University of London students demand white philosophers be removed

a reply to: trollz

Well, this is the UK. You can only be racist to non-whites. Much like hate crimes only apply to non-whites.

Being racist against white people is called 'empowerment'.

originally posted by: WilsonWilson
a reply to: corblimeyguvnor
The whole point of the student union, is to speak for the students

Not in my experience, the whole point of the Student Union was to ignore me at the bar and serve everyone else as my face didn't fit ( the representatives of the union i met anyway)

Now, many years down the line, i still find it pedantic and funny ........ wonder what those people are doing now ..... i do know "not in politics"

originally posted by: WilsonWilson
a reply to: Orwells GhostThe student union at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) insists that when studying philosophy “the majority of philosophers on our courses” should be from Africa and Asia.

And can you make a serious scholarly case that when studying philosophy, the body of human thought and idea is not so intertwined that you wouldn't be missing out on important context if you simply abolished entire schools of thought based simply on the skin color of the thinkers in question?

They havent asked to abolish whole schools of thouht.
a reply to: ketsuko

originally posted by: WilsonWilson
They havent asked to abolish whole schools of thouht.
a reply to: ketsuko

Within their own course of study, they more or less have.

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: WilsonWilson
a reply to: Orwells GhostThe student union at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) insists that when studying philosophy “the majority of philosophers on our courses” should be from Africa and Asia.

And can you make a serious scholarly case that when studying philosophy, the body of human thought and idea is not so intertwined that you wouldn't be missing out on important context if you simply abolished entire schools of thought based simply on the skin color of the thinkers in question?

What better take on the philosophy of a culture than to gain the opinion of it's colonizers?

Their course of study is African and Asian culture. European philosophers shouldnt be that big a part of it anyway. a reply to: ketsuko

a reply to: WilsonWilson
I've checked the courses available at that institution. There is a very large choice, with many specialities, but the one most likely bring in the classic philosophers would seem to be "BA in World Philosophies". It would surely be a mistake to eliminate "white philosophy" from that one.
The names of the other courses imply that it's possible to avoid philosophy altogether, though I suppose that it could be a compulsory element in some of them.

www.soas.ac.uk...

originally posted by: Butterfinger
Which countries and cultures will they be pulling from again? Africa and Asia? The two places with the most 3rd world and stone age customs abound.

Decidedly unfair. North Africa has largely regressed to the stone age, but that's a comparatively recent (post 600AD) phenomenon. Egypt was an intellectual hotbed of science and philosophy in its day.

Asia is also a fairly complex place to assess, but has produced many fine philosophers.

If the students are those specialising in African and Asian studies then I can quite understand why they would want to put a much greater emphasis on historical figures from those regions. I personally think it would be better to compare and contrast the East/West rather than remove one in favour of the other, but I'm not going to fire up the torches and grab the pitchforks over the news, either.

originally posted by: WilsonWilson
Their course of study is African and Asian culture. European philosophers shouldnt be that big a part of it anyway. a reply to: ketsuko

I never said that European philosophers should be a centerpiece, but in order to appreciate the differences in East/West philosophy, you would think that at least some exposure to Western thought ought to be provided for the contrast alone. That's what I mean by context.

Also, considering many of these so-called scholars grew up in the Western world living in cultures based in no small part off of the philosophical ideas of the very same Western scholars they don't think they need to learn, they are going to be behind in recognizing their own ingrained philosophical biases when it comes to reading and learning about Eastern philosophy. What they regurgitate will be Eastern philosophy through a Western filter because many won't have the Western philosophical background to understand when their Western philosophical viewpoints are interfering with their understanding of Eastern philosophy.

a reply to: WilsonWilson

Actually the student union does not have a mandate to speak on academic affairs. They are students and like every student have a democratic right to speak on anything they feel like.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: WilsonWilson
I've checked the courses available at that institution. There is a very large choice, with many specialities, but the one most likely bring in the classic philosophers would seem to be "BA in World Philosophies". It would surely be a mistake to eliminate "white philosophy" from that one.
The names of the other courses imply that it's possible to avoid philosophy altogether, though I suppose that it could be a compulsory element in some of them.

Hence in the case of the "BA in World philosophies" the work of white philosophers should be taught from a "critical standpoint" to acknowledge the context in which many of their works were written. My only issue with that article is that it can be misread to give the impression that only white philosophers will be scrutinised from a critical standpoint. I graduated from London University and believe me every theory and philosophy was scrutinised from a critical standpoint as was the experimental design of every experiment.

I believe that you did not read the original article but just went off trotting after a dog whistle event.


There seems to be a lot of angry white people here who are crying about stupidity. Shame on them for either not reading the article or just not understanding it!

Since so many think this is a bad idea,
I propose that studies of North America have a majority of asian and african philosophers in them.
It is better to learn about the North American views on reality from people who are NOT North American.
Right?

a reply to: trollz

Ok... here is what really galls me about this...

White is a non existent skin tone. There ARE no white people. Anywhere. Even in the frozen extent of the far north, people are off pink, or tanned, but never, actually, fully, as white as copier paper white, and anything less than copier paper white is not white at all. It is something I have never understood about this whole skin colour debate.

And Plato, Aristotle, and others... these were most definitely not white in the LEAST! They would have been sun baked to a deep tan, about as white as brown loafers are for crying out loud! What are these students talking about? Absolute poppycock. Now, I would agree that there needs to be more middle and far eastern philosophy taught in western schools, because it would offer students a more rounded understanding of the evolution of human thought, and prepare them better for an ever more connected world. But the idea that philosophers should not be taught in schools anymore because they are tanned, as opposed to a yet darker shade of skin, is the most fundamentally ignorant thing I have heard, since the last time I heard a white supremacist talk about his beliefs. Utter rot. It makes no sense, it has no merit, it must be opposed.

This is anti-thought, anti-intellectual rubbish, and it cannot be appeased.

a reply to: trollz

Can't they just expell these morans and state clearly this is a place of study and not politics, and there's the door.

These are only sort of students. Not owners. Not teachers. They are at best brain washed communists living on daddy's account.

Oh how I loved to be the top banana in that school and simply expell all those commies out. Bye bye. Exercise right to vote OUTSIDE our premises.

a reply to: deckdel

If you insist on spelling the word "moron" with an A, the chances are that no one is going to allow you to expel pupils from a place of higher learning, no matter how moronic their behaviour might be.

a reply to: trollz

How stupid. They should want to add more philosophers, not remove and replace.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: trollz

Ok... here is what really galls me about this...

White is a non existent skin tone. There ARE no white people. Anywhere. Even in the frozen extent of the far north, people are off pink, or tanned, but never, actually, fully, as white as copier paper white, and anything less than copier paper white is not white at all. It is something I have never understood about this whole skin colour debate.

You have obviously never seen Johnny Winter....

a reply to: Butterfinger

You know what? Until right then and there when you posted it, I had not.

However, I would point out that this is a black and white photograph, and therefore incapable of providing me with proof positive that this individual is in fact as white as copier paper...

So, having done some research, I found that Mr Winter and his brother Edgar, were both sufferers of albinism, which is a genetic defect, causing an absence of melanin in the body. There is every possibility that Mr Winters crossed eyes may have been a result of this lack of pigmentation. In any case, albinism aside, the point stands.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I was just foolin about, they are known to be as 'white' as it gets in blues