What Is an Anti-Racist Philosophy of Race and History? A New Look at Kant, Hegel, and Du Bois

IF 1.3 Q2 ETHNIC STUDIES

Critical Philosophy of Race Pub Date : 2022-01-01 DOI:10.5325/critphilrace.10.1.0071

Elvira Basevich

引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract:In this article, I defend the pragmatic relevance of race in history. Kant and Hegel's racist development thesis assumes that nonwhite, non-European racial groups are defective practical agents. In response, philosophers have opted to drop race from a theory of history and progress. They posit that denying its pragmatic relevance amounts to anti-racist egalitarianism. I dub this tactic "colorblind cosmopolitanism" and offer grounds for its rejection. Following Du Bois, I ascribe, instead, a pragmatic role to race in history. Namely, Du Bois argues that race is an "instrument of progress" that advances emancipatory struggle. He appeals to the writing of history—or historiography—to cultivate group consciousness of historical memory in order to (1) strengthen intragroup bonds among the racially oppressed, especially black Americans, and (2) create intergroup bonds that reconstruct the republic on the basis of universal ideals. I detail Du Bois's defense of the black struggle for freedom in the wake of the U.S. Civil War to provide a concrete illustration of "spirit" in American history.

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什么是反种族主义的种族和历史哲学?康德、黑格尔和杜波依斯的新观点

摘要:在本文中，我为种族在历史上的实用主义相关性进行了辩护。康德和黑格尔的种族主义发展理论假设，非白人、非欧洲种族群体是有缺陷的实践主体。作为回应，哲学家们选择将种族从历史和进步理论中剔除。他们认为，否认其实际意义等同于反种族主义的平均主义。我把这种策略称为“不分肤色的世界主义”，并提供了拒绝这种策略的理由。与杜波依斯的观点相反，我认为种族在历史上起着务实的作用。也就是说，杜波依斯认为种族是推动解放斗争的“进步工具”。他呼吁历史写作——或史学——培养历史记忆的群体意识，以便(1)加强受种族压迫的群体间的联系，尤其是美国黑人;(2)建立群体间的联系，在普遍理想的基础上重建共和国。我详细介绍了杜波依斯在美国内战之后为黑人争取自由的斗争所做的辩护，以提供美国历史上“精神”的具体例证。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Critical Philosophy of Race ETHNIC STUDIES-

CiteScore

2.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The critical philosophy of race consists in the philosophical examination of issues raised by the concept of race, the practices and mechanisms of racialization, and the persistence of various forms of racism across the world. Critical philosophy of race is a critical enterprise in three respects: it opposes racism in all its forms; it rejects the pseudosciences of old-fashioned biological racialism; and it denies that anti-racism and anti-racialism summarily eliminate race as a meaningful category of analysis. Critical philosophy of race is a philosophical enterprise because of its engagement with traditional philosophical questions and in its readiness to engage critically some of the traditional answers.