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2Anti-ethics as Insurrectionist Ethics: An Analysis of the Normative Foundations of Philosophies Born of StruggleIn Jacoby Adeshei Carter & Darryl Scriven (eds.), Insurrectionist Ethics. Radical Perspectives on Social Justice, Palgrave. pp. 157-194. 2023.This chapter provides a conceptual analysis of Tommy J. Curry’s anti-ethical stance. In what sense is anti-ethics opposed to, or against, ethics? I argue that, despite appearances, anti-ethics is a kind of ethical theory. Close analysis reveals that the term “ethics” in the term “anti-ethics” does not refer to ethics per se, but to an idealist approach to ethics that frames white people as virtuous. I argue that Leonard Harris’ insurrectionist ethics provides a naturalistically-informed deontolo…Read more
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37Reply to My Critics: (Re-)Defining Racism: A Philosophical AnalysisEthical Theory and Moral Practice 24 (3): 679-698. 2021.In Defining Racism, I offer the first comprehensive examination of the philosophical literature on racism and argue for a new methodological approach that I call conventionalism. Framing my argument within this approach, I defend an oppression theory of racism. In this article, I will attempt to accomplish two goals: offer a reply to the thoughtful comments of my critics, and lay out the main argument and major themes of my book in an accessible manner. First, I will describe the philosophical p…Read more
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88A Revisionist Theory of Racism: Rejecting the Presumption of ConservatismJournal of Social Philosophy 51 (2): 1-30. 2020.Many theories of racism presuppose that ordinary usage of the term “racism” should be preserved. Rarely is this presupposition—the presumption of conservatism—defended. This paper discusses the work of Lawrence Blum, Joshua Glasgow, Jorge Garcia, Tommie Shelby, and others, in order to develop a critique of the presumption of conservatism. Against this presumption, I defend the following desideratum: If ordinary usage of “racism” prompts significant practical difficulties that can be averted by r…Read more
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140(Re-)Defining Racism: A Philosophical AnalysisPalgrave Macmillan. 2020.What is racism? is a timely question that is hotly contested in the philosophy of race. Yet disagreement about racism’s nature does not begin in philosophy, but in the sociopolitical domain. Alberto G. Urquidez argues that philosophers of race have failed to pay sufficient attention to the practical considerations that prompt the question “What is racism?” Most theorists assume that “racism” signifies a language-independent phenomenon that needs to be “discovered” by the relevant science or “unc…Read more
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154Jorge Garcia and the Ordinary Use of "Racist Belief"Social Theory and Practice 43 (2): 223-248. 2017.Wittgenstein’s “grammatical method” analyzes multiple uses of language across contexts of use, with the aim of identifying differences and dissolving conceptual confusion. This paper uses Wittgenstein’s method to undermine Jorge L. A. Garcia’s volitional account of racism. Garcia claims that his theory accommodates the ordinary use of terms like “racist belief.” However, he did not consider whether such terms might have multiple uses/meanings. My paper identifies three uses of “racist belief” th…Read more
Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Racism |
Philosophy of Gender, Race, and Sexuality |
Social Philosophy |
Value Theory |