80. Scholarly Contributions: African American Professional Philosophers

Posted on 11 July 2021

From the latter half of the nineteenth century to the 1970s, African Americans only rarely obtain jobs as philosophy professors but bring distinctive perspectives to the profession.

Themes:

Aesthetics and the Arts (Music, Painting, etc)

Political Philosophy

Sciences (e.g. astronomy, optics, zoology)

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Further Reading

• W.T. Fontaine, "Philosophical Implications of the Biology of Dr. Ernest E. Just," Journal of Negro History 24 (1939), 281-90.

• C. Golightly, "Social Science and Normative Ethics," Journal of Philosophy 44 (1947), 505-16.

• C. Golightly, "Race, Values, and Guilt," Social Forces 26 (1947): 125-139.

• C. Golightly, "Value as a Scientific Concept," Journal of Philosophy 53 (1956), 233-45.

• F.O. Wiggins, "Ethics and Economics," Phylon 5 (1945), 154-62.

• F.O. Wiggins, "The Data and Evaluation of Business," American Journal of Economics and Sociology 7 (1948), 265-74.

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• K. Chaddock, Uncompromising Activist: Richard Greener, First Black Graduate of Harvard College (Baltimore: 2017).

• N.D. Dennie, "Black Male Feminism and the Evolution of Du Boisian Thought, 1903–1920," Palimpsest 9 (2020), 1-27.

• B. Kuklick, Black Philosopher, White Academy: The Career of William Fontaine (Philadelphia: 2008).

• J.H. McClendon III and S.C. Ferguson II, African American Philosophers and Philosophy: An Introduction to the History, Concepts, and Contemporary Issues (London: 2019).

• G. Yancy, "Thomas Nelson Baker: Toward an Understanding of a Pioneer Black Philosopher," The American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience 95 (1996), 5-9.

• G. Yancy, "Thomas Nelson Baker: The First African-American to Receive the Ph.D. in Philosophy," The Western Journal of Black Studies 21 (1997), 253-260.

• G. Yancy, "On the Power of Black Aesthetic Ideals: Thomas Nelson Baker as Preacher and Philosopher," The AME Church Review 117 (2001), 50-67.

• G. Yancy, "In the Spirit of the A.M.E. Church: Gilbert Haven Jones as an Early Black Philosopher and Educator," The AME Church Review 118 (2002), 43-57.