Liam K. Bright (LSE): Formal Africana Philosophy and Cosmopolitan Decolonisation

For some years now I have tried to practice and promote formal Africana philosophy. This is a form of philosophising in which one uses the tools of mathematics to elucidate, defend, and refine ideas or worldviews which are especially associated with Africana thinkers. In this talk I take the opportunity to step back and reflect on why it is (I claim) that there might be anything distinctive and useful about applying mathematical methods to Africana philosophy in particular. To make my case I shall draw upon Kwasi Wiredu's project of conceptual decolonisation. In particular, I shall argue that formal philosophy facilitates exactly the kind of cross-cultural comparative work that Wiredu argued was necessary for full decoloniation. Since I shall also defend the claim that Wiredu's project of conceptual decolonisation is worth engaging in to create a just philosophy, I hope to defend a certain sort of practice of mathematical philosophy by placing it within an Africana meta-philosophical framework.