Afropessimism and the Specter of Black Nihilism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6444994 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Orlando Hawkins (0000-0001-5340-4082, University of Oregon, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 440-459 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy & Social Criticism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0191-4537 • E-ISSN: 1461-734X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01914537231184486 |
| OpenAlex | W4381054167 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 11 |
In arguing that slavery is not a relic of the past, but a relational dynamic undergirded by an ontology of anti-Blackness that prevents Blacks from ever being considered human beings, the self-described Afropessimist, Frank Wilderson III, argues that Black people occupy the position of social death in the present. Due to this anti-Black condition, Wilderson concludes that no form of redress is possible to assuage, liberate, and redeem Black people from this anti-Black condition other than the “End of the World.” Drawing upon Fredrich Nietzsche’s understanding of the problem of nihilism and its existential consequences, I argue that while Afropessimism is useful for articulating the problem of anti-Blackness, it makes a nihilistic turn through Wilderson’s “End of the World” since there is no world where Blackness is experienced as anything other than social death. As a response to Wilderson, I conclude that the philosopher Jacqueline Scott’s life-affirming Nietzschean philosophy and her anti-racist activism in “Racial Nihilism as Racial Courage” is one adequate response to the nihilistic threat to Black America if Black people are condemned to a life of social death because of the enduring nature of anti-Black racism
Aesthetics · Courage · Epistemology · Existentialism · Nihilism · Political science · Racism · Redress · Sociology · Theology · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics · Theological Perspectives and Practices
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |