Dr Josh Platzky Miller is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of the Free State.

Previously, Josh was an NIHSS Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and an Affiliated Lecturer in politics and development studies at the University of Cambridge (UK).

Josh welcomes postgraduate supervision (Honours, Masters, PhD) inquiries in the following areas: social movements (especially student movements), political sociology (especially comparative African-Latin American studies), sociology of education, sociology of development, social and political theory. If you are interested in pursuing research in select areas of philosophy (history/historiography of philosophy, social epistemology, social/political philosophy), you must email before applying.

Research profile: [Google Scholar] [ResearchGate] [Academia.edu]

Book Project: The Myth of Western Philosophy (In process since March 2020, Coauthored with Lea Cantor)

The basic question this book raises is whether ‘Western Philosophy’ is a coherent concept. This may seem like a strange target. Over the last century, there has been a remarkable consensus about what constitutes the ‘canon’ of ‘Western Philosophy’. We find recurring, roughly similar patterns of characters and narratives throughout university courses, prominent Histories of Western Philosophy (both academic and popular), TV programmes, and even more recently, YouTube channels. Despite its popularity, seeming stability, and apparent unassailability, this book argues that ‘Western philosophy’ lacks the theoretical and historical foundation which academics and pundits seem so confident about. One of the pillars of ‘Western Philosophy’ is its implausible origin story, traceable to the 18th century, according to which the Greeks supposedly `invented’ or `discovered’ rationality and philosophy, and abandoned religion and mythology. While this way of framing the origins of Greek philosophy has long been challenged by specialists, it continues to underpin recent accounts of the history of `Western Philosophy`. ‘Western philosophy’ also prides itself in being a continuous tradition. Yet a 700-year gap (between about 500 CE and 1200 CE) – in which no philosopher worthy of mention was active, if histories of ‘Western philosophy’ are to be believed – would suggest otherwise. In tracing the idea of ‘Western philosophy’ to late-18th century European histories of philosophy, we seek to provide a more accurate picture of how philosophy developed from antiquity to modern-day Europe. We aim for the book to lay the groundwork for new visions of a global, entwined, connected history of philosophy: one which neither makes ‘Western Philosophy’ the singular measuring stick for philosophy globally, nor uses the idea of ‘Western Philosophy’ to seal off parts of Europe from exchange with the rest of the world, either retrospectively or for generations to come.

An international conference related to this project took place 28-30 April 2023 at Oxford University (organized in collaboration with Lea Cantor and Philiminality Oxford).

Publications from this project include:

• Platzky Miller, J. and L. Cantor. 2023. “The Future of the History of Philosophy”. The Philosopher 111(1): 28-33. [Order Online] [Open Access]
• Platzky Miller, J. 2023. “From the ‘History of Western Philosophy’ to Entangled Histories of Philosophy: The Contribution of Ben Kies”. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 31(6): 1234-1259. [DOI]
• Cantor, L. 2022. “Thales - the `first philosopher`? A troubled chapter in the historiography of philosophy”. British Journal for the History of Philosophy30(5): 727-750. [DOI]
• Cantor, L. 2024. "Review: Neglected Classics of Philosophy: Volume 2, edited by Eric Schliesser". Mind. [DOI]

Social movements, African and Latin American politics and political thought, social epistemology and the imagination, political theory, critical pedagogy, and the global history and historiography of philosophy.

Currently:

SOCP2624: Population dynamics & environmental issues

SOCP6808: The sociology of population and the environment

Previously:

At the University of Cambridge, Josh coordinated and lectured on Social Movements and Development, lectured on African Politics, and gave undergraduate supervisions in sociology and politics (Comparative Political Economy of Latin America, Introduction to International Relations, and Introduction to Sociology: Modern Societies and Global Social Problems).

Josh has also co-organised public education ‘teach-out’ programmes for the UCU in Cambridge, guest lectured on Decolonising Sociology (University of Manchester), Social Movements in Africa and Latin America (University of Vienna and at the School of Advanced Study, University of London), on Social Science Research Methods (American University of Cairo) and tutored Political Philosophy (University of Cape Town).