Leonard Harris (philosopher)

A leader in the field of critical pragmatism, Harris is one of the most innovative American philosophers of his time.

His agenda of "struggle philosophy" moves beyond analytic and instrumentalist reasoning and Socratic dialogue to incorporate an "ethics of insurrection," "advocacy aesthetics," and the concept of racism as "necro-being."

In addition, Harris has been largely responsible for the renewed, contemporary interest in the life and philosophy of the American philosopher, and "Dean" of the Harlem Renaissance, Alain LeRoy Locke.

[5] His most important publications include A Philosophy of Struggle: The Leonard Harris Reader, edited by Lee A. McBride III for Bloomsbury (2020), Philosophy Born of Struggle: Afro-American Philosophy from 1917 (Kendall Hunt 1984/2021), Racism (Humanity Press, 1999), The Critical Pragmatism of Alain Locke (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), with Jacoby A. Carter, Philosophic Values and World Citizenship: Locke to Obama and Beyond (Lexington Books, 2010), and, with Charles Molesworth, Alain L. Locke: Biography of a Philosopher (University of Chicago Press, 2008).

Among Harris's awards are the Herbert Schneider Award "for distinguished contributions to the understanding of American Philosophy" in 2018, the Franz Fanon Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Caribbean Philosophical Association in 2014, Howard University's 1999 Alain L. Locke Award, given in recognition for pioneering efforts and outstanding contributions to research in Africana Philosophy and Alain Locke Scholarship, and special recognition by the American Philosophical Association in 1996 for outstanding contribution to the profession.