The American Philosophical Experience: Struggle, Evasion, and Love in 'Pragmatic America'

Catalog description

American Philosophy is often understood as a mere extension of strands of European philosophical thought, a derivative tradition shaped by the intellectual currents of the so-called Old World. This course challenges that assumption, offering a philosophical history that foregrounds the struggles and transformations that have defined philosophical inquiry in America. From the earliest encounters between Indigenous peoples and European settlers to the ongoing legacies of slavery and emancipation, American philosophy emerges not as a continuation of European traditions but as a response to and reckoning with these defining struggles.