The Black Book: Wittgenstein and Race

by Richard A. Jones

Overview

The Black Book: Wittgenstein and Race attempts to highlight the importance of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s work for contemporary African American and Africana philosophy. Richard A. Jones argues that Wittgenstein’s early Tractarian views on logical atomism and his later more holistic views from his work Philosophical Investigations are exceedingly relevant to African American philosophy. The Black Book investigates the epistemic, linguistic, and political grounds from which inspiration might be drawn. Ultimately, as philosophy attempts to redefine itself in a postmodern discourse where it has been deigned “concluded,” it is the “awe for the ordinary” that Wittgenstein inspires and that should re-inspire the creative imaginary in Africana thought. The Black Book is an attempt to show that Wittgenstein’s work continues to be important, not only for African American philosophers, but for all philosophers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761865957
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	08/26/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Richard A. Jones has taught mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. His interests in philosophy include logic, epistemology, and critical race theory. He currently teaches philosophy at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Black Wittgenstein
2. Models, Kites, and Simulacra
3. The Conceptual Limits of Imagination
4. The Aspects of Infinity
5. Wittgensteinean Holism and Wonder
6. The Certainty of Leaving the World as I Found It
7. On Being “Duped” by Language: Therapeutic Philosophy
8. Rule Following and the Great Mirror
9. The Book I Did Not Write
10. Conclusion: Black Logic
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The Black Book will captivate scholars of Wittgenstein and African American philosophy. Jones shows how much these scholars can gain from each other. Arguing for African American grammar or logic, Jones provides a framework for addressing deep metaphysical questions that have very practical political and moral implications. Jones’s exegetical work is meticulous and his arguments original and provocative.

Peg O'Connor

Richard Jones’s The Black Book offers African American philosophers a Wittgensteinian lens for recognizing how one might be captivated and mystified by deeply entrenched semiotic perspectives. Jones then sets out to convince philosophers and their students to abandon such ‘multiple deceptions.’ The Black Book delivers a hopeful and creative read.

Donna M. Reeves

This thought-provoking and much overdue book is a wonderful exploration of problems raised in the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein and a host of challenges from Africana philosophy. Its leitmotif, language-games, and the publicity of language in black bring one of the pillars of Anglo-Analytical philosophy under the eye-opening lens of potentiated double consciousness.. .. It’s a must read, if but to learn, with probing rigor, what it means to think and to enjoy doing so.

Lewis R. Gordon