A Philosophy of Liberation

Abstract

This thesis has two main goals. First, to examine Enrique Dussel’s philosophy of liberation and whether it can meaningfully contribute to intersectional analyses of race and gender. This is important due to problematic charges made against him in the past: that he only centers the voice of men in philosophies of liberation. As such, if his theories are to be taken seriously, they must be scrutinized to see if they are compatible with Black and queer liberation. Another, more pointed goal of the thesis, is to center the voices of marginalized philosophers in contemporary social and political philosophy. Essentially, I am responding to an ivory tower way of thinking about liberation. Ways of thinking about liberation are still lacking in an obvious sense: one way to explore liberation is through the works of prominent academics – however, this way of thinking about liberation is locked in the metaphorical ivory tower, away from the perspectives of folk on the ground. I intend to push social and political philosophy beyond this ivory tower gaze. This thesis is not an attempt to solve all problematics within philosophy of liberation, but it will provide a fruitful way for philosophers to think about liberation with intellectual tools from a marginalized philosopher and folk on the ground.