An Introduction to Africana Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy) by Lewis R. Gordon

Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy

by Lewis R. Gordon

In this undergraduate textbook Lewis R. Gordon offers the first comprehensive treatment of Africana philosophy, beginning with the emergence of an Africana (i.e. African diasporic) consciousness in the Afro-Arabic world of the Middle Ages. He argues that much of modern thought emerged out of early conflicts between Islam and Christianity that culminated in the expulsion of the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula, and from the subsequent expansion of racism, enslavement, and colonialism which in their turn stimulated reflections on reason, liberation, and the meaning of being human. His book takes the student reader on a journey from Africa through Europe, North and South America, the Caribbean, and back to Africa, as he explores the challenges posed to our understanding of knowledge and freedom today, and the response to them which can be found within Africana philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Africa, Nonfiction, Race

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Lewis Ricardo Gordon is an American philosopher who works in the areas of Africana philosophy, philosophy of human and life sciences, phenomenology, philosophy of existence, social and political theory, postcolonial thought, theories of race and racism, philosophies of liberation, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of religion. He has written particularly extensively on race and racism, postcolonial phenomenology, Africana and black existentialism, and on the works and thought of W. E. B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon.

Reviews

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

210916: more a bibliography of Africana philosophers to read than an incisive intro to said authors and ideas. mostly Africanamerican, mostly thinkers you have heard of if not read, familiar names like web Dubois, Franz Fanon... arguments and assertions of originary work preceding even the Greeks. interesting, good place maybe to start, not a good place to end...

[Elizabeth Byerly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not introductory; more citation and biography than summarization of the thinkers' philosophies.

[edenstephen]

Electronic (pdf).