The following excerpt from ‘Of National Characteristics’ finds Kant in something of a quandary. He recognises merit in the sexist bigotry of a “Negro carpenter,” but can’t bring himself to overlook the fact that the fellow “was quite black from head to foot” …
This post is a follow-up to Augustine’s Devils, and best read after the earlier entry, as they are saintly partners in crime. By way of summary, Augustine seemed to have thought that devils, ‘incubi’, were ‘satisfying their lust’ upon wanton women. Here, in Summa Theologica, Aquinas accepts the story without hesitation …