Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn
The End of the West and Other Cautionary Tales, Sean Meighoo raises a provocative challenge not merely to the conceits of continental philosophy's recent deconstruction of the ethnocentrism of Western metaphysics, but also to the assumptions of the postcolonial theory that has eagerly appropriated that counterdiscourse. In doing so, he urges us to recognize the ways in which the critique of the idea of a singular West has often been misconceived. This is a timely intervention with deep-reaching implications for rethinking the project of contemporary criticism. -- David Scott, author of
Omens of Adversity: Tragedy, Time, Memory, JusticeThis groundbreaking book makes an important and crucial intervention into the literatures and debates on postcolonial theory, politics, and cultural studies. Meighoo skillfully and thoughtfully brings together Western and Eastern philosophies, pointing not only to their various differences and similarities but also, importantly, to their influences. The
End of the West and Other Cautionary Tales moves across a wide philosophical terrain to provide readers with a profound sense of what might be at stake in terms of how Western philosophy and postcolonial theory speak to each other. -- Rinaldo Walcott, author of
Black Like Who? Writing Black CanadaTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: The End of the West1. The
Black Athena Debate
Part II: From Teleology to Negative Teleology2. The Phenomenological Turn
3. The Ethical Turn
Part III: From Continental Philosophy to Postcolonial Theory4. The Critique of Representation
5. The Defense of Difference
Part IV: The Limits of Antiethnocentrism6. The Beatles in India
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
