On Reason: Rationality in a World of Cultural Conflict and Racism by Emmanuel Ch

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A philosophical argument that rationality is based on, or produced from, difference, and is not only worth retaining but necessary in a culturally diverse world.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Given that Enlightenment rationality developed in Europe as European nations aggressively claimed other parts of the world for their own enrichment, scholars have made rationality the subject of postcolonial critique, questioning its universality and objectivity. In On Reason, the philosopher Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze demonstrates that rationality and, by extension, philosophy, need not be renounced as manifestations or tools of Western imperialism. Examining reason in connection to the politics of difference--the cluster of issues known variously as cultural diversity, political correctness, the culture wars, and identity politics--Eze expounds a rigorous argument that reason is produced through and because of difference. In so doing, he preserves reason as a human property while at the same time showing that it cannot be thought outside the realities of cultural diversity. Advocating rationality in a multicultural world, he proposes new ways of affirming both identity and difference. Eze draws on both an extraordinary command of Western philosophical thought and a deep knowledge of African philosophy and cultural traditions.He explores models of rationality in the thought of a broad range of philosophers from Aristotle, Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Hobbes to Noam Chomsky, Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam, Jacques Derrida, and Cornel West.He considers portrayals of reason in the work of the African thinkers and novelists Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, and Wole Soyinika. Eze reflects on contemporary thought about genetics, race, and postcolonial historiography as well as on the interplay between reason and unreason in the hearings of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He contends that while rationality may have a foundational formality, understanding of its foundation and form is dynamic, always based in historical and cultural circumstances.

Notes

Articulates a concept of reason that embraces diversity yet commands agreement across localities, cultures, and traditions and refutes the notion of reason as inherently or exclusively Western

Back Cover

"Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze has done significant work thinking critically about race, politics, history, and the discipline of philosophy. InOn Reason, he makes evident the breadth and depth of African philosophy and its deep and often problematic connections to the political. The political must, as it were, be thought, and that is difficult, demanding, necessarily creative and troubling work. It is work that Eze does not shirk from, especially as a thinker deeply rooted in the cultural traditions and philosophies of Africa."-Grant Farred, author ofWhat's My Name? Black Vernacular Intellectuals

Author Biography

Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze was Associate Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University, the author of Achieving Our Humanity: The Idea of the Postracial Future, and the editor of Postcolonial African Philosophy: A Critical Reader and African Philosophy: An Anthology.

Table of Contents

Preface: What Is Rationality? xiAcknowledgments xixIntroduction: Diversity and the Social Questions of Reason 11. Varieties of Rational Experience 242. Ordinary Historical Reason 903. Science, Culture, and Principles of Rationality 1304. Languages of Time in Postcolonial Memory 1815. Reason and Unreason in Politics 227Notes 269Bibliography 297Index 319

Review

"Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze takes on one of the most difficult challenges of the day: the possibility that reason, and therefore philosophy, transcends culture and history and does not simply reflect the hegemony of one culture. I like his attempts to 'ground' reason in experience while still maintaining reason's authority. This is a difficult trick, given our habits of thought, but he makes a plausible and important case, especially to be prized by cultural theorists who want to think 'diversity' without having to fend off endless arguments about 'relativism.'" William Rasch, author of Sovereignty and Its Discontents: On the Primacy of Conflict and the Structure of the Political

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Articulates a concept of reason that embraces diversity yet commands agreement across localities, cultures, and traditions and refutes the notion of reason as inherently or exclusively Western

Review Quote

"[V]aluable for all philosophy collections, and for related fields dealing with race and politics. Highly recommended." - R.M. Stewart , Choice

Promotional "Headline"

Articulates a concept of reason that embraces diversity yet commands agreement across localities, cultures, and traditions and refutes the notion of reason as inherently or exclusively Western

Details ISBN0822341956 Author Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze Short Title ON REASON Publisher Duke University Press Language English ISBN-10 0822341956 ISBN-13 9780822341956 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2008 Imprint Duke University Press Place of Publication North Carolina Country of Publication United States Residence US Subtitle Rationality in a World of Cultural Conflict and Racism Illustrations 1 table DOI 10.1604/9780822341956 UK Release Date 2008-07-04 AU Release Date 2008-07-04 NZ Release Date 2008-07-04 US Release Date 2008-07-04 Pages 352 Publication Date 2008-07-04 DEWEY 121.3 Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this

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