GÉNÉALOGIE DE LA PHILOSOPHIE DES LUMIÈRES : DE NIETZSCHE À LA PENSÉE POSTCOLONIALE

Abstract

Postcolonial thinking displays critical epistemology which could be described as radical. It is founded on a colonial civilizing mission, matrix and legacy. Contrary to the misleading prefix “postcolonial”, this reflection is not limited to the analysis of chronological facts subsequent to the colonial period. The reason for postcolonial criticism is a great rationalist narrative, both linear and secular, issued by the Enlightenment, behind which there is a unilateral and linear vision of a historical process that is actually identical and valid for each nation. In spite of its Universalist pretentions, Enlightenment fails – it seems – to transcend its principles: it tends to be rather a tendency to perceive the world through occidental lenses than a proper philosophy. It is important to notice that this particular vision of non-Western countries acts as a benchmark for their political future. Just like for Hegel, non-Western history is reconstructed in line with procedural requirements of reason  and concept. However, the historical facts are estranged, fictitious, and Hegel may have ignored this aspect because of its willingness to subsume empirical reality as the idea of a homogenizing concept, in particular that of absolute knowledge.