Peter Salovey President | Yale University
Peter Salovey President | Yale University
Robert Gooding-Williams, a significant figure in the philosophy of race and a historian of Black modern social and political philosophy, has been appointed as the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Philosophy. This appointment will take effect on July 1, 2024. Gooding-Williams is part of Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Philosophy.
His academic work delves into social and political philosophy, the philosophy of race, African-American political thought history, 19th-century European philosophy, existentialism, and aesthetics. His writings interpret complex social phenomena while exploring the interplay between race, class, gender, nationality, and other social positions. He draws from European and American philosophical traditions to critique racial injustice and illuminate racial representations' ideological content.
Gooding-Williams' book "Zarathustra's Dionysian Modernism" (Stanford, 2001) argues that Nietzsche's critique revises Kant’s concept of the dynamical sublime using allegory from mythological figures like Theseus. Another notable work is "Look, A Negro!: Philosophical Essays on Race, Culture, and Politics" (Routledge, 2005), which explores fundamental questions around race inspired by Frantz Fanon’s famous description. His book "In The Shadow of Du Bois: Afro-Modern Political Thought in America" (Harvard 2009) examines Du Bois’ interpretation of Black politics. This book won an award for best book on race by the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics section of the American Political Science Association in 2010.
Gooding-Williams has received numerous fellowships including those from the National Endowment for the Humanities Independent Scholars and College Teachers Fellowship program. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018. In addition to his academic achievements at Yale University where he earned his Ph.D., he served as M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor at Columbia University directing its Center for Race Philosophy.
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