Stephen C. Ferguson II

Stephen C. Ferguson II is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. His research focuses on social and political philosophy, Africana philosophy, and the philosophy of African American studies, with a particular emphasis on dialectical materialism and critiques of corporate capitalism’s impact on Black popular culture. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Kansas and a B.A. in Philosophy and History from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with a minor in Black Studies.

His work interrogates the intersections of philosophy with Black intellectual history, political economy, and cultural studies. Notable publications include The Paralysis of Analysis in African American Studies (2023) and co-authored African American Philosophers and Philosophy (2019), which examines the evolution of African American philosophical thought. He has held a visiting professorship at the University of Pittsburgh and contributed to the American Philosophical Association’s Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience.

Recent research explores themes like the crisis in Black studies, Marxist revolutionary theory, and the legacy of thinkers such as Charles W. Mills and Martin Luther King Jr. His scholarship bridges philosophical rigor with social activism, addressing contemporary issues in race, class, and cultural commodification. Ferguson advocates for methodological shifts to center marginalized voices and dismantle structural inequities within academic disciplines.