Theme and Performance in Symphony No 5 by Philip Glass

Of Philip Glass's twelve symphonies - perhaps the most popular minimalist composer after John Cage – it is the choral Fifth, entitled "Requiem, Bardo, Nirmanakaya", composed in the years of full maturity (the first performance took place in 1994), that mostly impresses through its grand design, display of instruments and human voices, soloists and four choral ensembles may be considered a version of the theocratic scenario that projects the history of mankind in the order of the divine, characteristic of the premodern age. Glass's originality consists in the overlapping of several mythical structures - Swedish, biblical, Buddhist, Islamic, Sufi, etc. - in accordance with the holistic epistemology of the contemporary era. Despite the Buddhist references in the title, the narrative is modelled on the biblical archetype, from the genesis of the universe to the Last Judgment and it ends with the vision of a future humanity bonded in brotherhood, peace and compassion

Translation as destruction: Kezilahabi's adaptation of Heidegger's “Being”

Tanzanian novelist and philosopher Euphrase Kezilahabi strives to “dismantle the resemblance of language to the world” (1985: 216) through challenging the fundamental philosophical dichotomy of subject and object. The result of this dismantling will be a new “language whose foundation is Being” (Kezilahabi 1991: 69; lugha ambayo msingi wake ni kuwako). This is an expression of a new relationship between humanity and Being built on a holistic epistemology of experience and embodiment. Through “kuwako”, Kezilahabi expresses in Swahili the Heideggerian concept of Sein (Being). His adherence to Heidegger, however, puts him at risk of compromising the very foundation of his own philosophy: his continued critique of essentialism. This article argues that Kezilahabi salvages his concept of “kuwako” from these essentialist pitfalls precisely through his declared “destructive rather than deconstructive stand vis-à-vis the Western philosophy of value and representation” (Kezilahabi 1985: 4). The destruction is implemented on the thematic level: a phase of “vurumai” (chaos) which destroys previous traditions of philosophy is staged in Nagona. However, translation is an even more powerful device to carry out this destruction: “kuwako” is not an innocent reiteration but a radical reformulation of Heidegger's central philosophical concept, decisively informed by Kezilahabi's lifelong propensity for existentialism.

The Theory of General Devolution: A Call for an African Solar Renaissance

Through its theory of general devolution, this article shows that as African holistic epistemology was pushed at the fringe of cultural and scientific practices, Africa lost the advances it enjoyed in precolonial time in the domains of equality of the genre, ethical norms, medicine, textile, astronomy, and so on, because African scholars could not defend the scientific validity and superiority of the holistic epistemology on which these traditional values are based. For the solution to this general devolution, solar renaissance is urged as the reintroduction of solar religion which will practically result in the parallel reintroduction of the initiatory education with its accompanying development of the potential for the freedom soul, a powerful tool against “epistemological obstacles.” The demonstrated scientific validity of African holistic epistemology will thus lead to the revalorization of our original cost-efficient and cost-effective traditional technologies.

True Enough

Epistemology standardly holds that there can be no epistemically good reason to accept a known falsehood or to accept a mode of justification that is not truth-conducive. Such a stance cannot accommodate science, for science unabashedly relies on models, idealizations, and thought experiments which are known not to be true. We ought not assume that the inaccuracy of such devices is a sign of their inadequacy. When effective, they are felicitous falsehoods that exemplify features they share with the phenomena they bear on. Inasmuch as works of art also deploy felicitous falsehoods, they too advance understanding. True Enough develops a holistic epistemology that focuses on the understanding of broad ranges of phenomena rather than on knowledge of individual facts. Epistemic acceptability on this account is not a matter of truth or truth-conduciveness, but of what would be reflectively endorsed by members of an idealized epistemic community – a quasi-Kantian realm of epistemic ends.

Menggagas Epistemologi Tafsir Alquran yang Holistik

This paper aims to examine the epistemology of thematic Qur’anic interpretation. The main characteristic of thematic Qur’anic interpretation that can answer questions comprehensively is rare. The focus of this paper is how to implement the holistic epistemology of thematic Qur’anic interpretation to be a source of reference in Qur’anic interpretation. Analytical study of thematic analysis on Qur’anic thematic epistemology conducted by researchers of Qur’anic studies offered a new term that is a holistic epistemology of Qur’anic interpretation. The formulations of its epistemology explained in table 1.2 and table 1.3 in the paper. This paper shows the correlation of the thematic tafsir with many issues occurred in reality. This concept argued to be a solution in a dialogical relation between text and context and give the solution to the problem faced in Muslim society.

The tenets of hermeneutical realism

This article explores and attempts to resolve some issues that arise when at stake is the need to harmonize philosophical hermeneutics with a kind of realist philosophy of science. The author takes issue with established position in the realism-antirealism controversy. Interventionism is criticized for a residual Cartesian dualism. Cognitive relativism is debated by developing a concept of situated transcendence in the constitution of objects of inquiry. Non-behaviorist arguments against scheme-content dualism are advanced that appeal to context- sensitive theory of meaning. Social constructivism is rejected for the hypostatization of epistemic positions. The article suggests a model of the constitution of meaning. It undertakes an attempt at demonstrating how the integration of this model in a hermeneutic philosophy of science leads to realism without epistemological representationalism, foundationalism, and cognitive essentialism. The article is oriented toward a new dialogue between hermeneutic phenomenology and a holistic epistemology.