Charles Mills 1951 – 2021
Charles Mills (1951 – 2021) was a Jamaican-American philosopher of the Contemporary era, associated with Political Philosophy, Analytic Philosophy, and Postcolonial Philosophy.
Charles Mills was a Jamaican-American philosopher, distinguished professor at the City University of New York, and one of the most original political philosophers of his generation. The Racial Contract reread the social contract tradition of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau as in fact a racial contract, in which white personhood was constituted through the systematic exclusion of nonwhites from the moral and political community. From Class to Race, Black Rights/White Wrongs, and Black Visible Identities extended this analysis into a sustained critique of the abstraction of liberal political philosophy from the concrete histories of slavery, colonialism, and white supremacy.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Jamaican-American
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Political Philosophy, Analytic Philosophy, Postcolonial Philosophy
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Charles Mills:
“The social contract has always been a racial contract.”
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Attributed to Charles Mills:
“Liberal political philosophy is a moral apartheid kept in place by the abstraction from history.”
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Attributed to Charles Mills:
“Whiteness is not a color but a political settlement.”
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Attributed to Charles Mills:
“Justice begins in the recognition of the actual injustices of the actual world.”
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Attributed to Charles Mills:
“Political philosophy must be reconciled with political reality, or it ceases to be political.”
Frequently asked about Charles Mills
- When did Charles Mills live?
- Charles Mills was born in 1951 and died in 2021.
- Where was Charles Mills from?
- Charles Mills was a Jamaican-American philosopher of the Contemporary era.
- What philosophical movements is Charles Mills associated with?
- Charles Mills was associated with Political Philosophy, Analytic Philosophy, and Postcolonial Philosophy.
- What was Charles Mills known for?
- Charles Mills was a Jamaican-American philosopher, distinguished professor at the City University of New York, and one of the most original political philosophers of his generation.
- How many quotes are attributed to Charles Mills?
- There are 14 attributed quotations from Charles Mills in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.