Lewis
Gordon’s, Fanon and the Crisis of
European Man: An Essay on Philosophy and the Human Sciences, is a
well-argued and suggestive text that argues for what he deems redemptive
qualities which human beings could embody in times that he has called
misanthropic. In trying to articulate a “defence of a place for the human
being” in these times, Lewis Gordon explores the possibilities of conceptualising
an existential mode of being for humans beings; as opposed to the general trend
of conceptualising human beings as having a fixed ontology. In articulating
this mode of being, Gordon explores Frantz Fanon, his philosophies and life, as
an individual committed to the ideal of defining oneself through action to the
world. This essay, through expanding on Gordon’s argument, aims to explore the
idea that Fanon’s existentialism and commitment to praxis could be said to be a
form of humanism; as has been argued elsewhere.
Gordon
begins his articulation of the defence of the human being through exploring
Fanon’s encounters with the “European man” (Gordon, 1995: 6). The European man
as noted by Gordon is note a delineation of a geographical area or population
bur rather refers to “the unity of a spiritual life, activity, creation, with
all its ends, interests, cares, and endeavours, with its product of purposeful
activity, institutions, organizations” (Gordon, 1995: 6). It is within this
conception of the European man that the capacity for reason, and to achieve
reason, is seen as being human; note that human for the purposes of this essay
is not gender differentiated (Gordon, 1995: 8).
This telos and pursuit of reason shaped the endeavours of European man,
informed the practices, institutions and organizations of many nations (Gordon,
1995: 6). Within this understanding it would seem that all human beings are
capable of achieving reason and thus being a part of humanity.
Fanon’s
encounters with this European understanding of man however brought into
question this very relationship with being reasonable and being human. Gordon
notes how Fanon’s encounters with this idea of reason were marred through his
“fact of blackness” (1995: 8). Fanon, while having achieved reason, realised
that this did not grant him claim to humanity; rather his blackness positioned
him outside of this system which upon further investigation differentiated
along the lines of ontology (Gordon, 1995: 8). In this differentiated
understanding of what it meant to be human Fanon realised that within the
current objective system his humanity would not, nor could it, ever be
recognised; this is shown in his famous proclamation that “victory played cat
and mouse; it made a fool of me. As the other put it, when I was present, it
was not; when it was there, I was no longer” (Fanon, 1952: 90).
In
being shaped by these encounters, and through his reading of existential thought
and other literature, Fanon came to the realisation that an anthropological
attempt of understanding humans and their experiences would have to avoid the
pitfalls of ontology; pitfalls that had become apparent through his encounters
with this “European man” (Gordon, 1995: 11). In avoiding these pitfalls Fanon
would have to develop an understanding of humans being in the world while
bracketing ontology; his answer to this problem was to posit human beings as
existing existentially; in other words humans were said to be radically free to
interact and shape the world, in other words free to make their being (Gordon,
1995: 25).
This
does not however mean that Fanon did not acknowledge the influence and power of
societal structures and organisations; in fact Fanon understood the pervasive
and insidious effect these institutions could have on the psyche of individuals
(Gordon, 1995: 25). Instead Fanon would assert that through consciousness and
being actional towards the world humans could shape themselves in a meaningful
way; rather than by striving towards the ossified values of the European man;
values that would never allow anyone to exist meaningfully and which
constituted what Gordon and others have called the crisis of European man (Gordon,
1995: 22). Rather than allowing the
European man to dictate the tenants of reality Fanon asserted that human beings
should engage with their world and shape their being through action (Gordon,
1995: 103).
A
fundamental part of this action towards the world, or embodied agency, for
Fanon was the dismantling of a racist system that had become inculcated and
normalised as the proper world view (Gordon, 1995: 38). Fanon believed in human beings opposing this
world order in order to create a world in which “All I wanted was to be a man
among other men. I wanted to come lithe and young into a world that was ours
and to help to build it together” (Gordon, 1995: 42). The words to “to help build it together” are
significant as emphasise Fanons commitment to working towards building a
universal understanding of man; brought about through action rather than
appeals to a grand narrative or to conceptions of what it means to be human
that privilege particular individuals, such as European man (Sardar, 1952: xvi).
It
is at this point that links can be drawn to Fanon’s unwavering commitment to be
actional and to his praxis as being a form of humanism. Not in the sense of
being human as being constituted through a substance or through appeals to
objective values but as being human through having the capacity, and in turn,
consciously changing the world through action. These actions, informed through
consciousness, were for Fanon present in the world but still needed to made
apparent through the effort to deconstruct the systems of colonialism; a system
based on the privileging of some peoples claim to humanity whilst denying other
that same claim (Sardar, 1952: xvii). Fanon believed that this conscious and
actional commitment to praxis was attainable by anybody as can be seen in his
closing statement in Black Skin White
Masks, where he said “I want the world to recognize, with me, the open door
of every consciousness” (Fanon, 1952: 181).
After
having briefing explored Gordon’s understanding of the Crisis of European Man and then introducing his notion of an
existential way of being in the world, through using the poignant example of
Frantz Fanon, a conclusion can be stated. A conclusion, that whilst needing to be
investigated and teased out by myself, states that Gordon’s and Fanon’s
understanding of existing in the world can be conceptualised as being a form of
humanism; in so far through existential modes of being what it means to be
human does not depend on a substance that constitutes being but rather being is
attained through being actional towards the world. In this understanding of
being, conscious and committed action towards shaping the world are necessary
in order to mould one’s own being. In closing, the following quote by Emmanuel
Hansen, found in Gordon (1995: 8), is a moving portrayal of Fanons commitment
to this idea of existing in a meaningful way through action;
“Fanon was not exclusively a man of study: he was also a man
of action. He tried to live his ideas and act in such a way as to bring the
ideas in which he believed into being. In this way, his life and personality
were inextricably linked with his ideas.”
Gordon,
L., Fanon and the Crisis of European Man:
An Essay on Philosophy and the Human Sciences,
1995, Routledge: London and New York.
Fanon,
F., Black Skin White Masks, 2006
[1952], Pluto Press: London.
Sardar,
Z., Foreword, in “Black Skin White
Masks”, 2006 [1952], Pluto Press: London.
