Thread by @deonteleologist

For @LiberalCurrents, I wrote a review of Cynical Theories, a book by @HPluckrose and @ConceptualJames about postmodernism's transformation from a benign theory into an existential threat to the foundations of civil society. Yes, this is what they argue. liberalcurrents.com/the-cynical-th…

My review focuses on Ch. 8, where P&L argue that contemporary academic philosophers see science and reason as white, male, and Western––thus "no better than the Theoretically interpreted lived experiences of members of marginalized groups, which must be constantly elevated"

Who are these "reified postmodernists," you ask? Kristie Dotson, Nora Berenstain, José Medina, Lorraine Code, and Charles Mills, just to name a few. (Yes, really: Charles Mills, the author of "Black Radical Kantianism" and proponent of "black radical liberalism." Postmodernist.)

My review has the details, but I just want to highlight how unethical and inaccurate the authors are in their portrayal of Kristie Dotson. Here I explain how they distort her essay "How Is This Paper Philosophy?" as they claim she thinks evidence and reason belong to white men.

Next, they go after her 2014 article "Conceptualizing Epistemic Oppression," which they seem to think was called "Tracking Epistemic Oppression." They say with absolutely zero evidence that Dotson finds epistemic value in WITCHCRAFT. Witchcraft? Yes, witchcraft.

According to @ConceptualJames, Woke scholarship is just uncharitable readings, name-calling, lack of nuance, and ignorance of context.

This is exactly how he and @HPluckrose operate. By their own standards, Cynical Theories is an exemplar of Wokeness.