[Editor's Note: This post is a follow-up on some of the discussion near the end of ep. 52.] I have often found that great comedy can be deeply philosophical. Wittgenstein once said that one could write a substantial work of philosophy consisting only of jokes. This is certainly true when it comes to philosophy of race. The following are some of the things I show in class to Continue Reading …
Racism Among Historic Philosophers
As mentioned on the race episode, I thumbed through a book edited by Andrew Valls called Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy,which includes essays on Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Mill, Marx, and Nietzsche. To give Valls's words on the last of these, since I mentioned it in the discussion: ...James Winchester examines Continue Reading …
Is It Really Philosophy? (Are You an Ass for Asking?)
In this post brought to my attention by our commenter DMF in light of our race episode, Kristie Dotson of Michigan State University attacks the question that one might ask when reading DuBois, for instance: Is this really philosophy? The question, how is this paper philosophy, is a poorly formulated question. At best, when asked in good faith, the question could in fact be one Continue Reading …
Stokely Carmichael’s Sartrean Influences
One of the names dropped during the Race and Philosophy episode was that of Stokely Carmichael. Below is a famous recording of one Carmichael’s “Black Power” speeches, given after Carmichael was appointed Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC: http://youtu.be/9cRasrZHwVI Watch on YouTube. Continue Reading …
More Things to Read Regarding Race and Philosophy
Political philosophy through the prism of Black-American thinkers: Tommie Shelby is a distinguished professor of philosophy at Harvard university. In this text, he examines the political thought of black thinkers to arrive at a philosophical articulation of black solidarity. This is a great text to examine if one is interested in understanding black philosophical thinking about Continue Reading …
Things to Read: Philosophy of Race and the Social Contract
In this text, Charles W. Mills argues that social contract theory has racist underpinnings. While his argument is not completely persuasive, this is an intriguing take on the theory. -Law Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 52: Philosophy and Race (DuBois, Martin Luther King, Cornel West)
This is a short preview of the full episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more Continue Reading …
Episode 52: Philosophy and Race (DuBois, Martin Luther King, Cornel West) (Citizens Only)
On W.E.B. DuBois's "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" (1903), Cornel West's "A Genealogy of Modern Racism" (1982), and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963) and "The Black Power Defined" (1967), plus Malcolm X's "The Black Revolution" (1963). What kind of philosophical lessons come out of the history of black oppression in America? Historian and Continue Reading …
Topic for #52: Philosophy and Race (DuBois, MLK, Cornel West)
We PELers spent black history month actually reading black history, and on 2/28/12 spoke with Law Ware of Oklahoma State University about philosophy and race. Is there a philosophically viable concept of race at all? What are the potential sources of past and current oppression, and what general strategies seem promising to deal with them? Is "understanding" all one needs to Continue Reading …