What is slavery? Jury duty, conscription and income tax as manifestations of slavery
Gabriele Suvini
Essay from the year 2022 in the subject Politics - Political Theory and the History of Ideas Journal, grade: A Star, , language: English, abstract: What is slavery? Is jury duty? Is conscription? Is income tax? This essay seeks to examine whether three apparently diverse phenomena – jury duty, conscription and income tax – can be regarded as manifestations of slavery. The views of prominent philosophers – Hobbes, Kant and Nozick – are examined on the implicit question of coercion and whether they deem coercion to be a form of slavery. The conclusion is reached that the non-consensual and forced nature of the three State duties in question, where no better options other than compliance are achievable, make them forms of coercive subjugation. The view is taken that this bondage impinges upon freedom and is intrinsically wrong. It raises prima facie ethical and mental health issues, and threatens autonomy and our rightful state of Nozickian ‘self-ownership’.
