Philosophy and Hip-Hop Ruminations on Postmodern Cultural Form

Philosophy and Hip-Hop: Ruminations on Postmodern Cultural Form opens up the philosophical life force that informs the construction of Hip-hop by turning the gaze of the philosopher upon those blind spots that exist within existing scholarship. Traditional Departments of Philosophy will find this book a solid companion in Contemporary Philosophy or Aesthetic Theory. Inside these pages is a project that parallels the themes of existential angst, corporate elitism, social consciousness, male privilege and masculinity. This book illustrates the abundance of philosophical meaning in the textual and graphic elements of Hip-hop, and thus places Hip-hop within the philosophical canon.

Julius Bailey is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wittenberg University, USA. He is a philosopher, cultural critic, social theorist, and diversity lecturer. He is the editor of Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop's Philosopher King (2011), and the author of The Cultural Impact of Kanye West (2014), as well as numerous articles on hip-hop pedagogy and social justice issues. He can be found at www.juliusbailey.com.

Introduction
1. Of the Beauty and Wisdom of Hip-Hop
2. Firebrands and Battle Plans: Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche and G.W.F. Hegel
3. Conscious Hip-hop vs The Culture Industry
4. A Philosopher's glance at Hip-hop Pedagogy: Facing the Realities of the Socratic Classroom
5. Lost in the City and Lost in the Self: Sin and Solipsism in Hip Hop's Dystopia; St. Augustine, Toni Morrison, Paul Tillich
6. Hip Hop and International Voices of Revolution: Brazil, Cuba, Ghana and Egypt
7. The Artist and the Image: Ervin Goffman; Marshall McLuhan; Roland Barthes
8. The Catastrophe of Success: Marshall McLuhan, Gilles Delueze and Felix Guittari