Abstract

CHAMBERS, Paul Anthony. Epistemology and politics: a critique of the “coloniality of knowledge” thesis. discus.filos [online]. 2019, vol.20, n.34, pp.65-90. ISSN 0124-6127.  https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2019.20.34.4.

The thesis of the “coloniality of knowledge” is philosophically weak and historically questionable. Through an analysis of a range of texts of authors of the “decolonial turn” I show that they make unfounded assertions about the connection between Cartesian epistemology and the socio-political conditions and relations of domination in Latin America (colonial domination, capitalist exploitation, racism, sexism). I argue that their conceptualization of the natural and social sciences and their characterization of Cartesian epistemology are superficial and historically dubitable. I conclude that the relation between epistemology and politics that the coloniality of knowledge presupposes is implausible and should be reformulated.

Keywords : Coloniality of knowledge; decolonial turn; Descartes; epistemology; politics.

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