Critical Philosophy of Race: 9780197587973

The fifteen essays by distinguished philosopher of race Robert Bernasconi that are collected here demonstrate why the critical philosophy of race needs to take a historical turn. Genealogies of the concepts of both race and racism clarify why some of the dominant strategies for combatting racism tend to be ineffective. For example, the Boasian/UNESCO strategy that highlights biology’s rejection of race neglects cultural racism. Drawing on the work of Frantz Fanon, the late Sartre, and Michel Foucault, Robert Bernasconi argues for a holistic approach that integrates the concrete experience of racism faced by individuals into the study of institutional, structural, and systemic racism. His philosophical studies of such Black philosophers as Ottobah Cugoano, Anténor Firmin, and W. E. B. Du Bois, contribute to challenging the dominant philosophical canon. This volume will be an essential resource for scholars and students interested in this resurgent topic.

Robert Bernasconi is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy and African American Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of two books on Heidegger and one on Sartre, as well as numerous articles in continental philosophy and the history of philosophy, especially as it relates to the history of racism. He has edited a number of volumes of primary source material and he is the editor of three journals: Critical Philosophy of Race, Levinas Studies, and Eco-Ethica.