New Voices in the History of Philosophy

In this episode Jacinta speaks with Aminah Hassan-Birdwell, Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Emory University, about 18th Century Fante-British abolitionist and philosopher Ottobah Cugoano. We focus on his essay "Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species," discussing its broad-spanning and interconnected critique of slavery, law, labour and colonization. Hassan-Birdwell considers the breadth of Cugoano’s perspective, explaining that he takes not only the suffering of the individual into account, but the health of their society, and looks not merely at British society, but the morality of nations across the globe. Hassan-Birdwell concludes the episode by offering advice to early career scholars commencing research on similarly marginalised philosophers.

In this episode, Dr. Elena Gordon, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University, delves into the overlooked yet significant contributions of Catharine Macaulay to the philosophy of education. We explore Macaulay’s dual role as a historian and philosopher, her views on reason, sympathy, and the relationship between humans and animals, as well as her unique stance on educational reform. Dr. Gordon also reflects on Macaulay’s feminist perspective and offers advice for young researchers interested in reviving the voices of forgotten thinkers.

In this episode, Jacinta Shrimpton talks with Kristin Gjesdal, Professor of Philosophy at Temple University in Philadelphia. They discuss the 19th century philosopher Germaine de Staël's account of the passions, her abolitionism, and the existentialist themes that run through her work.

In this episode, Haley speaks with Shuchen Xiang, professor of philosophy at Xidian University, about her new book, “Chinese Cosmopolitanism: The History and Philosophy of an Idea”. In discussing the book, we talk about historical Chinese accounts of a metaphysics of harmony, and how that metaphysics of harmony informs thinking about social identity and difference. We also discuss the aims and process of comparative philosophy.

In this episode, Haley speaks with Huaping Lu-Adler, associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University, about her new book titled 'Kant, Race, and Racism: Views from Somewhere'. In the course of our conversation about the book, we discuss what it means to philosophize from a particular perspective, the compatibility of Kant's moral theory and his racist claims, the ways that our contemporary philosophical canon has its origins in Kant's writings, and the importance of community for philosophical work. 

In this episode, Olivia speaks with Allauren Samantha Forbes, an assistant professor in philosophy and gender and social justice at McMaster University. We discuss the thought of the French philosopher and novelist Madeleine de Scudéry, who lived from 1607 to 1701. Though historians of philosophy are most familiar with Scudéry for her later philosophical dialogues, our conversation focuses on an earlier publication: 1642’s Illustrious Women or Heroic Harangues. Allauren argues that this collection of fictional speeches by real women from antiquity – all of whom are limited in some way by hierarchical power structures – is an educational philosophical text that articulates various manifestations of patriarchal power and exemplifies ways of subverting it. We also talk about ideas for teaching Scudéry and Allauren’s own background as a philosopher working in the history of feminism.

In this episode, Haley speaks with Dwight K. Lewis Jr., assistant professor in the philosophy department at the University of Minnesota. We talk about the life and works of the 18th century philosopher Anton Wilhelm Amo, including his account of kinds of prejudice, and his views on justice as a tool and paradigm for reasoning. We also talk about the different contexts and manifestations of political resistance, and the need for varied mediums for philosophical ideas. 

In this episode, Olivia speaks with Jorge Sanchez-Perez, a former postdoctoral researcher in the Extending New Narratives in the History of Philosophy project who is currently an assistant professor in philosophy at the University of Alberta. We discuss Jorge’s postdoctoral work on the Huarochirí manuscript – one of the few surviving records of indigenous Andean philosophy in the Quechua language – and talk about the metaphysical ideas Jorge has worked to uncover in the text. Jorge also offers some advice for people interested in studying indigenous philosophy in an academic context that can sometimes be hostile to indigenous methodologies and traditions. 

In this episode, Olivia Branscum speaks with Phil Yaure – assistant professor of philosophy at Virginia Tech – about the political philosophy of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born into slavery, but eventually became one of the most influential black abolitionists of the 19th century after escaping his enslaved condition and learning to read and write. Phil’s research focuses on Douglass as a political philosopher, with special concern for Douglass’s conception of the US constitution as an anti-slavery document and his belief that citizenship is a function of one’s contribution to a polity (in contrast to thinking of citizenship as a status that is conferred upon someone by the powers of the state). Phil argues that Douglass considers abolitionist resistance itself to be a way of contributing to American society, which leads to the conclusion that enslaved people fighting against the injustice of slavery make themselves American citizens in doing so. We also discuss the philosophical value of the autobiography genre, and Phil offers listeners some recommendations for where to begin if they want to incorporate Frederick Douglass into their history of philosophy courses. 

In this special collaborative episode, Haley and Olivia speak with Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril, a philosopher and podcaster who produces and hosts the Philosophy Casting Call podcast. Philosophy Casting Call shines a spotlight on thinkers, topics, and themes that are underrepresented in academic philosophy, which listeners will recognize as a mission dear to our own podcast as well. We highly recommend giving Philosophy Casting Call (and Élaina’s other podcasts) a listen! While our conversation emphasizes the theme of podcasting as scholarship, we reflect on a range of topics throughout, including getting started in podcasting, the differences between general-audience podcasting and podcasting for scholarly audiences, how podcasting has changed our other work in philosophy, and how each of our podcast journeys brought us to where we are today!