Harvard University Minorities and Philosophy Colloquium Lecture: Emmalon Davis (University of Michigan), "Building (Conceptual) Bridges: Nonideal Theory, Philosophical Whitopias, and the Critical Cartography of Mills' The Racial Contract"

Abstract: This chapter revisits the metaphilosophical critique offered in Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract. My analysis will focus on explicating Mills’ characterization of the “Racial Contract”—and nonideal theory more broadly—as a conceptual bridge. I consider three questions: (a) what is the nature of the domains such a bridge purports to connect (b) what is the function and orientation of the bridge (c) what is the relationship between once isolated domains after a bridge has been built? In answering these questions, I outline several features of the bridge’s construction, which, though seemingly necessary for its functionality as a bridge nonetheless compromise its structural integrity. Taking the discipline of philosophy as the primary subject of analysis, I advance an alternative understanding of The Racial Contract. I argue that in constructing a bridge, Mills offers a critical cartography of the professional, ethical, and epistemic landscape in which philosophical inquiry takes place. I contextualize these observations in light of Mills’ metaphilosophical views as they shifted over time and conclude with an invitation to explore new possibilities for nonideal theory as a methodology of continued necessity.