"'To Preserve Their Freedom": What Frederick Douglass and the Haitian Revolution Teach us About the Meaning of Freedom."May 9, 2019 at 5–6:15 p.m.

This talk takes its cue from the suggestion by African American philosopher Angela Davis, that those who have been denied freedom have more to teach us about freedom's meaning than those who take their freedom for granted.  It illustrates Davis's point with the grand and epic story of the Haitian Revolution and a quiet, personal story from the life of Frederick Douglass. 
 Kenneth Stikkers is Professor of Philosophy and Africana Studies and Interim Director of the Center for Dewey Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.  He is also a Visiting Professor at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Mexico, the University of Warsaw, Poland, and Ca'Foscari University, Venice, Italy, and Past-President of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy.  His main areas of research and publication are philosophy of economics, American philosophy, and phenomenology, and his most recent books are:  Utopian Visions Past, Present, and Future:  Rethinking the Ethical Foundations of Economy and Philosophy in the Time of Economic Crisis:  Pragmatism and Economy.