Existence in Black

by Lewis R. Gordon (Editor)

First published in 1997. Existence in Black is the first collective statement on the subject of Africana philosophy of existence. Among questions posed and explored in the volume What is to be done in a world of near universal sense of superiority to, if not universal hatred? What is black suffering? What is the meaning of black existence? The introduction argues that a response to these questions requires an existential journey through the resources of identity questions in critical race theory and the teleological dimensions of liberation theory.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Lewis Ricardo Gordon is an American philosopher who works in the areas of Africana philosophy, philosophy of human and life sciences, phenomenology, philosophy of existence, social and political theory, postcolonial thought, theories of race and racism, philosophies of liberation, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of religion. He has written particularly extensively on race and racism, postcolonial phenomenology, Africana and black existentialism, and on the works and thought of W. E. B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon.

Reviews

[Fredrik deBoer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A consistently thought-provoking anthology of racial philosophy and contemporary existentialism, this book is very worth reading if you're interested in these topics. The rub is that the most interesting and on-point work, of course, is Lewis Gordon's; his brand of Black existentialism is so thoroughly his own that the other essays don't quite perfectly align with his project. Which is fine! It's still a good volume. But I would encourage anyone who's apt to read it to first read Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism, which is Gordon's maxum opus and one of the finest works of practical existentialist philosophy ever written.