[Norwegian:] Norske akademikere har reagert negativt på import av amerikanske begrep som woke og kritisk raseteori, fordi de mener den afrikansk-amerikanske tenkningen skal være for snever for norsk kontekst. I denne teksten argumenterer jeg for at afrikansk-amerikansk tenkning ikke bør ansees som en gruppes selvgranskning av deres særegne subjektposisjon, men et filosofisk arbeid som avdekker generelle betingelser for menneskets væren. Jeg belyser først at selv om den afrikansk-amerikanske streben er særskilt, er det mye ved den som for mange også er (...) svært gjenkjennelig. Jeg redegjør for Charles Mills’ argument om afrikansk-amerikanske potensiale for «sort opplysning», før jeg presenterer tre begrep fra ulike grener av afrikansk-amerikansk filosofi: Mills’ ikke-kartesianske væren under begrepet wokeness, Nahum Chandlers paraontologi og Frantz Fanons fenomenologiske begrep rasemessig overhudsskjema. Selv om afrikansk-amerikansk filosofi starter med slaveriets historie i Amerika, avdekkes noe filosofisk vesentlig langt utover den historiske, identitetsmessige og situerte partikulariteten den begynner med. Derfor bør afrikansk-amerikansk filosofi leses og undervises ved norske universiteter. ****** [English:] Some Norwegian academics have reacted negatively to the import of American concepts such as woke and critical race theory, because they hold that theories about blackness do not apply to the Norwegian context. In this text, I argue that African-American philosophy should not be considered mere self-examination, but an inquiry that discloses general conditions of being. I first argue that although the African-American struggle is unique, there are many elements of it that are resoundingly recognizable for othered people in general. I refer to Charles Mills’ argument that black philosophy bears potential for a more general illumination of philosophy, which he calls “Black Enlightenment.” In the main part of the text, I present three concepts from different branches of black philosophy: Mills’ non-Cartesian sums under the heading of wokeness, Nahum Chandler’s paraontology, and Frantz Fanon’s phenomenological concept racial-epidermal schema. Although Black philosophy is rooted in the history of slavery in America, something philosophically significant in general is disclosed beyond the identity, history and situated particularity with which it begins. Therefore, Norwegian academia should not be too quick to dismiss black philosophy as too narrow or niche. (shrink)

Why Study Plato Today? -/- This article considers the question of why we should study Plato today. Should we study Plato today? And in that case, why? Or why not? Some of the background for this line of questioning is a conflict that has been raised between two aspects of the subject of philosophy in Norwegian universities: On the one hand gender representation and on the other the history of philosophy, including ancient Greek philosophy. Historically philosophy has been dominated by (...) male thinkers and characterized by an absence of female voices and thinkers, and also a lack of recognition of the women that have worked within the subject of philosophy through the ages. In the case of ancient Greek philosophy, there is an undisputable dominance by male thinkers. The choice between gender representation and a focus on the history of philosophy seems to be obvious, at least considering ancient Greece. The question remains, however, whether the solution really is to set these two up against each other. This article wishes to consider this from a different perspective. Instead of accepting a premiss of seeing the two as mutually exclusive, the discussion here starts from an assumption that both are important and necessary. The article argues that attempts to put them at odds with each other are neither right nor fruitful, and asserts the importance of studying Plato today. (shrink)

The starting point for this discussion is our reorganization in 2021 of the examen philosophicum course at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bergen. Based on this work, we present our understanding of the goal of the examen philosophicum course – a goal we summarize as expert education (“expertdannelse” in Norwegian). The basic idea is that the students are future experts. The questions that the examen philosophicum course covers are meant to contribute to the student’s (...) education as experts so that they will be able to perform their role as experts well after they have finished their education. (shrink)