Abstract

One of the major areas within critical philosophy of race that so-called mainstream philosophers have found increasingly hard to ignore has been philosophical historiography. This is not only because it puts into question from the perspective of the history of racism the high regard in which some of the main figures of the philosophical canon are held. It also represents a challenge to the discipline’s self-image and to the way the philosophical canon is conceived. That numerous white philosophers within modernity made racist comments is no surprise to anyone familiar with the pervasiveness of such ideas, but it is troublesome to find that mainstream philosophers today still often use that very pervasiveness to dismiss out of hand concerns about the degree to which so many of the canonical figures of Western philosophy played a significant role in the spread of racist ideas, including expressing support for slavery and the slave trade.