"Lewis Gordon has edited an impressive anthology within a specialized area of philosophy ... [T]his is
a great resource."
--Catholic Library World
Routledge Web Site, May, 2000
Summary
Existence in Black is the first collective statement on the subject of Africana Philosophy of Existence. Drawing
upon resources in Africana philosophy and literature, the contributors explore some of the central themes of Existentialism
as posed by the context of what Frantz Fanon has identified as "the lived-experience of the black."
Among questions posed and explored in the volume are: What is to be done in a world of near universal sense of
superiority to, if not universal hatred of, black folk?; What is black suffering?; What is the meaning (if any)
of black existence? The introduction argues that a response to these questions requires a journey through the resources
of identity questions in critical race theory and the teleological dimensions of liberation theory.
The contributors address these questions through an analysis of nearly every dimension of Africana philosophy.
In the first half of the book, they address Black Philosophies of Existence in terms of Traditional African Philosophy,
the Harlem Renaissance, Du Boisian Double-Consciousness, and Fanonian and Sartrean Philosophies of Existence. In
the second half of the book, contributors consider racial identity through examinations of such concepts as equality,
death, mimesis, property, embodiment, technology, disappointment, and dread. Part II is an exploration of postmodern
challenges to "black existence" through discussions of postmodern conservatism, Nietzsche's thoughts
on blacks, Richard Wright and fragmented consciousness, and feminist critiques of race. And Part IV is an examination
of problems of historical responsibility and constructing black liberation theories.