Philosophy & Race

University of Oregon, Spring 2010, PHIL 452

 Instructor: Colin Koopman
Course Meetings: Tu & Th 2p-4p in PLC 353
Office Hours: Thursdays 1.00p-2.00p & Fridays 1.30p-3.00p in PLC 333


Course Overview:

This course will focus on critical philosophical questions concerning race, racism, color-consciousness, and color-blindness. A first key set of questions we will address concerns moral and political issues about what we can do going forward about various race-inequalities and racisms (including not only explicit racism, but also institutional and unconscious racism). A second key set of questions we will address concerns metaphysical, semantic, and scientific issues about the reality of race and the persistence of race-discourses in the face of scientific rejection of the concept of race as incoherent. These two sets of questions are intertwined in interesting, productive, and sometimes frustrating ways. The philosophy of race not only enables us to gain this dual-philosophical perspective on race, but it also provides us with a window into problems at the heart of moral philosophy (e.g., equality, recognition, historical injustice) and metaphysics (e.g., essentialism versus nominalism, and realism versus social constructionism) today.

This course is a seminar. This means that you must come prepared to each class having done the reading and you must participate in intensive discussions. Over the course of this seminar you will make one presentation before your peers and you will write a final research paper at the end of the term in consultation with me.

The course is structured as follows. We will begin the course with an overview of introductory topics (as such, no prior familiarity is presumed) and then we will spend the majority of our time working together through two recent books on the philosophy of race written from within two different philosophical traditions: analytic philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah’s The Ethics of Identity and pragmatist philosopher Eddie S. Glaude’s In a Shade of Blue.



Requirements:

1. Participation (25%): Attendance, Discussion, and Reading Responses.
You are expected to attend class and contribute to discussions. Part of contributing to discussions means that you should come to each session prepared with a question or comment about the reading.
Accordingly 15% of your participation grade will be determined by your participation in discussion in class discussions and other class activities.
The other 10% will be determined by your bringing with you to each class a typed sheet of paper with a one-paragraph question or comment on that session’s reading.

2. Presentation on Secondary Literature (25%).
 You will give before the entire class a brief (10 minutes would be best and 15 minutes is the absolute maximum!) presentation on recommended secondary literature to lead off a discussion at a session of your choosing. We will develop a presentation schedule together during Week 1.
If you are assigned to present on a particular piece, it is your responsibility to locate that particular piece. If you are having trouble finding the piece, email me to see if I have a copy. Not finding your assigned material on time is not an excuse for a late or ill-prepared presentation. You have enough time beginning today, our first class, to find the material you will be presenting on.

3. First Version Research Paper (5 pages) with Research Bibliography (25%).
 You will write a short research paper of 5 pages due in class as hardcopy as well as by email on Thursday, May 27th. You should approach this paper as a first (polished, not drafty) version of the final research paper that you will turn it at the end of the quarter.
Although you will later expand upon and improve this paper for your Final Research Essay, this paper should stand on its own, meaning that this first version research paper should offer a standalone argument. You must also include with this paper one additional page with a bibliography of three items (articles and/or book chapters) not included in the assigned class readings. The bibliography should contain both a citation of these items (in any standard format) and a brief one-paragraph abstract summarizing each item.

4. Final Research Paper (25%).
 I will give you at least one page of typed feedback on the shorter paper. The longer research paper of 8-9 pages will develop the argument you offered in the shorter argumentative paper in light of this feedback. You will be expected to improve and expand the first shorter version of your paper. This paper will be due by hardcopy and by email on Monday of Exam Week.



Texts:

Required Books (available at the UO DuckStore):
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 2005. The Ethics of Identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Glaude, Eddie S.. 2007. In a Shade of Blue. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Taylor, Paul. 2004. Race: A Philosophical Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004.
Secondary and Supplementary Readings are listed below at the end of the schedule.



A Note on the Readings and Methods of the Course:

Like most philosophy courses, the method of this course is centered on texts. We will educate ourselves by reading. Toward this, we will so far as is possible devote ourselves to reading books (as well as a few scholarly journal articles and watching a few online lectures in class). This is a good habit to practice in a world that puts a premium on attention. Philosophy is about thinking (reasoning) and looking (investigating)—it is also about doing these things through reading and writing. Now is your best opportunity to learn the habits, and therefore the rewards, of spending time with books, getting to know an author, and working with their writings for awhile.


Reading and Seminar Schedule:

 

Introductory Topics

3/30

Course Introduction and Administration

4/1

Paul Taylor, Race: A Philosophical Introduction (Pt. I, Ch. 1, pp. 1-26)

4/6

Paul Taylor, Race: A Philosophical Introduction (Pt. I, Ch. 2, pp. 27-69)

Secondary: Cornel West, Race Matters (Prefaces [2001 & 1994], Introduction)

4/8

[No Meeting on Thursday 4/8 due to Instructor Presentation at Emory University in Atlanta]

4/13

Paul Taylor, Race: A Philosophical Introduction (Pt. I, Ch. 3, pp. 70-118)

Secondary: Ian Hacking, “Why Race Still Matters”

Secondary: Cornel West, “Race and Modernity”

 

Kwame Anthony Appiah: A Liberal + Analytic + Eliminativist Theory of Race

4/15

K. Anthony Appiah, The Ethics of Identity, Preface and Ch. 1 (pp.ix-xvii, 1-35)

Secondary: K. Anthony Appiah, “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections”

4/20

K. Anthony Appiah, The Ethics of Identity, Ch. 2 (pp. 36-61)

Secondary: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter III

Secondary: Yukio Mishima, “Patriotism”

4/22

K. Anthony Appiah, The Ethics of Identity, Ch. 3 (pp. 62-113)

Secondary: Ian Hacking, The Social Construction of What?, Ch. 1 (1-34)

Secondary: Ian Hacking, The Social Construction of What?, Ch. 4 (100-124)

4/27

K. Anthony Appiah, The Ethics of Identity, Ch. 4 (pp.114-154)

Secondary: Michael Ignatieff, “The Narcissism of Minor Difference”

Secondary: Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, Ch. 5 (75-106)

4/29

K. Anthony Appiah, The Ethics of Identity, Ch. 5 (pp. 155-212)

Secondary: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapters I

Secondary: Ron Mallon, “Race: Normative, Not Metaphysical or Semantic”

Secondary: James Goldston, “Holes in the Rights Framework: Racial Discrimination...”

5/4

K. Anthony Appiah, The Ethics of Identity, Ch. 6 (pp. 213-272)

Secondary: K. Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism (selections)

 

Beyond the Black-White Binary

5/6

Guest Presentation and Discussion with Doctoral Candidate Grant Silva

Ron Sundstrom, The Browning of America and the Evasion of Social Justice, Ch. 3 (65-92)

 

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.: A Progressivist + Pragmatist + Reformist Theory of Race

5/11

Eddie Glaude, In a Shade of Blue, Introduction (pp.1-16) and Ch. 1 (pp. 17-46)

Secondary: Cornel West, “Pragmatism and the Sense of the Tragic”

Secondary: Cornel West, “Race and Social Theory”

Secondary: John Dewey, “The Development of American Pragmatism”

Secondary: Hilary Putnam, “A Reconsideration of Deweyan Democracy”

5/13

Eddie Glaude, In a Shade of Blue, Ch. 2 (pp. 47-65)

Secondary: Tommie Shelby & Lionel McPherson “Blackness & Blood: Interpreting African American Identity”

Secondary: Richard Rorty, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (Ch. 9)

5/18

Eddie Glaude, In a Shade of Blue, Ch. 3 (pp. 66-88)

Secondary: Friedrich Nietzsche, “On the Use and Abuse of History for Life”

Secondary: John Dewey, “The Need for a Recovery of Philosophy”

5/20

Eddie Glaude, In a Shade of Blue, Chs. 4 & 5 (pp. 89-126)

Secondary (for Chap. 4): Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety (Ch. 1, pp. 1-40)

Secondary (for Chap. 5): Clifford Geertz, “Thick Description” in The Interpretation of Culture

5/25

Eddie Glaude, In a Shade of Blue, Ch. 6 & Epilogue (pp. 127-157)

Secondary: John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems, Ch. IV, “Eclipse of the Public”

Secondary: John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems, Ch. V, “Search for the Great Community”

 

Concluding Reflections

 

 

[FIRST VERSION RESEARCH PAPERS DUE IN CLASS THURS. OF WEEK 9 (5/27)]

 

5/26

Special Event: K. Anthony Appiah lecture at the University of Oregon, 7.30pm, 182 Lillis Hall

5/27

Guest Presentation and Discussion with Professor Naomi Zack

Naomi Zack, “The Fluid Symbol of Mixed Race” [doc]

Optional: Sally Haslanger, “Gender & Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them to Be?” [pdf]

Optional: Lucius Outlaw, “Introduction: On Race and Philosophy”

Optional: Naomi Zack, Philosophy of Science and Race, Chapter 7

Optional: K. Anthony Appiah, “Politics and Who We Are” on bloggingheads.tv online

6/1

Scott Pratt, “Race, Education and Democracy” [pdf]

David E. McClean, “Should We Conserve the Notion of Race?” [pdf]]

Optional: Paul Taylor, “Pragmatism and Race”

Optional: Michael Eldridge, “Dewey on Race and Social Change”

Optional: Gregory Fernando Pappas, “Distance, Abstraction, and the Role of the Philosopher …”

6/3

Makeup/Flex Session [Possibility of Instructor Presentation at GWU in Washington, D.C.]

 

 

[FINAL RESEARCH PAPERS DUE MONDAY OF EXAM WEEK]

 


Additional Reading Material:

Assigned Secondary Readings (and where you can find them):
  • Appiah, K. Anthony. 1996. “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections” in Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Available online at ‘Tanner Center for Human Values’ website.

  • Appiah, K. Anthony. 2006. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. New York: W. W. Norton: 2006.

  • Baldwin, James. 1963. The Fire Next Time. New York: Dial Press, 1963. [Any edition will do]

  • Dewey, John. 1917. “The Development of American Pragmatism”. Available in many collections including John Dewey, The Political Writings.

  • Dewey, John. 1925. “The Development of American Pragmatism”. Available in many collections including Volume 2 of The Later Works of John Dewey.

  • Dewey, John. 1927. The Public and Its Problems. New York: Swallow Press. I have a copy of this I can email to you.

  • Dewey, John. 1939. “Creative Democracy—The Task Before Us”. Available in many collections including Volume 14 of The Later Works of John Dewey.

  • Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture” in The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973.

  • Hacking, Ian. 1999. The Social Construction of What? Cambridge: Harvard University, 1999.

  • Hacking, Ian. 2005. “Why Race Still Matters” in Daedalus 134, no. 1, Winter, 2005: 102-116.

  • Haslanger, Sally. 2000. “Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be?” in Nous 34, no. 1, 2000: 31-55.

  • Ignatieff, Michael. 1997. “The Narcissism of Minor Difference” in Ignatieff, The Warrior’s Honor. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.

  • Kymlicka, Will. 1996. Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. Oxford: Oxford University, 1996.

  • Mahmood, Saba. 2005. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

  • Mallon, Ron. 2006. “Race: Normative, Not Metaphysical or Semantic” in Ethics 116 (3): 525-551.

  • McClean, David E.. 2004. “Should We Conserve the Notion of Race?” in Bill E. Lawson and Donald F. Koch (eds.), Pragmatism and the Problem of Race. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.

  • Mill, John Stuart. 1859. On Liberty. Available online for free in many places.

  • Mishima, Yukio. 1966. “Patriotism” Available online at .

  • Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1874. “On the Use and Abuse of History for Life” aka “On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life” Available online in many places.

  • Pratt, Scott. 2004. “Race, Education, and Democracy” in Bill E. Lawson and Donald F. Koch (eds.), Pragmatism and the Problem of Race. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.

  • Putnam, Hilary.1992. “A Reconsideration of Deweyan Democracy” in Putnam, Renewing Philosophy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992.

  • Rorty, Richard. 1989. Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. I have a copy of this I can email to you.

  • Shelby, Tommy and McPherson, Lionel K. 2004. “Blackness and Blood: Interpreting African American Identity” in Philosophy & Public Affairs, v32n2, April 2004: 171-192.

  • West, Cornel. 1982. “Race and Modernity” in The Cornel West Reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 1999.

  • West, Cornel. 1993. Race Matters. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.

  • West, Cornel. 1993. “Pragmatism and the Sense of the Tragic” in Keeping Faith: Philosophy and Race in America. New York: Routledge, 1993.

  • Zack, Naomi. Forthcoming. “The Fluid Symbol of Mixed Race” forthcoming in Hypatia.
Other Supplementary Materials (this is a partial list of other helpful secondary literature):
  • Appiah, K. Anthony. 1990. “But would that still be me? Notes on gender, ‘race,’ ethnicity as sources of identity” in The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. LXXXVII, No. 10 (October 1990): 493-499.

  • Appiah, K. Anthony. 2006. “Ethics of Identity” lecture at Princeton University. Available online at .

  • Appiah, K. Anthony. 2008. “Politics and Who We Are” on bloggingheads.tv with Joshua Knobe. Available online at .

  • Collins, Patricia Hill. 1990. Black Feminist Thought. Routledge, 1990.

  • Eldridge, Michael. 2004. “Dewey on Race and Social Change” in Bill E. Lawson and Donald F. Koch (eds.), Pragmatism and the Problem of Race. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.

  • Frederickson, George M.. 2003. Racism: A Short History. Princeton, 2003.

  • James, Michael. 2008. “Race” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward Zalta (ed.). Online at .

  • Outlaw, Lucius. 1996. “‘Conserve’ Races?: In Defense of W.E.B. Du Bois” in Bernard Bell (ed.), W.E.B. Du Bois on Race and Culture. New York: Routledge, 1996.

  • Outlaw, Lucius. 1996. “Introduction: On Race and Philosophy” to Lucius Outlaw, On Race and Philosophy. New York: Routledge Press, 1996.

  • Pappas, Gregory F.. 2004. “Distance, Abstraction, and the Role of the Philosopher in the Pragmatic Approach to Racism” in Bill E. Lawson and Donald F. Koch (eds.), Pragmatism and the Problem of Race. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.

  • Taylor, Paul. 2004. “Pragmatism and Race” in Bill E. Lawson and Donald F. Koch (eds.), Pragmatism and the Problem of Race. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.

  • Zack, Naomi. 2002. Philosophy of Science and Race. New York: Routledge, 2002.



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