Category Archives: LOGIC , METHODOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY
RACE, CLASS AND CIVILIZATION: ON MUNFORD’S RACE AND REPARATIONS
Clarence J. Munford’s Race and Reparation: A Black Perspective for the 21st Century is important both for what it says and who says it. Munford is a major, if not well-known, historian of the African Diaspora. This work thinks in … Continue reading
Time, Space and Race: On Clarence J. Munford’s Race and Civilization
RACE AND CIVILIZATION: Rebirth of Black Centrality (2001) is Clarence J. Munford’s sequel to Race and Reparation: A Black Perspective for the 21st Century (1996). He says of this current project, “I strive to weave together the scattered strands of … Continue reading
OBAMA AND THE CRISIS OF NEO-LIBERAL BLACK INTELLECTUALS
Charles Pete Banner-Haley’s book From Du Bois to Obama: African American Intellectuals in the Public Forum (2010) is a history of African American intellectuals from the standpoint of Barack Obama ‘s presidency. From his Obama post racial dream-world, Banner-Haley tells … Continue reading
LOGIC. EMPIRICISM AND SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Logic, as a “logic of investigation” [Popper] or a “logic of science” [Carnap] is, in the history of logic, a recent development. Prior to the emergence of the empirical sciences logic had been associated with Aristotlean syllogisms. However, the rise … Continue reading
Race and Empire: W. E. B. Du Bois and the US State
THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 did not begin the transformation of the US state. They accelerated processes that had for almost three decades been taking shape, transforming the US state and political system towards an authoritarian right-wing democracy (see … Continue reading
BEING AN AFRICAN IN THE WORLD: THE DU BOISIAN EPISTEMOLOGY
While completing research and studies at Harvard and the University of Berlin, W.E.B Du Bois boldly projected the possibility of subjecting to scientific scrutiny the problem of race in the modern world. He would contend, more forcefully over succeeding years, … Continue reading
SCIENCE AND RADICALISM: DU BOIS’ LEGACY
This essay was written and published in 1994 in the progressive journal Political Affairs. It attempts to show Du Bois as a radical thinker, socialist and ultimately a communist. At a time when many only wish to see Du Bois in the context of liberal reform , this essay seeks to show him as a radical opponent of racism and the economic system of capitalism. Continue reading
RACE, POWER, COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE DUBOISIAN EPISTEME
In the years 1892 to 1895, while completing research and studies at Harvard and the University of Berlin, which would eventually appear as his doctoral dissertation, W.E.B Du Bois boldly projected the possibility of subjecting to scientific scrutiny the problem … Continue reading
LOGIC, METHODOLOGY AND RATIONAL CHOICE MARXISM
Methodological issues present themselves as pressing matters in sociology, philosophy, and the philosophy of science. Whether stated or not, epistemological and logical assumptions and problems inform contemporary discourse in sociological theory. Within Marxist discourse, these questions assume a new centrality. … Continue reading
LOGIC, METHODOLOGY AND MARXISM: A PROBLEM OF PETIT BOURGEOIS THEORY
A recent trend in Marxism has emerged which constitutes a radical departure from traditional or orthodox Marxism. Its sources are manifold. In an immediate sense it is a part of the debate with structural Marxism and the Althusserians. At the … Continue reading
