Eurocentrism, the tendency to centre Western perspectives at the expense of other cultures, can be prevalent in discussions about philosophy. While Plato and Aristotle may readily come to mind, it is equally important to acknowledge philosophers like Franz Fanon and Gayatri Spivak. This issue has raised concerns among those who are increasingly alarmed by the lack of diversity among postgraduate humanities students.
Dr. Shyane Siriwardena, a philosophy lecturer at Leeds Trinity University, describes this Eurocentric bias as a “blind spot” rooted in the misguided belief that exceptional philosophers from black or ethnic backgrounds should already be widely recognized.
This lack of diversity not only affects academic institutions but also has broader societal implications. While Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) students make up 22.3% of all master’s graduates, their representation drops to just 11.5% in humanities postgraduate programs, and even further to 8.6% in history and philosophy, and 9.2% in the arts. In contrast, fields like business, law, and medicine have a much higher proportion of black and Asian research postgraduates.
Read the full article on The Guardian.
