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Cornel West and Philosophy: The Quest for Social Justice
Cornel West's reputation as a public and celebrity intellectual has overshadowed his important contributions to philosophy. Professor Clarence Shole Johnson provides a rectification of this situation in this benchmark, thought-provoking book. After a brief biographical sketch, Johnson leads us through a comprehensive examination of West's philosophy from his conceptions of pragmatism, existentialism, Marxism, and Prophetic Christianity to his persuasive writings on black-Jewish relations, affirmative action, and the role of black intellectuals. Special focus is given to West's writings on ethics and social justice, and how these inform his entire theoretical framework. Cornel West and Philosophy is a unique and indispensable guide to West's diverse philosophical writings.
238 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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November 4, 2024
A ‘PHILOSOPHICAL’ CRITIQUE OF A WIDE RANGE OF WEST’S WORKS
Philosophy professor Clarence Sholé Johnson wrote in the Introduction to this 2003 book, “This study is the first extended, systematic, and thoroughgoing philosophical integration of Cornel West’s diverse corpus as a cohesive whole and with a specific focus on social justice… [It] analyzes the theoretical framework that … gives unity to West’s diverse intellectual preoccupations. That theoretical framework is an admixture of pragmatism, existentialism, Marxism, and Black prophetic Christianity. West’s intellectual preoccupations crystallize around the theme of social justice… my proposed aim is both to elaborate West’s position on social justice and to advance a penetrating critique of some of the concrete issues on social justice that West examines in light of his subscription to pragmatism, existentialism, Marxism, and Black prophetic Christianity.” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “I challenge West’s criticism of Black intellectuals … as misplaced even as I endorse his attack on the Black political leadership. But… I conclude that his praxis bears out his rhetoric insofar as the issue of social justice is concerned… there is a consistency between West’s rhetoric and practice.” (Pg. 6)
He adds, “Against this … backdrop of the putative cause of the problem between Blacks and Jews, I … critique West’s proposed solution of dialogue as remedy… I argue that his proposed solution does not go far enough to the heart of the matter in the society… I suggest that any proposed solution … must go beyond dialogue … to confront the larger issue of the possibility of a deracialized society. Finally, I call attention to certain inherent limitations to and presuppositions of dialogue that West simply glosses over but that make his proposed solution appear simplistic if not downright naïve.” (Pg. 7)
He asserts, “in ‘American Evasion of Philosophy’ and subsequent works… West seems to be advocating a REFORM and not a destruction of the current liberal capitalist structure to achieve social justice. Thus, either he has shifted from his earlier Marxian position in favor of a pragmatist position or he is logically inconsistent. The demand therefore is for West to reconcile his supposed proto-Marxian orientation and his supposed pragmatist outlook.” (Pg. 11)
He states, “West’s pragmatism is ‘prophetic’ precisely because he draws upon his Christian background to articulate and engage the problems that confront the powerless in contemporary America with a view to their amelioration and as a spiritual vocation. Central to this … is an ethic of love of the kind expressed in the Bible requiring us to love our neighbors… this concept of love will play an important role in West’s discussion of the problem of Black nihilism. But what I want to stress here is that West, as both proponent and practitioner of prophetic pragmatism, envisions himself a modern-day prophet, comparable to the biblical prophets, advocating on behalf of ‘the wretched of the earth.’” (Pg. 19)
He explains, “West’s criticism of the lack of quality individuals among Black political leadership extends also to Black intellectuals… West indicts contemporary Black intellectuals with… mediocrity, narrow specialization and a lack of engagement with ‘the battles of the streets’… meaning the concrete issues affecting Black America… many Black scholars isolate themselves from mainstream academy… And it is precisely in this way that Black scholars marginalize themselves, producing only work of mediocre quality… race-embracing Black intellectuals, says West, reject the White academy and its hierarchies only to reproduce similar hierarchies headed by themselves in the (Black) institutions in which such individuals function.” (Pg. 25-26)
He says that West suggests that “an intellectual who fails to engage in a critical discussion of the issues affecting his or her own community is committing a moral crime against the community because there can be no solution to the ills that afflict the community in the absence of such discussion… I think West is right in condemning those intellectuals whom he alleges disengage themselves from ‘the battles of the streets.’” (Pg. 30)
Turning to West’s charge of Black cultural critics “dissolving Black particularities,” “West’s criticism seems rooted in the belief that the critics SHOULD HAVE BEEN concerned with drawing attention to Vlack specificities as they defended Black humanity. But… [an] elaboration of Black specificities presupposes Black humanity in the first place… to elaborate Black particularities would have been to lose sight of the critical objective… the representation of Blacks as HUMANS. Thus, West’s criticism seems to miss the point.” (Pg. 48)
He observes, “While West’s call for the participation of hitherto excluded and oppressed people in the decision-making processes of the institutions that affect their lives is unquestionably laudable, his identification of such participation with collectivism cannot be but seriously mistaken…because it … assumes without proof that democratic participation cannot occur within capitalism but that it can occur within collectivism.” (Pg. 70) He adds, “how will collective ownership of the transnational conglomerates translate into social equality of the racially and socially diverse body of working people and thus reflect social justice for people of color in particular?” (Pg. 72)
He argues, “My argument against West … is that… there is no a priori reason to believe that capitalism is incapable of reformation … Indeed, if West can Christianize Marxism… so too can we humanize capitalism. And it is for the humanization of capitalism that we should be advocating, especially in a society whose very identity is capitalism, so that the victims of capitalism, who have been largely Blacks, will become beneficiaries.” (Pg. 82)
He contends, “West’s proposal for a resolution of the Black-Jewish conflict is woefully inadequate because it fails to target the racial superstructure in which the conflict and related social injustices are anchored…West’s position is seriously mistaken in that it is predicated on the idea of conflicting parties viewing each other as social equals. But since Blacks and Jews are not social equals, it is impossible for dialogue of the kind West and [Michael] Lerner … speak of even to get started in any meaningful way.” (Pg. 119)
Of affirmative action policy, he comments, “to propose as [West] does an alternative class-based affirmative action policy is to ignore the peculiarity of the experiences of Blacks and women that led to the current policy… West’s alternative proposal is out of step with the distinct and peculiar experiences of Blacks and women…that shaped the current affirmative action policy… his proposal … is at variance with the motivations behind Black and women’s demands for social justice.” (Pg. 137) But he adds of, “middle-class Blacks who had been poised to enter college and the workplace… the entry of this group into the socioeconomic milieu has been relatively smooth. However, this has left out a substantial number of Blacks who have not had [those] advantages… Thus West is quite right in proposing as remedy to this situation the alternative type of affirmative action policy that he does.” (Pg. 143-144)
He notes, “West sometimes seems to vacillate between the view of the preeminence of White supremacy as the chief cause of Black oppression and the claim that all forms of oppression derive from the lack of ownership of capital. And his Marxian inclination more often than not leads him to favor the latter. However… [my] position gains added support from West’s very own assertions about the role and significance of White supremacist practices in the oppression of people of color.” (Pg. 174)
Of former Harvard president Lawrence Summers’ conflict with West over West’s part in a spoken-word (i.e., ‘Rap”) music CD, he states, “If I am right in so construing West’s recent forays into politics and music as emblematic of his public intellectualism, then I do not think that President Summers has the latitude to dismiss or disregard West’s incursion into those practical areas as pseudoscholarship… Summers has given a low value to such activities relative to ‘traditional’ scholarship, and West considers such weighting demeaning or an affront to his overall scholarship.” (Pg. 178) He adds later, “West’s use of rap music as a scholarly medium is defensible… West has consistently maintained that intellectual pursuits should have practical (read social) relevance.” (Pg. 181)
This book will be of keen interest to anyone seriously studying Cornel West.
Philosophy professor Clarence Sholé Johnson wrote in the Introduction to this 2003 book, “This study is the first extended, systematic, and thoroughgoing philosophical integration of Cornel West’s diverse corpus as a cohesive whole and with a specific focus on social justice… [It] analyzes the theoretical framework that … gives unity to West’s diverse intellectual preoccupations. That theoretical framework is an admixture of pragmatism, existentialism, Marxism, and Black prophetic Christianity. West’s intellectual preoccupations crystallize around the theme of social justice… my proposed aim is both to elaborate West’s position on social justice and to advance a penetrating critique of some of the concrete issues on social justice that West examines in light of his subscription to pragmatism, existentialism, Marxism, and Black prophetic Christianity.” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “I challenge West’s criticism of Black intellectuals … as misplaced even as I endorse his attack on the Black political leadership. But… I conclude that his praxis bears out his rhetoric insofar as the issue of social justice is concerned… there is a consistency between West’s rhetoric and practice.” (Pg. 6)
He adds, “Against this … backdrop of the putative cause of the problem between Blacks and Jews, I … critique West’s proposed solution of dialogue as remedy… I argue that his proposed solution does not go far enough to the heart of the matter in the society… I suggest that any proposed solution … must go beyond dialogue … to confront the larger issue of the possibility of a deracialized society. Finally, I call attention to certain inherent limitations to and presuppositions of dialogue that West simply glosses over but that make his proposed solution appear simplistic if not downright naïve.” (Pg. 7)
He asserts, “in ‘American Evasion of Philosophy’ and subsequent works… West seems to be advocating a REFORM and not a destruction of the current liberal capitalist structure to achieve social justice. Thus, either he has shifted from his earlier Marxian position in favor of a pragmatist position or he is logically inconsistent. The demand therefore is for West to reconcile his supposed proto-Marxian orientation and his supposed pragmatist outlook.” (Pg. 11)
He states, “West’s pragmatism is ‘prophetic’ precisely because he draws upon his Christian background to articulate and engage the problems that confront the powerless in contemporary America with a view to their amelioration and as a spiritual vocation. Central to this … is an ethic of love of the kind expressed in the Bible requiring us to love our neighbors… this concept of love will play an important role in West’s discussion of the problem of Black nihilism. But what I want to stress here is that West, as both proponent and practitioner of prophetic pragmatism, envisions himself a modern-day prophet, comparable to the biblical prophets, advocating on behalf of ‘the wretched of the earth.’” (Pg. 19)
He explains, “West’s criticism of the lack of quality individuals among Black political leadership extends also to Black intellectuals… West indicts contemporary Black intellectuals with… mediocrity, narrow specialization and a lack of engagement with ‘the battles of the streets’… meaning the concrete issues affecting Black America… many Black scholars isolate themselves from mainstream academy… And it is precisely in this way that Black scholars marginalize themselves, producing only work of mediocre quality… race-embracing Black intellectuals, says West, reject the White academy and its hierarchies only to reproduce similar hierarchies headed by themselves in the (Black) institutions in which such individuals function.” (Pg. 25-26)
He says that West suggests that “an intellectual who fails to engage in a critical discussion of the issues affecting his or her own community is committing a moral crime against the community because there can be no solution to the ills that afflict the community in the absence of such discussion… I think West is right in condemning those intellectuals whom he alleges disengage themselves from ‘the battles of the streets.’” (Pg. 30)
Turning to West’s charge of Black cultural critics “dissolving Black particularities,” “West’s criticism seems rooted in the belief that the critics SHOULD HAVE BEEN concerned with drawing attention to Vlack specificities as they defended Black humanity. But… [an] elaboration of Black specificities presupposes Black humanity in the first place… to elaborate Black particularities would have been to lose sight of the critical objective… the representation of Blacks as HUMANS. Thus, West’s criticism seems to miss the point.” (Pg. 48)
He observes, “While West’s call for the participation of hitherto excluded and oppressed people in the decision-making processes of the institutions that affect their lives is unquestionably laudable, his identification of such participation with collectivism cannot be but seriously mistaken…because it … assumes without proof that democratic participation cannot occur within capitalism but that it can occur within collectivism.” (Pg. 70) He adds, “how will collective ownership of the transnational conglomerates translate into social equality of the racially and socially diverse body of working people and thus reflect social justice for people of color in particular?” (Pg. 72)
He argues, “My argument against West … is that… there is no a priori reason to believe that capitalism is incapable of reformation … Indeed, if West can Christianize Marxism… so too can we humanize capitalism. And it is for the humanization of capitalism that we should be advocating, especially in a society whose very identity is capitalism, so that the victims of capitalism, who have been largely Blacks, will become beneficiaries.” (Pg. 82)
He contends, “West’s proposal for a resolution of the Black-Jewish conflict is woefully inadequate because it fails to target the racial superstructure in which the conflict and related social injustices are anchored…West’s position is seriously mistaken in that it is predicated on the idea of conflicting parties viewing each other as social equals. But since Blacks and Jews are not social equals, it is impossible for dialogue of the kind West and [Michael] Lerner … speak of even to get started in any meaningful way.” (Pg. 119)
Of affirmative action policy, he comments, “to propose as [West] does an alternative class-based affirmative action policy is to ignore the peculiarity of the experiences of Blacks and women that led to the current policy… West’s alternative proposal is out of step with the distinct and peculiar experiences of Blacks and women…that shaped the current affirmative action policy… his proposal … is at variance with the motivations behind Black and women’s demands for social justice.” (Pg. 137) But he adds of, “middle-class Blacks who had been poised to enter college and the workplace… the entry of this group into the socioeconomic milieu has been relatively smooth. However, this has left out a substantial number of Blacks who have not had [those] advantages… Thus West is quite right in proposing as remedy to this situation the alternative type of affirmative action policy that he does.” (Pg. 143-144)
He notes, “West sometimes seems to vacillate between the view of the preeminence of White supremacy as the chief cause of Black oppression and the claim that all forms of oppression derive from the lack of ownership of capital. And his Marxian inclination more often than not leads him to favor the latter. However… [my] position gains added support from West’s very own assertions about the role and significance of White supremacist practices in the oppression of people of color.” (Pg. 174)
Of former Harvard president Lawrence Summers’ conflict with West over West’s part in a spoken-word (i.e., ‘Rap”) music CD, he states, “If I am right in so construing West’s recent forays into politics and music as emblematic of his public intellectualism, then I do not think that President Summers has the latitude to dismiss or disregard West’s incursion into those practical areas as pseudoscholarship… Summers has given a low value to such activities relative to ‘traditional’ scholarship, and West considers such weighting demeaning or an affront to his overall scholarship.” (Pg. 178) He adds later, “West’s use of rap music as a scholarly medium is defensible… West has consistently maintained that intellectual pursuits should have practical (read social) relevance.” (Pg. 181)
This book will be of keen interest to anyone seriously studying Cornel West.
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