The Black Book: Wittgenstein and Race

239 Pages·2013·2.89 MB·English

by  Richard A. Jones

The Black Book
Wittgenstein and Race
Richard A. Jones
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA, ® INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
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Copyright © 2013 by
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For
William D. Anderson
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Introduction: Black Wittgenstein 1
2 Models, Kites, and Simulacra 15
3 The Conceptual Limits of Imagination 31
4 The Aspects of Infinity 49
5 Wittgensteinean Holisms and Wonder 70
6 The Certainty of Leaving the World as I Found It 91
7 On Being “Duped” by Language: Therapeutic Philosophy 116
8 Rule Following and the Great Mirror 143
9 The Book I Did Not Write 165
10 Conclusion: Black Logic 185
Bibliography 207
Index 217
v
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Acknowledgments
Philosophers often behave like little children who scribble some marks on
a piece of paper at random and then ask the grown-up “What’s that?”—It
happened like this: the grown-up had drawn pictures for the child several
times and said: “this is a man,” “this is a house,” etc. And then the child
makes some marks too and asks: what’s this then?
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value
There are many people I would acknowledge by way of inspiration, awe,
tolerance, and support during the past thirty years while I gestated this work.
First, I would thank my family, Carol, Graham, Shauna, and Lindsey, who
ignored my constant preoccupations with philosophy and loved me anyway.
Next, I would thank the philosophers who first introduced me to Wittgen-
stein, Philip Turetsky at the University of South Dakota at Vermillion in
1981, and William D. Anderson at the University of Denver in 1993, who,
through Wittgenstein, helped me see philosophy as a way to live one’s life,
as opposed to a merely academic pursuit.
I would also thank my graduate professors at the University of Colorado,
particularly Alison Jaggar, whose patience allowed me to continue develop-
ing my interests in analytical and social philosophy. I would also acknowl-
edge the kind support of the many African American philosophers who have
helped me in innumerable ways. Particularly, I would send shouts out to
Lucius T. Outlaw, Jr., Lewis R. Gordon, Robert E. Birt, and J. Everett Green,
who have always supported and encouraged my work.
My political philosophy has been deeply influenced by many associations
with the Radical Philosophy Association (RPA). I would acknowledge and
thank the many great philosophers I have known and worked with in the
RPA during the past decade. Richard Schmitt, Harry van der Linden, Anne
vii
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viii Acknowledgments
Pomeroy, Peter Amato, Anatole Anton, Jeffrey Paris, Mechthild Nagel, and
Cliff DuRand have all provided me powerful examples of what it means to
be a committed and engaged philosopher.
This little book was inspired by the works of Charles W. Mills and Peg
O’Connor. Mills’s Blackness Visible: Essays on Philosophy and Race and
O’Connor’s Oppression and Responsibility: A Wittgensteinian Approach to
Social Practices and Moral Theory are the two books that stimulated me to
write The Black Book: Wittgenstein and Race. Mills’s comments on “Alter-
native Epistemologies,” served as the motivating spark as I continue to think
about Black epistemological standpoints. O’Connor’s work situated feminist
epistemological practices within a Wittgensteinean mold, and demonstrated
to me that Black epistemological practices might also be construed through a
Wittgensteinian lens. Mills, writing from perspectives of critical race theory,
and O’Connor writing from a critical feminist position, enabled me to express
the radical Black philosophical possibilities presented here.
I would also publicly acknowledge Patrick Goodin, Chair of the Phi-
losophy Department at Howard University, for his continual support and
encouragement. Without him, I would not have been able to teach Witt-
genstein seminars at Howard University. Finally, I would like to thank the
students at Howard University in my fall 2011 course on Wittgenstein—Reid
Brownsmith, Austin Edwards, Albert Ellis, Corryn Freeman, Brandon Har-
ris, Shawn Harvey, Jean Hutchinson, Ashley Hutson, Cymill Jarrett-Thorpe,
Alfredo Knowles, Aisha Lake-Mahon, Kirisha Marshall, Adrianne McMil-
lan, Julian Mcphaul, William Nembhard, Nia Oates, Mariah Perryman, Justin
Senu-Oke, Michael Sesay, Chloe’ Stewart, Xiaowei Wang, Andrew Wattley,
Britney Wilson, and William Wilson—whose comments and suggestions
made this book far more meaningful and far, far more readable.
I agree with Wittgenstein that writing a book is a terrible thing. Terrible
because no matter what the motivations for writing it, one’s intentions might
always be, and often are, misconstrued. On the cover of David Markson’s novel
Wittgenstein’s Mistress is printed the line “In the beginning, sometimes I left
messages in the street.” This is a “message left in the street.” Many who have
read the manuscript have commented that they wanted more by way of my own
ideas concerning the questions raised. However, this is only a “message”—
graffiti—I leave on the walls of the streets of the city of language for others to
answer. Like Wittgenstein, I only wish to provoke thought, as I cannot think
for my readers. Like Wittgenstein, I see philosophy, and writing, as an activity
for therapy—a way “of working on oneself like working on a house”—a way
to improve a foundation, add a room, redecorate, and then finding a way to go
on; go on living in that house. And like Wittgenstein, I don’t think this book
is intended for everyone, perhaps only “those who have already reached these
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Acknowledgments ix
conclusions.” If anything, The Black Book is a book of poetry intended to stim-
ulate creative thought in others by asking them—“what’s this then?”—rather
than spare them the effort of thinking on their own. This book is the therapeutic
record of my frustrations and exultations in teaching courses on Wittgenstein
at Howard University. I thank Laura Espinoza at University Press of America
for her patience and guidance in editing this book. Finally, I would express my
sincerest gratitude to Peg O’Connor, Donna Reeves, Graham Jones, and Abby
Wilkerson, whose generous and insightful comments allowed me to clarify my
thinking and writing on many aspects of what follows.
Richard A. Jones
Howard University, 2013
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