Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy

About this book

Is modern philosophy racist? Do such canonical philosophers as Descartes Hobbes Leibniz Spinoza the British Empiricists and the German Idealists lend support if only indirectly to racist doctrines? Or do their ideas contain the resources to critique or even reject racist theories? An innovative and substantial intervention in critical race theory Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy brings together an impressive roster of thinkers to trace the question of race in modern philosophical inquiry and explore its influence on contemporary philosophy. From Lockes treatment of the issue of slavery and Descartess silence on the issue to Hegels philosophy of religion and Nietzsches "racial profiling " this book illuminates the complex relationship between race and philosophy.