Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Publication Date
10-25-2019
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Source Publication
Metaphilosophy
Source ISSN
0026-1068
Abstract
Nothing was more important for W. E. B. Du Bois than to promote the upward mobility of African Americans. This essay revisits his “Conversation of Races” to demonstrate its general philosophical importance. Ultimately, Du Bois’s three motivations for giving the address reveal his view of the nature of philosophical inquiry: to critique earlier phenotypic conceptions of race, to show the essentiality of history, and to promote a reflexive practice. Commentators have been unduly invested in the hermeneutic readings and as a result have misunderstood its philosophical dimensions. Du Bois did more than introduce the concept of race into the purview of philosophy, he provided a method for philosophical inquiry into a concept that is notoriously difficult to approach with precision. The goal here is to show why no introduction to philosophy and no discussion about the nature of philosophical inquiry is complete without consideration of “Conservation.” Certainly, it is a text about race, but it is also an important philosophical text in general.
Recommended Citation
Harris, Kimberly Ann, "W. E. B. Du Bois’s “Conservation of Races”: A Metaphilosophical Text" (2019). Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications. 785.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/phil_fac/785
Comments
Accepted version. Metaphilosophy, Vol. 50, No. 5 (October 25, 2019): 670-687. DOI. © 2019 Metaphilosophy LLC and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Used with permission.