From the ‘History of Western Philosophy’ to entangled histories of philosophy: the Contribution of Ben Kies

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dc.contributor.authorMiller ,Josh Platzky
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-15T08:10:17Z
dc.date.available2024-10-15T08:10:17Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractThe idea of ‘Western Philosophy’ is the product of a legitimation project for European colonialism, through to post-second world war Pan-European identity formation and white supremacist projects. Thus argues Ben Kies (1917-1979), a South African public intellectual, schoolteacher, trade unionist, and activist-theorist. In his 1953 address to the Teachers’ League of South Africa, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯-𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, Kies became one of the first people to argue explicitly that there is no such thing as ‘Western philosophy’. In this paper, I introduce Kies as a new figure in the historiography of philosophy with important insights, relevant today. I outline his three key arguments: that ‘Western Philosophy’ is the product of political mythmaking, that it is a recent, largely mid-twentieth century fabrication, and that there is an alternative to ‘Histories of Western Philosophy’, namely ‘mixed’ or entangled histories. I show that Kies’ claims are supported both by contemporary scholarship and bibliometric analysis. I thus argue that Kies is right to claim that the idea of a distinctive, hermetically sealed ‘Western Philosophy’ is a recent, political fabrication and should be abandoned. We should instead develop global, entangled historiography to make sense of philosophy and its history today.
dc.description.versionPublisher's version
dc.identifier.citationMiller, J. P. (2023). From the ‘History of Western Philosophy’ to entangled histories of philosophy: the Contribution of Ben Kies. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 31(6), 1234–1259. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2023.2188898
dc.identifier.issn0960-8788 (online)
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2023.2188898
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11660/12783
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherRoutledge
dc.rights.holderAuthor(s)
dc.rights.license© 2023 BSHP
dc.subjectHistory of philosophy
dc.subjectHistoriography
dc.subjectEntangled history
dc.subject‘Western Philosophy’
dc.subjectImperialism
dc.titleFrom the ‘History of Western Philosophy’ to entangled histories of philosophy: the Contribution of Ben Kies
dc.typeArticle
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