Extras

A Review of Bryan W. Van Norden, Taking Back Philosophy

Published in the Vassar College Journal of Philosophy

If you find yourself in the philosophy section of a college bookstore, you are likely to see some fairly recognizable names: Plato, Kant, and Hume to name a few. You are less likely to see works belonging to what Bryan W. Van Norden, professor of philosophy at Vassar College, coins “LCTP” or “less commonly taught philosophies.” These include the philosophical traditions of China, India, Africa, Latin America and the indigenous peoples of the Americas, as well as African American, Jewish, feminist, and LGBTQ+ philosophy, among many more. Regarding the place of these philosophies in the prevalent Western tradition, Van Norden reveals that “of the top 50 philosophy doctoral programs in the English-speaking world, only 15 percent have any regular faculty members who teach any non-Western philosophy.” This statistic is shocking, but unfortunately not surprising. The present philosophical field tends to self-identify as distinctly, if not exclusively, Western. This bias is what Van Norden and Jay L. Garfield note in their provocative New York Times opinion piece, “If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is,” in which they urge philosophy departments who refuse to include LCTP to rename themselves as “departments of Anglo-European philosophy.” The article garnered resistance. Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto responds to this backlash and elaborates upon Van Norden’s claim.