On Obama

On Obama examines some of the key philosophical questions that accompany the historic emergence of the 44th US president. The purpose of this book is to take seriously the once common thought that the Obama presidency had ushered in a post-historical age. Three questions organize the argument of the book: What’s living and dead in the idea of post-racialism? Did Mr. Obama’s preference for problem-solving over ideological warfare mark him not just as a post-partisan figure but as a philosophical pragmatist? Did the US become post-imperial when the descendants of slaves and of British imperial subjects inhabited the White House? In addition to taking up these questions, the book considers Mr. Obama’s own relationship to the post-historical idea and explores the ethical implications of certain ways of entertaining that idea.

Introduction: The Post-Historical Presidency 1. On Post-Racialism: The President as Racial Project 2. On Post-Partisanship: The President as Pragmatist 3. On Post-Imperialism: The World’s Moses, America’s Zipporah 4. Conclusion: The End of the End

Paul C. Taylor teaches philosophy and African American studies at Pennsylvania State University, USA.