implicit in both justifications of slavery and weak arguments against it.