Anthony S. Neal, assistant professor of philosophy at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, visited Mississippi State University in McCain Hall Friday afternoon and provided a detailed lecture titled, “From Dubois to Newton.”
The power-point lecture detailed the aspects, sentiments and contributions of early African-American philosophers and the framework that sustained the modern era of the African-American freedom struggle from 1896 to 1975.
Neal holds a master’s degree in divinity from Mercer University in Macon, Mississippi and a doctorate in humanities/Africana philosophy and religion from Clark Atlanta University. He is also the author of  “Imposing Morality: Cultural Perspectives on Truth, Apologies, and Forgiveness in the U.S.A” and a chapter in the 2014 Praeger Press book titled “Crimes Against Humanity in the Land of the Free: Can a Truth and Reconciliation Process Heal Racial Conflict in America?” 
During the presentation, Neal discussed the “source of philosophical illumination” and said the main question to be asked about African-American philosophy is how to “do” the specific philosophy.
“Dubois was saying that as we (African-Americans) get our degrees in college hometowns, we should bring ourselves back and give back to our communities with our knowledge.”
John Bickle, professor and department head of philosophy and religion at MSU, explained philosophy to be abstract by the nature of its concerns and methods, generating insight into solutions to practical problems.
“Learning to think both abstractly and critically gives one insight into practical issues not available to those who simply learn about the practical details,” Bickle said. “That’s what Dr. Neal showed us in his talk Friday, and that’s what we philosophers teach every day on this campus.”
According to Bickle, Neal’s presentation of the history of philosophical ideas that contributed to the development of specifically African-American philosophy was the highlight of his presentation.
“I also thought that the details he was able to bring to answering questions and comments from the audience during the discussion period really enlightened the main points of his presentation,” he said. “That history, from the writings of DuBois through Newton, is not well-known among many philosophers.”
While Neal focused on a key element of “freedom” during his presentation, Bickle said Neal’s sentiment of freedom was not clearly characterized.
“That’s a tough concept to clarify. But I worried that sometimes the thinkers whose writings he was explaining were moving back and forth between different meanings of that term,” he said. “I would have liked to have heard a consistent account of what exactly these thinkers meant by that term, if there is one.  I think this concern came out clearly in the discussion session of his talk, when a number of audience members pressed him on this point.”
Although partially disagreeing with some of Neal’s main points throughout his analysis of African-American philosophers, Bickle said he completely agreed with Neal’s stress of importance for education in political philosophy for young African-Americans. 
“It is to know the available possibilities about the relationship between the individual and the state that have stood up to rational scrutiny,” he said. “Not to rest content with just the few common examples stressed in popular American political thinking. I would insist on that same lesson for young people of all racial, sexual and cultural backgrounds.”