Race: The Difference That Makes a Difference

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v11i1.324

Keywords:

Critical Race Theory, Philosophy of Information, Information Theory, Systems Theory, Race, Racism, Gregory Bateson, Charles W Mills, Immanuel Kant

Abstract

During the last two decades, critical enquiry into the nature of race has begun to enter the philosophical main-stream. The same period has also witnessed the emergence of an increasingly visible discourse about the nature of infor-mation within a diverse range of popular and academic settings. What is yet to emerge, however, is engagement at the interface of the two disciplines – critical race theory and the philosophy of information. In this paper, I shall attempt to con-tribute towards the emergence of such a field of enquiry by using a reflexive hermeneutic (or interpretative) approach to analyze the concept of race from an information-theoretical perspective, while reflexively analyzing the concept of informa-tion from a critical race-theoretical perspective. In order to facilitate a more concrete enquiry, the concept of information formulated by cyberneticist Gregory Bateson and the concept of race formulated by philosopher Charles W Mills will be placed at the centre of analysis. Crucially, both concepts can be shown to have a connection to the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, thereby justifying their selection as topics of examination on critical reflexive hermeneutic grounds.

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Author Biography

  • Syed Mustafa Ali, The Open University
    Computing Department, Lecturer

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Published

2012-12-12

Issue

Section

Special Issue: The Difference that Makes a Difference 2011