Cornel West: 'What is Philosophy?'

A very short clip on the esteemed Cornel West's views on the nature of philosophy. For West, philosophy can be seen as 'a critical disposition of wrestling with desire in the face of death; wrestling with dialogue in the face of dogmatism; and wrestling with democracy in the face of structures of domination'...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Cornel
• West
• Philosophy

[gosoxmattg]

@ALLCAPSARCHER09 Couldn't agree more. Analytic philosophy definitely deals with some interesting and important philosophical issues. But there is a whole lot more out there about society and culture that it doesn't really even try to address. There is a great tradition of continental philosophy and its offshoots that people try and dismiss. I'm not sure why because some of the greatest thinkers of all time come from such a tradition.

[ALLCAPSARCHER09]

But I don't need to say all this, because the analytics are going the way of the dodo, and it's about f*cking time, if you ask me.

[ALLCAPSARCHER09]

This analytic tradition strikes me, then, as a cloak for white males who are still exercising conservative ideologies of domination, ideologies which have absolutely no place in philosophy, which is, as West says, "dialogue in the face of dogmatism." The old analytic dismissal epitomized by Searle's rejection of Derrida for "obvious and manifest intellectual weaknesses" is a clear case of dogmatism.

[ALLCAPSARCHER09]

In fact, I will go even further: The idea, promoted by analytic philosophers, that we can solve the most ancient of problems because now we have advanced scientific, mathematical and logical knowledge is congruent with this creepy 1950's-era idea of progress and civilization – ideas which are, of course, inextricable from the racist and sexist ideologies that underpin them, ideologies which underwrote all kinds of human rights atrocities in the 20th century.

[ALLCAPSARCHER09]

@lourak So what is the meaning of analytic philosophy? Is the idea to reduce the experience of being to a set of logical propositions? Because if you're still chasing that chimera, you've completely missed the lessons of history. This is why the analytic tradition is petrified, debilitating and immobilizing, while the continental is invigorating, empowering and affirming. I'm not de facto opposed to analytics, but, sadly, the elitism dripping from your comment is generally the rule.

[lourak]

@GrammaticalFiction What distinction are you referring to?

[GrammaticalFiction]

@lourak Sounds like a case of biased analytic supremacy perpetuating a silly, and outdated, distinction.

[lourak]

@AppreciateBlake I am saying simply that I hear no cogent definition of philosophy here. West, in his typically rambling style, merely vents his politically simplistic view that power structures are the predominant conditioning factor to be contended with. Politics at best (and of the worst, outdated Marxian form) - with no hint of serious philosophical reflection. West is caught in a time warp and has no clue as to the meaning of analytic philosophy - and has no interest!

[AppreciateBlake]

@lourak So your saying this isn't serious and/or smart? He only had a limited amount of time to speak on what he thought was the meaning of philosophy and death, so if you could do better, get off of youtube n go lecture!

[osclarkos]

very interesting thanks