Pirate Enlightenment by David Graeber: a band of very unlikely philosophers

Published on: February 8 / 2023

Could the Age of Reason have been founded by pirates on the shores of Madagascar?

Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia review by Dan Jones, The Sunday Times

In 1722 an East India Company agent named Clement Downing met a pirate on the beach in Madagascar. Dressed in rough clothes, with a pair of pistols stuck down his breeches, he told Downing a hair-raising story. His name, he said, was John Plantain, and he was one of the island’s pirate kings. His base was a fortified town called Ranter Bay (modernRantabe), where he and other notorious buccaneers held sway. Plantain was king because he had “the most money”.