“Pervading the Sable Veil”: Phillis Wheatley as Early Modern Philosopher of Religion

Abstract

This chapter contends that Phillis Wheatley, African-American slave-turned-poet, can and should be read as a philosopher of religion. Her work, collectively, takes up the problem of evil and demonstrates a commitment to moral improvement in the face of suffering, and knowledge of divine benevolence and care for all people. As early modern philosophy, her work presents courageous arguments about the equality of those on the margins of moral considerability, as well as criticisms of the system of oppression that led to her being enslaved. Although humanities scholars generally debate whether Wheatley does enough to speak out against slavery, for philosophers, Wheatley’s poetry should motivate new work on narrative theodicy.

“When God’s eternal ways you set in sightAnd Virtue shines in all her native light,

In vain would Vice her works in night concealFor Wisdom’s eye pervades the sable veil”

—Phillis Wheatley, “To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory” (1773)