W. E. B. Du Bois’s “Conservation of Races”: A Metaphilosophical Text
Metaphilosophy 50 (5):670-687 (2019)
Abstract
Nothing was more important for W. E. B. Du Bois than to promote the upward mobility of African Americans. This essay revisits his “The Conversation of Races” to demonstrate its general philosophical importance. Ultimately, Du Bois’s three motivations for giving the address reveal his view of the nature of philosophical inquiry: to critique earlier phenotypic conceptions of race, to show the essentiality of history, and to promote a reflexive practice. Commentators have been unduly invested in the hermeneutic readings and as a result have misunderstood it as a philosophical text. Du Bois did more than introduce the concept of race into the purview of philosophy, he provided a method for philosophical inquiry into a concept that is notoriously difficult to approach with precision. My goal here is to show why no introduction to philosophy and no discussion about the nature of philosophical inquiry is complete without consideration of “Conservation.” Certainly, it is a text about race, but it is also an important philosophical text in general.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1111/meta.12390
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Citations of this work
What is an Anti-Racist Philosophy of Race and History?Elvira Basevich - 2022 - Critical Philosophy of Race 10 (1):71-89.
References found in this work
The Uncompleted Argument: Du Bois and the Illusion of Race.Anthony Appiah - 1985 - Critical Inquiry 12 (1):21-37.
The Cultural Theory of Race: Yet Another Look at Du Bois’s “The Conservation of Races”.Chike Jeffers - 2013 - Ethics 123 (3):403-426.
Appiah’s Uncompleted Argument: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Reality of Race.Paul C. Taylor - 2000 - Social Theory and Practice 26 (1):103-128.
Appiah’s Uncompleted Argument: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Reality of Race.Paul C. Taylor - 2000 - Social Theory and Practice 26 (1):103-128.