•  19
    ?Tienes Culo? How to Look at Vida Guerra
    In Peg Brand Weiser (ed.), Beauty Unlimited, Indiana University Press. pp. 218-242. 2013.
    Vida Guerra is a Cuban model from northern New Jersey. She made her name in hiphop videos and in "gentlemen's magazines" but quickly became in intermediate supermodel, with her own calendars, making-of-the-calendar DVDs, official website, fan websites, television show, and controversy over a "leaked" nude photo. . . . Vida's popularity has caused one writer to suggest "You may now move over J-Lo, and make way for Vida;" in short, tiene culo, to borrow the Spanish slang that adorns one of her vir…Read more
  •  23
    In this essay I want to consider how Penola's (character in Toni Morrison's novel, The Bluest Eye) circumstance es motivate her petition--"asking for beauty"--and two others, after which I will offer my own petition concerning the practice of aesthetics.
  •  153
    Discipline, Determination, Discernment: In Reply
    Debates in Aesthetics 15 (2): 113-125. 2020.
  •  365
    Black Reconstruction in Aesthetics
    Debates in Aesthetics 15 (2): 9-47. 2020.
    This essay uses the concept of reconstruction to make an argument and an intervention in relation to the practice and study of black aesthetics. The argument will have to do with the parochialism of John Dewey, the institutional inertia of professional philosophy, the aesthetic dimensions of the US politics of reconstruction, the centrality of reconstructionist politics to the black aesthetic tradition, and the staging of a reconstructionist argument in the film, Black Panther (Coogler 2018). Th…Read more
  •  44
    2. Moral Perfectionism
    In Brandon M. Terry & Tommie Shelby (eds.), To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr, Harvard University Press. pp. 35-57. 2018.
  •  217
    Black aesthetics
    Philosophy Compass 5 (1): 1-15. 2010.
    This article introduces the preoccupations and themes that define the study and practice of black aesthetics. It presents a provisional sketch of a field that has long been recognized in other humanities disciplines, but that is only now gaining wide notice in academic philosophy. This sketch emphasizes the aspects of the field that invite specifically philosophic scrutiny, while touching lightly on specific artworks, critical literatures and historical developments. Among the topics that receiv…Read more
  •  49
    Those who know anything about black history and culture probably know that aesthetics has long been a central concern for black thinkers and activists. The Harlem Renaissance, the Negritude movement, the Black Arts Movement, and the discipline of Black British cultural studies all attest to the intimate connection between black politics and questions of style, beauty, expression, and art. And the participants in these and other movements have made art and offered analyses that wrestle with clear…Read more
  •  35
    For many decades, race and racism have been common areas of study in departments of sociology, history, political science, English, and anthropology. Much more recently, as the historical concept of race and racial categories have faced significant scientific and political challenges, philosophers have become more interested in these areas. This changing understanding of the ontology of race has invited inquiry from researchers in moral philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of scienc…Read more
  • Reconstructing Aesthetics: John Dewey, Expression Theory, and Cultural Criticism
    Dissertation, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick. 1997.
    Contemporary analytic aestheticians have little interest in the old paradigm of expression theory. They observe that expression theorists tend to locate the essence of art in the externalization of emotion, and they argue persuasively that this tendency is unfortunate. Then they consign expression theorists like Dewey; Collingwood, and Croce to the dustbin of history. This dismissive posture has become standard in aesthetics, for some good reasons. But at least in the case of Dewey, the reasons …Read more
  •  35
    Evading evasion, recovering recovery
    Journal of Speculative Philosophy 25 (2): 174-183. 2011.
    In his contribution to Cheryl Misak's New Pragmatists volume, David Bakhurst considers the "prospect of a fruitful alliance between [ethical] particularism and pragmatism." 1 In an attempt to show that members of the two camps can "profit from critical engagement with each other's works" (124), he considers how pragmatists might help resolve three outstanding problems for ethical particularists. Unfortunately, his generosity outpaces his imagination, and he does not really find a great deal that…Read more
  •  90
    What's the Use of Calling Du Bois a Pragmatist?
    Metaphilosophy 35 (1-2): 99-114. 2004.
    Was W. E. B. Du Bois a pragmatist? Does it matter? This essay argues that reading Du Bois as a pragmatist highlights aspects of his work and life that might otherwise go unnoticed, while also highlighting aspects of pragmatism that often go unappreciated. In addition, this double revelation may help restore to us some important resources for dealing with current social problems.
  •  27
    Making Niagara a Cataract: Cornel West, Greatness, and the Music of Ideas
    Contemporary Pragmatism 4 (1): 91-115. 2007.
    There is an odd duality in Cornel West's work. He is a generous thinker and voracious interlocutor, willing to learn from anyone on a sincere quest for insight. But he is also he is an unapologetic admirer of greatness, as stingy with ascriptions of genius as he is lavish with praise for the select few who qualify. "Making Niagara a Cataract" reflects on this duality. I try to explain what motivates West's commitment to the importance of greatness, and how these motivations emerge from and shape…Read more
  •  121
    Bare Ontology and Social Death
    Philosophical Papers 42 (3). 2013.
    No abstract
  •  34
    v. 1. Philosophy and the history of race, race in the history of philosophy -- v.2. Racial being and knowing -- v. 3. Race-ing beauty, goodness, and right -- v. 4. Intersections and positions.
  •  141
    Paul C. Taylor provides an accessible guide to a well-travelled but still-mysterious area of the contemporary social landscape. The result is the first philosophical introduction to the field of race theory and to a non-biological and situational notion of race. Provides the first philosophical introduction to the field of race theory. Outlines the main features and implications of race-thinking; asks questions such as: What is race-thinking? Don’t we know better than to talk about race now? Are…Read more
  •  79
    Introduction
    Journal of Social Philosophy 41 (3): 237-243. 2010.
  •  24
    The Philosophical I: Personal Reflections on Life in Philosophy (edited book)
    with Nicholas Rescher, Richard Shusterman, Linda Martín Alcoff, Lorraine Code, Sandra Harding, Bat-Ami Bar On, John Lachs, John J. Stuhr, Douglas Kellner, Thomas E. Wartenberg, Nancey Murphy, Charles W. Mills, Nancy Tuana, and Joseph Margolis
    Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2002.
    Philosophy is shaped by life and life is shaped by philosophy. This is reflected in The Philosophical I, a collection of 16 autobiographical essays by prominent philosophers
  •  117
    W.E.B. Du Bois
    Philosophy Compass 5 (11): 904-915. 2010.
    This article introduces some of the key philosophical contributions of W. E. B. Du Bois. Du Bois studied with Santayana and William James (among others), but chose social science, social theory, journalism, and activism over academic philosophy. Despite this detour, the philosophic depth of his work has won the attention of scholars in fields such as history, English, post‐colonial theory, African‐American Studies, American philosophy, and Africana philosophy, and it has belatedly begun to attra…Read more
  •  295
    ... So Black and Blue: Response to Rudinow
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 53 (3): 313-316. 1995.
  •  13
    On Obama
    Routledge. 2014.
    On Obama examines some of the key philosophical questions that accompany the historic emergence of the 44th US president. The purpose of the book is to take seriously the once-common thought that Mr. Obama had ushered in a post-historical age. Three questions organize the argument of the book. Has the US become post-racial? Does Obama’s pragmatism show the way to a post-partisan approach to politics? And does the reining in of US power and ambitions signal the emergence of a post-imperial moment…Read more
  •  48
    Context and Complaint: On Racial Disorientation
    Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 35 (1-2): 331-351. 2014.
  •  46
    Is It Sometime Yet?
    Contemporary Pragmatism 8 (2): 17-29. 2011.
    It has become fashionable to claim that Barack Obama is a philosophical pragmatist, committed to Deweyan convictions rather than to the vulgar practicalism of political expediency. This reading is meant to explain certain aspects of Mr. Obama's public life, and to demonstrate the coherence of his ethical vision. I'll suggest that the appeal of the reading has less to do with the evidence in its favor, which is equivocal at best, than with the deeper desires that it seems to satisfy
  •  74
    After Race, After Justice, After History
    Southern Journal of Philosophy 47 (S1): 25-41. 2009.