Race and the Enlightenment

I am apt to suspect the negroes to be naturally inferior to the whites. There scarcely ever was a civilized nation of that complexion, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation.

So wrote David Hume, central representative of 18th Century Enlightenment. We immediately think 'racism' and miss considering the origins of our modern notions of race and indeed of humanity as such. Arguably the 18th century was the age of the discovery, or construction, of 'man' out of the European encounter with these new creatures in Africa, in America, etc. – human, or animal?

The Department of Philosophy, with the generous support of the Spencer-Leavitt Fund, is pleased to announce a two-day Colloquium on Race and the Enlightenment consisting of two panel discussions by leading theorists of the history of the idea of race. The Colloquium will take place May 14 – May 15 on the Union College campus. Our guests are:

Panel #1

May 14th

Robert Bernasconi (Penn State University)

Kolb as Source for Buffon, Rousseau and Kant

Charles W. Mills (Northwestern University)

Kant and Race Redux

Panel #2

May 15th

Andrew Curran (Wesleyan University)

Buffon and Proto-Raciology

Bernard Boxill (UNC Chapell Hill)

Sympathy, Resemblance and Race in the Enlightenment

Kames and Hume versus Buffon and Rousseau

All inquiries should go to Felmon Davis (davisf [at] union.edu)