Prophetic Pragmatism and the Practices of Freedom: On Cornel West's Foucauldian Methodology

Authors

  • Brad Elliott Stone Loyola Marymount University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v0i11.3208

Abstract

This essay explores the Foucauldian influence on Cornel West’s prophetic pragmatism. Although West argues that Foucauldian methods are insufficient to deliver a philosophy of liberation, I argue that there is nothing in Foucault that would prohibit West from such a goal, even though a philosophy of liberation was not one of Foucault’s goals. Fortunately, one can understand West’s own project of liberation in terms of “practices of freedom,” allowing one to describe West’s philosophical project in strict Foucauldian terms.

Author Biography

Brad Elliott Stone, Loyola Marymount University

Brad Elliott Stone is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the University Honors Program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. His main research interests are in contemporary continental philosophy, Spanish philosophy, and pragmatism. His writings on Foucault have been published in Foucault Studies, The Other Journal and in the edited volume Michel Foucault: Key Concepts. He has several articles and book chapters on Foucault forthcoming this year. He is co-editor (with Jacob Goodson) of the forthcoming Richard Rorty and Philosophical Theology.

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Published

2011-02-01

How to Cite

Stone, B. E. (2011). Prophetic Pragmatism and the Practices of Freedom: On Cornel West’s Foucauldian Methodology. Foucault Studies, (11), 92–105. https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v0i11.3208

Issue

Number 11: February 2011: Foucault and Pragmatism

Section

Special Issue on Foucault and Pragmatism

License

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