Philosophy Imprisoned

Sarah Tyson is assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, Denver. Joshua M. Hall is visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Samford University.

The essays were written by faculty, undergraduate philosophy majors, and graduate students who have taught or led discussions on philosophy in prison; the essays also represent the personal reflections of incarcerated men who have studied philosophy in prison. . . .The varied essays may be organized into the following groups: theoretical reflections on the contributions of certain philosophers (Hegel, Foucault, Kant, and Davis), proposals for reforming the system of mass incarceration in the US, reflections by imprisoned men, critiques of the extreme misogyny in men’s prisons, and the role of philosophy in prison. Of all of the essays, the personal reflections concerning the impact of philosophy on the lives and experiences of incarcerated men were the most moving and powerful. Though the book considers the important transformative role of philosophy in prison, other studies point to the greater importance of college in prison programs in reducing recidivism rates. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.

• Part I: Identity1. Reforming Me, Philosophy, Timothy Greenlee2. What’s Wrong with Us?: Outsider Ethics and Mass Incarceration, Chris Lenn3. Emancipating the Carceral Subject: A Propaedeutic to an Integrated Prison Pedagogy, John Douglas Macready4. Women Haters Club: Maximized Misogyny in Men’s Prisons and Its Tie to the Patriarchy, Anders “Andy” Benander, III5. Criminal Masculinity: Male Prisons and the Construction of Gender, Natalie Cisneros6. Du Bois, Foucault, and Self-Torsion: Criterion of Imprisoned Art, Joshua M. Hall7. One Foot in Darkness, Spoon JacksonPart Two: Community8. A Prisoner’s Perspective on Prison, Arlando “Tray” Jones III9. Awakenings and Seductions: Text, Literacy and the Lived Experience of Fathers in Prison, William Muth and Ginger Walker10. Hegel Goes to Prison: Punishment, Education, and Mutual Recognition, Eric Anthamatten11. Unchained Melody: Philosophical Reflections from the Working Classics Program, Michael DeWilde with students Abigail DeHart, Katie Stefanek and Emily Stroka12. Just Visiting: Epistemic Obstacles to Justice on Death Row, Lisa McLeod13. Prisoners: “They’re Animals” and Their Animals, Drew Leder with Vincent Greco14. Organizing Dead Matter into Effective Energy, Andre Pierce15. Re-humanizing the Inmate: Wacquant on Race-making, Sequestered Spaces, and the Quest for a “We” Narrative, Cynthia Nielsen16. Free Spirit in the House of the Dead, Atif Rafay17. Cartesian Meditations: Voice, Body, Mind and Prison, Aislinn O’Donnell and Anonymous Contributors