ABSTRACT
Although Cornel West is generally acknowledged to be a pragmatist, in light of his own very identification with that position, very little attempt has been made thus far to relate his pragmatism to his existentialist preoccupations. 1 It is with this task that I shall be concerned in this chapter. In particular, I propose to elaborate how West draws upon his concept of prophetic pragmatism to address social concerns such as what he deems a nihilistic threat to Black America. To realize this goal, I will begin by giving a general but detailed overview of West’s philosophical orientation in order to situate him within the pragmatist tradition. I then will go on to elaborate his discussion of nihilism in Black America and to critique his philosophy of prophetic pragmatism as a viable strategy to resolve the nihilistic threat to Black America.
