Cover of Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy
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articles in english
1. Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy: Volume > 32
Anju Aggarwal Politico-cultural Philosophy of Kwame Nkrumah
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African philosophy in the twentieth century is largely the work of African intellectuals under the influence of philosophical traditions from the colonial countries. Among them are few names such as Amilcar Cabral, Franz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah, and Julius Nyerere etc. This paper is an attempt to analyze the political philosophy of Nkrumah, first President of Republic of Ghana in West Africa. The paper argues that from the African political and economic point of view Nkrumah advocated a socialist system created out of the enculturation of African humanist values with the inherited European political culture and social traditions to liberate unite and integrate Ghana and rest of Africa. Following an interdisciplinary approach this paper assesses Nkrumah’s thought both as an individual, intellectual and as a politician. His book ‘Consciencism’ describes the more political than socio-economic approach to class contradictions in African society. He has talked of three objectives i.e. nationalism, pan-Africanism and socialism. Nkrumah who had earlier embraced Gandhian non-violence positive action later adopted the Fanonian lines of revolutionary violence. Though critics in his thought have found profound contradictions or confusions but none can obscure the main achievements. He is remembered as ‘the redeemer’ by the Africans.
2. Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy: Volume > 32
Michael Cloete Wonder, (African) Philosophy and Modernity
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Philosophers generally accept that the experience of wonder is the originating source of philosophy. Although the sources of wonder are (correctly) assumed to be historically contingent and diverse, this assumption seems to lose its credibility when the question of the universal arises. As a result, Western philosophy is paraded all over the world as the normative foundation of all philosophy, to the disregard of “Other” (especially African) philosophical traditions that originate in different sources of wonder. This paper explores some of the implications of the philosophical displacement of the African source of wonder from the perspective of (Western) modernity.
3. Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy: Volume > 32
Ephraim Stephen Essien The Meaning of Complementary in Physics and African Philosophy and their Intersection with Compatibility Theory
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This paper comparatively examines the meanings of Niels Bohr’s and Innocent Asouzu’s complementarity theories and how they differ from or relate with my compatibility theory, C={(≡)|(≈)|(~)|(∩)|(c)}. While Niels Bohr’s principle of complementarity falls under the domain of physics, Innocent Asouzu’s theory falls under African philosophy. I shall, in this paper, locate Bohr’s theory within the context of the new physics of quantum theory, especially within the wave-corpuscular problematic of the nature of electromagnetic phenomena, such as light. I shall present a firsthand meaning of Innocent Asouzu’s complementary theory (having been privileged to be one of his pioneer postgraduate students and his supervisee while the theory blossomed in his opus magnum in 2004 (The Method and Principle of Complementary Reflection in and beyond African Philosophy). Thereafter, I shall connect Bohr’s and Asouzu’s theories with the compatibility theory. Innocent Asouzu’s complementary theory avers that anything that exists serves a missing link of reality. In other words, no entity is self-sufficient and exclusive in itself in relation. Innocent Asouzu says that there are traces of exclusive dualism in Bohr’s reasoning. Asouzu argues that incompatible opposites and contraries can co-exist.
4. Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy: Volume > 32
Christine Gichure Human Nature and Identity in Muntu Anthropology and Ubuntu Worldview
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“Recent ethnic history of the peoples of Africa, though lacking in written documents, is seen to be very complex, yet rich in spiritual, social and individual experience, much worthy of further analysis research. Many customs and rites, once considered to be strange, are seen today, in the light of ethnological science, as integral parts of various social systems, worthy of study and commanding respect”. These words pronounced in three have been part of the inspiration for this paper. Another source of that inspiration was the work of Henry Oruka, in which he presents what he called ‘Sage Philosophy. Oruka defended his work with the argument that philosophical study of any topic in Africa needs to be approached under one or other of the various philosophical approaches. One such approach is the hermeneutical in which the scholar attempts to cull out the philosophical meaning from African wisdom, often hidden in myths, religions, sayings, songs, and poetry. This paper is an attempt to present human nature and identity in the Muntu Anthropology and Ubuntu worldview which shall be described in the body of the paper.
articles in french
5. Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy: Volume > 32
Yaovi Akakpo Lieux du savoir et sciences d’«ailleurs»
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Depuis la fin du XIXème siècle, l’ethnologie a commencé à accorder une place aux «connaissances positives des sociétés exotiques» et aux «phénomènes naturels qui sont appris d’une autre manière par les sociétés indigènes». Les recherches ethnoscientifiques, étant ainsi ouvertes à l’intérieur de l’ethnologie ou de l’anthropologie culturelle, la constitution de leurs terrains empiriques en porte la marque. Alors les sciences «d’ailleurs» ne peuvent être réduites aux savoirs que l’ethnologie traque habituellement dans les «sociétés exotiques». Il s’agirait pour la recherche épistémologique (philosophique, historiographique, sociologique) de devenir de plus en plus sensible, lorsqu’elle interpelle ces sociétés où l’ethnologie a fait ses premiers pas, à ce qui peut correspondre à des pratiques érudites, aux seuls lieux privilégiés où elles se produisent, se communiquent et circulent.