Assignment:
Key Philosophers: Know their respective biographical information, academic lineage, and the historical context that they were operating in. Why are their philosophies significant? Do they view (Black) philosophy as Universal or Particular; What is the main thrust of their philosophical
position. Answer in at least 4 complete sentences. I will choose 5 of the philosophers below:
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Alexander Crummell
• William A. Banner
• Benjamin E. Mays
• William R. Jones
• Joyce Mitchell Cook
• W.E.B. DuBois
• Alain Locke
Key Concepts: Define and/or describe the concepts below. Be sure to connect the concepts to our class readings and class lectures. How is the concept connected to Black philosophy? Why is it significant to the African American experience? Answer in at least 4 complete sentences.
I will choose five of the concepts below
• 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution
• American Negro Academy
• A.M.E. Church (African Methodist Episcopal)
• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
• Quietism
• Theodicy
• The Problem of Historical Interpretation
• Prescriptive vs. Descriptive
• Conflict between Philosophy and Theology--are they mutually exclusive (either/or)?
• Compensatory Religious Beliefs
• Black Nationalism
• Philosophical (Cultural) Pluralism
• The United States vs. Amistad (1839) and Natural Rights Argument
• Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)
• Institutionalization of Black Philosophy
• Integration / Desegregation / Segregation
• Philosophical Materialism
• Cultural Determinism (weak/strong Afrocentricity) -- ontological or cosmological reality that separates the European and African cultural matrix--
Four Criticisms and the 5 controlling factors for Black Philosophy offered by William R. Jones in "The Legitimacy and Necessity of Black Philosophy"
--Ontological Blackness vs. Sociological Blackness --Know the difference