scholarly journals PETER J. KING AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL CANON: AN AFRICANIST APPRECIATION

Phronimon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malesela John Lamola
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Critical Observation ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Universal Approach ◽  
Universal Measure

From a perspective of an advocacy for a multi-culturally sensitive epistemology, as well as from the context of the politics of decision-making on which thinkers get inaugurated into a community of what is regarded as standard-bearers of what passes as philosophy, Peter King’s One hundred philosophers: The life and work of the world’s greatest thinkers (2004) is instructive. He creatively breaks the boundaries of the traditional canonical criteria of Western philosophy and installs into a singular chronological compendium thinkers from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas as philosophers whose works set the frontiers of philosophic erudition. Our critical observation is that King profoundly subverts the myth and challenges the doctrine of positing European thinkers as bulwarks of a universally superior epistemic system. Drawing from the amply documented protestation of African philosophy against the supremacist tendencies of the hegemonic Western academy, as well as from Walter Mignolo’s critical framework on the proclivity of a colonial epistemology to masquerade as universal, this essay critically highlights the historico-cultural mechanisms whereby the Western philosophical tradition sets itself as the arbiter and universal measure of what passes as philosophy, or a philosopher. King’s book is presented as a commendable negation of this tendency and as a demonstration of a culturally equitable and pluraversal (as opposed to the Eurocentric universal) approach to the recognition of philosophical genius. The essay is a contribution to the demands for the transformation of the conceptualisation of philosophy in the post-colonial academy.

scholarly journals Synthesis of Cultures of the East and West in the Philosophy of B.D. Dandaron

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 502-511
Author(s):  
Mergen Sanjievich Ulanov
Keyword(s):  
Practical Aspect ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Russian Philosophy ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Religious Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical System ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
East And West ◽  
East West

The article deals with the phenomenon of synthesis of East and West cultures in the religious philosophy of B.D. Dandaron - one of the most famous representatives of Russian Buddhism in the XX century. The beginning of the spread of Buddhist teachings in Russian society is also connected with his extraordinary personality. Dandaron was engaged in active yoga, tantric practice, and also gave instructions to those who were interested in Buddhism. As a result, a small circle of people began to form around him who tried to study and practice Buddhism. Dandaron was also engaged in Buddhist activities, studied Tibetan history and historiography, and described the Tibetan collection of manuscripts. It is indicated that Dandaron not only made an attempt to consider Buddhism from the perspective of Western philosophy, but also created his own teaching, which was called neobuddism. As a result, he was able to conduct a creative synthesis of Buddhist philosophy with the Western philosophical tradition. In fact, he developed a philosophical system that claims to be universal and synthesized Buddhist and Western spiritual achievements. Trying to synthesize the Eastern and Western traditions of philosophical thought, Dandaron turned to the well-known comparative works of the Indian thinker S. Radhakrishnan and the Russian buddhologist F.I. Shcherbatsky. The author also notes the influence on the philosophy of neobuddism of the ideas of V.E. Sesemann, a neo-Kantian philosopher with whom Dandaron was personally acquainted. The idea of non-Buddhism had not only a philosophical and theoretical, but also a practical aspect, since the consideration of Buddhism from the perspective of Western philosophy helped to attract people of Western culture to this religion. In General, Dandarons desire to create a universal synthetic philosophical system was in line with the philosophical and spiritual search of Russian philosophy, and was partly related to the traditional problem of East-West, which has always been relevant for Russia.

scholarly journals Cardinal Virtues in Sport: Prudentia

2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Pisk Jernej
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Decision Making ◽  
Cardinal Virtues ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Intellectual Capacity ◽  
Past Experiences

Abstract Cardinal virtues present one of the oldest anthropological theories and ethical systems in the western philosophical tradition. Among other great ancient philosophers, Plato talked about four main virtues: prudence (practical wisdom), justice, fortitude (courage), and temperance (moderation). As these virtues are not arbitrary, but instead correspond to some fundamental characteristics of human beings, they are not only useful for moral decision-making, but they also present an original anthropological theory. This paper focuses on the role of prudence in sports. Prudence has two aspects: it is a) cognitive, and b) decision-making. Perceptively it is turned toward reality, “imperatively” toward volition and action. As such, it is a fundamental virtue in sports practices. First of all, its role is in the cognition of the specific situations an athlete is in. In addition, it gives instructions as to how to respond to them. Prudence directed into the cognition of reality involves two main elements, namely memoria and docilitas. The role of memoria consists in developing and enriching special motor memory from past experiences, and so it is one of the goals of any practice of technical elements. Docilitas is the kind of open-mindedness which recognizes the true variety of things and situations to be experienced and does not cage itself in any presumption of deceptive knowledge. As such, it can be recognized in the concept of sports as “knowledge-gaining activity”. The other aspect of prudence is directed towards deciding what actions to take. With solertia, the athlete can swiftly, but with open eyes and clear-sighted vision, decide to do something good in a concrete situation. The second element is providentia (foresight), meaning the capacity to estimate with a sure instinct for the future whether or not a particular action will lead to the realization of a goal. This is demanded of all sports, especially competitive sports, where the deciding factor between top and average athletes is often not physical or technical abilities but the intellectual capacity (or tactics) to foresee what is going to happen on the field in the next few moments.

scholarly journals Jacques Derrida: The Double Liminality of a Philosophical Marrano

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie Kutash
Keyword(s):  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
The Other ◽  
French Language ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Helene Cixous ◽  
Liminal Space ◽  
Philosophical Position ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
The One

There is an analogy between two types of liminality: the geographic or cultural ‘outside’ space of the Marrano Jew, alienated from his/her original religion and the one he or she has been forced to adopt, and, a philosophical position that is outside of both Athens and Jerusalem. Derrida finds and re-finds ‘h’ors- texte’, an ‘internal desert’, a ‘secret’ outside place: alien to both the western philosophical tradition and the Hebraic archive. In this liminal space he questions the otherness of the French language to which he was acculturated, and, in a turn to a less discursive modality, autobiography, finds, in the words of Helene Cixous, “the Jew-who-doesn’t know-that-he-is”. Derrida’s galut (exile) is neither Hebrew nor Greek. It is a private place outside of all discourse, which he claims, is inevitably ethnocentric. In inhabiting this outside space, he exercises the prerogative of a Marrano, equipped to critique the French language of his acculturation and the western philosophy of the scholars. French and Hebrew are irreconcilable binaries, western philosophy and his Hebrew legacy is as well. These issues will be discussed in this paper with reference to Monolingualism of the Other and Archive Fever as they augment some of his earlier work, Writing and Difference and Speech and Phenomena.

scholarly journals Covid-19, Philosophy and the Leap Towards the Posthuman

Phronimon ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malesela John Lamola
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Philosophical Anthropology ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Technological Transformation ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Human Ontology

A discursive canon around transhumanism and posthumanism as beliefs in the efficacy and necessity of technology as the beneficial transformer of human life “for the better” is well-established in the Western philosophical tradition. However, none of the theorists and protagonists of this technological reconfiguration of humanity could ever have predicted that what they envisaged would be propelled into manifestation with as dramatic and phenomenal momentum such as has been ushered in by the mainly technology-driven interventions introduced in various measures globally to curb the SARS-CoV2 virus. The effect of these responses to the pandemic, it is here demonstrated, have set humanity into a technogenesis, a transformative ontological process headed towards a machinistic and de-anthropic life idealised by posthumanists. Apropos, a set of three intertwined tasks are here executed. Firstly, I explicate my foregoing claim, namely, how at the helm of the variety of measures to control Covid-19 is a discernible socio-scientific movement that is directed at inaugurating and regularising a posthumanist consciousness and de-anthropic modes of sociality. Secondly, I venture a critical understanding of “the Covid-19 moment” that exposes the quadripartite alliance of a postmodernist Western philosophy, technoscience, commercial interests, and politics as the systemic drivers of this technocratic philosophical anthropology. Thirdly, or rather concurrently, taking the work of Nick Bostrom as the theoretical heuristic advocating human technological transformation, I normatively alert of the ramifications of this emerging human ontology.

scholarly journals “WHEN EVERYTHING STARTS TO FLOW”: NKRUMAH AND IRIGARAY IN SEARCH OF EMANCIPATORY ONTOLOGIES

Phronimon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Symbolic Order ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Luce Irigaray ◽  
Current Analysis ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition

A more explicit, comprehensive and sustained dialogue between the African philosophical and Western feminist traditions would yield insights at once rich and useful to both traditions, and beyond, e.g. to the African feminist tradition. Here, I place the work of Belgian philosopher Luce Irigaray in discussion with Ghanaian Kwame Nkrumah’s conception of “consciencism”. What they most saliently share is an understanding of how the dichotomies central to traditional Western philosophy (mind-body and idealism-materialism) have been key in the structural exclusion and oppression of the “others” of this dominant tradition. Both are convinced that Western metaphysics serve ideological purposes and help to perpetuate relations of domination. Both struggle with the question of how to effectively resist this specific violence of the Western philosophical tradition without repeating its logic. Most importantly for the current analysis, in their search for sources for resistance and emancipation, Nkrumah and Irigaray do not remain with diagnoses; instead both assume or construct a fluid ontology outside of, or beyond, this dominant symbolic order.

scholarly journals Reason without feelings? Emotions in the history of western philosophy

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-274
Author(s):  
Aleksej Kisjuhas
Keyword(s):  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Age Of Reason ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Philosophy Of Emotions

The paper critically analyzes the interplay between reason and emotions in the history of Western philosophy, as an inadequately ambivalent interrelationship of contrast, control and conflict. After the analysis of the philosophies of emotions and passion amongst the most important philosophers and philosophical works of classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, the paper presents ideas on this interrelationship within the framework of modern philosophy, or during the so-called Age of Reason. Finally, the paper analyzes the character of emotions in the contemporary philosophy, while examining possibilities for the history of (philosophy of) emotions and feelings, but also the possibilities for overcoming the undue opposition of reason and emotions, which was present in the dominant Western philosophical tradition.

scholarly journals The Sense in which Ethno-philosophy can Remain Relevant in 21st Century African Philosophy

Phronimon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada Agada
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Logical System ◽  
Fair Share ◽  
System Building ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Critical Conversation ◽  
Philosophical Project

Ethno-philosophy, as a philosophical project, has had its fair share of criticism from some professional African philosophers, with Paulin Hountondji as an outstanding critic. Ethno-philosophy is believed to be deficient in criticality and analyticity, which are considered hallmarks of good philosophy anywhere. In this paper I engage Fainos Mangena, a tireless defender of ethno-philosophy, in a critical conversation. In making a case for the continuing relevance of ethno-philosophy, while acknowledging its shortcomings, I argue that the universalist critique of ethno-philosophy has exposed the philosophical poverty of this specific form of thought. I assert that the equation of ethno-philosophy with substantive African philosophy will lead to the emergence of an impoverished African philosophical tradition, notwithstanding the desirability of a unique African philosophy distinguishable from non-African philosophical traditions—in particular the Western philosophical tradition. I point out that Innocent Asouzu and J.O. Chimakonam’s Ibuanyidanda ontology and Ezumezu logical system demonstrate the viability of a philosophical programme that seeks to transcend ethno-philosophy by enriching it with concepts that promote the criticality and analyticity demanded by critics of ethno-philosophy, in a manner conducive to system-building.

Cultivating Reason

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Social Epistemology ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Epistemic Dependence ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Educational Ideal

The Western philosophical tradition has historically valorized the cultivation of reason as a fundamental intellectual ideal. This ideal continues to be defended by many as educationally basic. However, recent philosophical work has challenged it on several fronts, including worries stemming from relativistic tendencies in the philosophy of science, the apparent ubiquity of epistemic dependence in social epistemology, and broad critiques of objectionable hegemony launched from feminist and postmodernist perspectives. This chapter briefly reviews the historical record, connects the cultivation of reason to the educational ideal of critical thinking, spells out the latter ideal, and evaluates these challenges. It ends by sketching a general, “transcendental” reply to all such critiques of reason.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Phenomenological Tradition ◽  
The Third ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
The Subject ◽  
To Come

The Introduction outlines the various chapters. It then situates the question of ‘body’ in the modern Western philosophical tradition following Descartes, and argues that this leaves subsequent responses to come under one of three options: metaphysical dualism of body and subject; any anti-dualist reductionism; or the overcoming of the divide. Describing the Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty as a potent example of the third strategy, the Introduction then suggests his philosophy will function as foil to the ecological phenomenology developed and presented in the book. Moreover, one approach within the Western Phenomenological tradition, of treating phenomenology as a methodology for the clarification of experience (rather than the means to the determination of an ontology of the subject) is compared to the approach in this book. Since classical India, while understanding dualism, did not confront the challenge of Descartes (for better or for worse), its treatment of body follows a different trajectory.

A Decision Methodology for Determining Suitable Post-Disaster Accommodations: Reconsidering Effective Indicators for Decision-making Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Amin Hosseini ◽  
Albert de la Fuente ◽  
Oriol Pons ◽  
Carmen Mendoza Arroyo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Universal Approach ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Post Disaster

AbstractOne of the main challenges in assisting displaced persons who have lost their homes as a result of a natural hazard is the provision of adequate post-disaster accommodations, such as temporary housing. Although the need for temporary housing has increased around the world in recent years, it has been criticized on economic, environmental, and social grounds. A universal approach to post-disaster accommodations cannot successfully deal with this issue because each recovery process involves a unique set of conditions. Therefore, rather than defining a specific strategy, this study aims to present an approach capable of producing customized strategies based on contextual and social conditions. To this end, first, the main factors influencing the choice of post-disaster accommodations are identified through five case studies. It is concluded that all of the factors can be organized into three main vertices to simplify the highly complex issues involved in post-disaster accommodations. The case studies also show that the decision-making process consists of two main parts. To date, a recurring failure to distinguish between these two parts has led to unsuitable outcomes. Thus, this paper presents a new decision-making methodology, consisting of multiple steps, phases, and indicators based on the main vertices.

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