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Author Bentancor, Orlando, author.

Title The matter of empire : metaphysics and mining in colonial Peru / Orlando Bentancor.

Publication Info. Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2017]

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (x, 404 pages).
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series Illuminations : cultural formations of the Americas series
Illuminations (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Introduction: Imperium, Metaphysical Instrumentalism, and Potosi Mining -- Grounding the Empire : Francisco de Vitoria's Political Physics -- The Impasses of Instrumentalism : Revisiting the Polemics between Sepulveda and Las Casas -- Mastering Nature : Jose de Acosta's Pragmatic Instrumentalism -- From Imperial Reason to Instrumental Reason : The Ideology of the Circle of Toledo -- The Exhaustion of Natural Subordination : Solórzano Pereira and the Demise of Metaphysical Instrumentalism.
Summary "The Matter of Empire examines the philosophical principles invoked by apologists of the Spanish empire that laid the foundations for the material exploitation of the Andean region between 1520 and 1640. Centered on Potosí, Bolivia, Orlando Bentancor's original study ties the colonizers' attempts to justify the abuses wrought upon the environment and the indigenous population to their larger ideology concerning mining, science, and the empire's rightful place in the global sphere. Bentancor points to the underlying principles of Scholasticism, particularly in the work off Thomas Aquinas, as the basis of the instrumentalist conception of matter and enslavement, despite the inherent contradictions to moral principles. Bentancor grounds this metaphysical framework in a close reading of sixteenth-century debates on Spanish sovereignty in the Americas and treatises on natural history and mining by theologians, humanists, missionaries, mine owners, jurists, and colonial officials. To Bentancor, their presuppositions were a major turning point for colonial expansion and paved the way to global mercantilism"--Provided by publisher.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Peru -- History -- 1548-1820.
Peru.
History.
Chronological Term 1548-1820
Subject Spain -- Colonies -- America -- History.
Spain.
Colonies.
America.
Potosí (Bolivia : Department) -- Colonization -- History -- 17th century.
Potosí (Bolivia : Department) -- Colonization -- History -- 16th century.
Imperialism -- Philosophy -- History.
Imperialism -- Philosophy.
Imperialism.
Instrumentalism (Philosophy) -- Political aspects -- Bolivia -- Potosí (Department) -- History.
Instrumentalism (Philosophy)
Bolivia.
Bolivia -- Potosí (Department)
Metaphysics -- Political aspects -- Bolivia -- Potosí (Department) -- History.
Metaphysics.
Environmental degradation -- Political aspects -- Bolivia -- Potosí (Department) -- History.
Environmental degradation -- Political aspects.
Environmental degradation.
Mines and mineral resources -- Political aspects -- Bolivia -- Potosí (Department) -- History.
Mines and mineral resources -- Political aspects.
Mines and mineral resources.
Indians of South America -- Colonization -- Bolivia -- Potosí (Department) -- History.
Indians of South America -- Colonization.
Indians of South America.
Chronological Term 1500-1820
Genre/Form Electronic books.
History.
Other Form: Print version: Bentancor, Orlando. Matter of empire. Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2017] (DLC) 2016054048
ISBN 9780822981602 (electronic book)
0822981602 (electronic book)
9780822944607 (hardback ; acid-free paper)
082294460X (hardback ; acid-free paper)