Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science ... more Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is.
By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and sidelined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy, Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Césaire writings on négritude.
This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Souleymane Bachir Diagne
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Spaces of Thought in African Philosophy
1. The Ceremony Found and a New Human Problematic: Sylvia Wynter After Humanism
2. Vitalism and Bantu Philosophy: Placide Tempels and Jamaa
3. Sasa, Zamani, and Myths of the Future: John Mbiti, Memory and Time
4. Oginga Odinga as Sage Philosopher: H. Odera Oruka and Historicity
5. Ubuntu as Enactivism: Mogobe Ramose and Be-ing
6. A Literary Tradition of Thought: Sophie Olúw?lé, Euphrase Kezilahabi, and a Literature of Philosophy
7. How Do We Speak Of Our Place? Achille Mbembe's World
8. “The Poet Becomes a Prophet”: Suzanne Roussi Cesaire's Négritude
9. Future Events?
This book was published in October 2015. Employing methods from neuroscience, psychology, phenom... more This book was published in October 2015. Employing methods from neuroscience, psychology, phenomenology and simulation technology, Gallagher et al designed the first scientific study of the feelings of awe and wonder experienced by astronauts during space flight. Reported here, this study provides a detailed analysis of the categories of awe and wonder experiences and their replication in two interdisciplinary experiments. It explores questions that pertain to the representations of these experiences in science, art, and culture, and the effect of these representations on our expectations concerning space. The findings of this study are offered as a model for integrating first-person phenomenology and third-person experimental science, with considerations about how culture can shape experience. By pursuing these ‘large’ interdisciplinary methods, the authors argue for an integrated, non-reductionist approach to cognitive science.
"Contemporary visions of nature have been deeply affected by the ongoing interaction and interpen... more "Contemporary visions of nature have been deeply affected by the ongoing interaction and interpenetration of science, nature, and society. These new visions appear to be more complex than older visions of nature and at the same time they seem to challenge our notions of authenticity.
"New Visions of Nature" focuses on the emergence of these new visions of complex nature in three domains. The first selection of essays reflects public visions of nature, that is, nature as it is experienced, encountered, and instrumentalized by diverse publics. The second selection zooms in on micro nature and explores the world of contemporary genomics. The final section returns to the macro world and discusses the ethics of place in present-day landscape philosophy and environmental ethics.
The contributions to this volume explore perceptual and conceptual boundaries between the human and the natural, or between an ‘out there’ and ‘in here.’ They attempt to specify how nature has been publicly and genomically constructed, known and described through metaphors and re-envisioned in terms of landscape and place. By parsing out and rendering explicit these divergent views, the volume asks for a re-thinking of our relationship with nature."
This book analyzes the hermeneutics of place, raising questions about central issues such as text... more This book analyzes the hermeneutics of place, raising questions about central issues such as textuality, dialogue, and play. It discusses the central figures in the development of hermeneutics and place, and surveys disciplines and areas in which a hermeneutic approach to place has been fruitful. It covers the range of philosophical hermeneutic theory, both within philosophy itself as well as from other disciplines. In doing so, the volume reflects the state of theorization on these issues, and also looks forward to the implications and opportunities that exist. Philosophical hermeneutics has fundamentally altered philosophy’s approach to place. Issues such as how we dwell in place, how place is imagined, created, preserved, and lost, and how philosophy itself exists in place have become central. While there is much research applying hermeneutics to place, there is little which both reflects on that heritage and critically analyzes a hermeneutic approach to place. This book fills that void by offering a sustained analysis of the central elements, major figures, and disciplinary applications of hermeneutics and place.
Over the past few decades, there has been much effort put forth by philosophers to answer the que... more Over the past few decades, there has been much effort put forth by philosophers to answer the question, "Is there an African philosophy?" Bruce B. Janz boldly changes this central question to "What is it to do philosophy in this (African) place?" in Philosophy in an African Place. Janz argues that African philosophy has spent a lot of time trying to define what African philosophy is, and in doing so has ironically been unable to properly conceptualize African lived experience. He goes on to claim that such conceptualization can only occur when the central question is changed from the spatial to a new, platial one.
Philosophy in an African Place both opens up new questions within the field, and also establishes "philosophy-in-place", a mode of philosophy which begins from the places in which concepts have currency and shows how a truly creative philosophy can emerge from focusing on questioning, listening, and attending to difference. This innovative new approach to African philosophy will be useful not only to African and African-American philosophers, but also to scholars interested in any cultural, intercultural, or national philosophical projects.
In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climat... more In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climate (fudo), and consider whether it contributes anything to the relationship between climate change and ethics. I will argue that superficially it seems that fudo tells us little about the ethics of climate change, but if considered more carefully, and through the lens of thinkers such as Deleuze
George Hull and Lungisile Ntsebeza, eds, Philosophy in Africa, Africa in Philosophy. Routledge Pr... more George Hull and Lungisile Ntsebeza, eds, Philosophy in Africa, Africa in Philosophy. Routledge Press, 2018: 213-227.
When thinking about the possibility that Deleuze might be relevant or useful to postcolonialism i... more When thinking about the possibility that Deleuze might be relevant or useful to postcolonialism it is worth asking two questions: what problems or questions within postcolonialism might potentially be addressed in a new way (which is to further ask, which questions continue to be unsatisfactorily addressed), and what does it mean to be true to Deleuze in a context such as this? The first question has many possible answers. Postcolonial theory has had much success in highlighting ways of being and becoming ...
Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical und... more Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical understanding, especially across cultural divides. I wish to reposition dialogue from being a force for unity and transcendence, to being a force for distinction and immanence. This creative tension is possible only when one takes a place-based approach to philosophy, that is, when one recognises that concepts have their own provenance, a provenance which was defined and developed as questions were raised in an environment of productive inter-traditional tension. Philosophical traditions are constructed as they (to use Deleuze and Guattari's terms) deterritorialise and reterritorialise thought, that is, as they transform concepts into usable markers of philosophical life. I will resist the impulse to move to the meta-level of ‘conversation’, which serves only to obscure the productive tension between traditions. Attending to the place of philosophy, on the other hand, makes possible both a more thorough self-critical attitude, and the possibility of a productive encounter with philosophy- in-place. African philosophy, I will argue, provides a useful and instructive space in which to rethink dialogue. If we focus on the differences between traditions (what I will term ‘thought-lives’), we will make dialogue productive, rather than regarding it as just a prior condition to reason or as a liberal ideal.
I respond to Jonathan Chimakonam's paper in which he presents an approach to dialogue in philosop... more I respond to Jonathan Chimakonam's paper in which he presents an approach to dialogue in philosophical space, and raises questions about my own approach. I raise four questions to his understanding of conversation. First, I ask him for more details on his conception of conversation. Second, what happens if not everyone cares to enter into conversation? Third, is conversation a prerequisite to philosophy, or a part of philosophy? And fourth, how does wonder fit into conversation in and about place?
Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissip... more Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissipating versions of modernism or postmodernism. However, that identity can also come with a variety of cultural neuroses and manias that are inscribed on place. I consider the ways in which terrorism has become a feature of place, and how we can expect to see the terror of the place in the future. First, we can expect a relative diminishment in 'place-making imagination', the ability to see places as rich, ambiguous, and multi-purposed. Second, we can expect the terror of the place to exhibit itself as an inability to come to terms with the other. Third, we can expect the continuation and development of a triumphalist narrative of place, including a sense of entitlement. Fourth, we can anticipate the death or the fear of the agora, the true 'agoraphobia', as the public space of discourse is closed down, and the private space of patriarchally enforced agreement gains ascendancy. Fifth, we can expect people to regard specific places as having fixed and permanent meanings, and to try to constrain those meanings in such a way as to guarantee that permanence. Sixth, we can expect topophobia, not only the fear of place but also stage fright, as the expression of self on the world stage becomes more and more limited and narrowly focussed. And seventh, we can expect a re-assertion of memory of place, perhaps with a shifted baseline, as the places of terror become exhausted. We can furthermore expect all of these phobias and manias to be rationalized as virtue in a society that cannot deal with the terror of the place.
Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science ... more Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is.
By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and sidelined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy, Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Césaire writings on négritude.
This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Souleymane Bachir Diagne
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Spaces of Thought in African Philosophy
1. The Ceremony Found and a New Human Problematic: Sylvia Wynter After Humanism
2. Vitalism and Bantu Philosophy: Placide Tempels and Jamaa
3. Sasa, Zamani, and Myths of the Future: John Mbiti, Memory and Time
4. Oginga Odinga as Sage Philosopher: H. Odera Oruka and Historicity
5. Ubuntu as Enactivism: Mogobe Ramose and Be-ing
6. A Literary Tradition of Thought: Sophie Olúw?lé, Euphrase Kezilahabi, and a Literature of Philosophy
7. How Do We Speak Of Our Place? Achille Mbembe's World
8. “The Poet Becomes a Prophet”: Suzanne Roussi Cesaire's Négritude
9. Future Events?
This book was published in October 2015. Employing methods from neuroscience, psychology, phenom... more This book was published in October 2015. Employing methods from neuroscience, psychology, phenomenology and simulation technology, Gallagher et al designed the first scientific study of the feelings of awe and wonder experienced by astronauts during space flight. Reported here, this study provides a detailed analysis of the categories of awe and wonder experiences and their replication in two interdisciplinary experiments. It explores questions that pertain to the representations of these experiences in science, art, and culture, and the effect of these representations on our expectations concerning space. The findings of this study are offered as a model for integrating first-person phenomenology and third-person experimental science, with considerations about how culture can shape experience. By pursuing these ‘large’ interdisciplinary methods, the authors argue for an integrated, non-reductionist approach to cognitive science.
"Contemporary visions of nature have been deeply affected by the ongoing interaction and interpen... more "Contemporary visions of nature have been deeply affected by the ongoing interaction and interpenetration of science, nature, and society. These new visions appear to be more complex than older visions of nature and at the same time they seem to challenge our notions of authenticity.
"New Visions of Nature" focuses on the emergence of these new visions of complex nature in three domains. The first selection of essays reflects public visions of nature, that is, nature as it is experienced, encountered, and instrumentalized by diverse publics. The second selection zooms in on micro nature and explores the world of contemporary genomics. The final section returns to the macro world and discusses the ethics of place in present-day landscape philosophy and environmental ethics.
The contributions to this volume explore perceptual and conceptual boundaries between the human and the natural, or between an ‘out there’ and ‘in here.’ They attempt to specify how nature has been publicly and genomically constructed, known and described through metaphors and re-envisioned in terms of landscape and place. By parsing out and rendering explicit these divergent views, the volume asks for a re-thinking of our relationship with nature."
This book analyzes the hermeneutics of place, raising questions about central issues such as text... more This book analyzes the hermeneutics of place, raising questions about central issues such as textuality, dialogue, and play. It discusses the central figures in the development of hermeneutics and place, and surveys disciplines and areas in which a hermeneutic approach to place has been fruitful. It covers the range of philosophical hermeneutic theory, both within philosophy itself as well as from other disciplines. In doing so, the volume reflects the state of theorization on these issues, and also looks forward to the implications and opportunities that exist. Philosophical hermeneutics has fundamentally altered philosophy’s approach to place. Issues such as how we dwell in place, how place is imagined, created, preserved, and lost, and how philosophy itself exists in place have become central. While there is much research applying hermeneutics to place, there is little which both reflects on that heritage and critically analyzes a hermeneutic approach to place. This book fills that void by offering a sustained analysis of the central elements, major figures, and disciplinary applications of hermeneutics and place.
Over the past few decades, there has been much effort put forth by philosophers to answer the que... more Over the past few decades, there has been much effort put forth by philosophers to answer the question, "Is there an African philosophy?" Bruce B. Janz boldly changes this central question to "What is it to do philosophy in this (African) place?" in Philosophy in an African Place. Janz argues that African philosophy has spent a lot of time trying to define what African philosophy is, and in doing so has ironically been unable to properly conceptualize African lived experience. He goes on to claim that such conceptualization can only occur when the central question is changed from the spatial to a new, platial one.
Philosophy in an African Place both opens up new questions within the field, and also establishes "philosophy-in-place", a mode of philosophy which begins from the places in which concepts have currency and shows how a truly creative philosophy can emerge from focusing on questioning, listening, and attending to difference. This innovative new approach to African philosophy will be useful not only to African and African-American philosophers, but also to scholars interested in any cultural, intercultural, or national philosophical projects.
In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climat... more In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climate (fudo), and consider whether it contributes anything to the relationship between climate change and ethics. I will argue that superficially it seems that fudo tells us little about the ethics of climate change, but if considered more carefully, and through the lens of thinkers such as Deleuze
George Hull and Lungisile Ntsebeza, eds, Philosophy in Africa, Africa in Philosophy. Routledge Pr... more George Hull and Lungisile Ntsebeza, eds, Philosophy in Africa, Africa in Philosophy. Routledge Press, 2018: 213-227.
When thinking about the possibility that Deleuze might be relevant or useful to postcolonialism i... more When thinking about the possibility that Deleuze might be relevant or useful to postcolonialism it is worth asking two questions: what problems or questions within postcolonialism might potentially be addressed in a new way (which is to further ask, which questions continue to be unsatisfactorily addressed), and what does it mean to be true to Deleuze in a context such as this? The first question has many possible answers. Postcolonial theory has had much success in highlighting ways of being and becoming ...
Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical und... more Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical understanding, especially across cultural divides. I wish to reposition dialogue from being a force for unity and transcendence, to being a force for distinction and immanence. This creative tension is possible only when one takes a place-based approach to philosophy, that is, when one recognises that concepts have their own provenance, a provenance which was defined and developed as questions were raised in an environment of productive inter-traditional tension. Philosophical traditions are constructed as they (to use Deleuze and Guattari's terms) deterritorialise and reterritorialise thought, that is, as they transform concepts into usable markers of philosophical life. I will resist the impulse to move to the meta-level of ‘conversation’, which serves only to obscure the productive tension between traditions. Attending to the place of philosophy, on the other hand, makes possible both a more thorough self-critical attitude, and the possibility of a productive encounter with philosophy- in-place. African philosophy, I will argue, provides a useful and instructive space in which to rethink dialogue. If we focus on the differences between traditions (what I will term ‘thought-lives’), we will make dialogue productive, rather than regarding it as just a prior condition to reason or as a liberal ideal.
I respond to Jonathan Chimakonam's paper in which he presents an approach to dialogue in philosop... more I respond to Jonathan Chimakonam's paper in which he presents an approach to dialogue in philosophical space, and raises questions about my own approach. I raise four questions to his understanding of conversation. First, I ask him for more details on his conception of conversation. Second, what happens if not everyone cares to enter into conversation? Third, is conversation a prerequisite to philosophy, or a part of philosophy? And fourth, how does wonder fit into conversation in and about place?
Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissip... more Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissipating versions of modernism or postmodernism. However, that identity can also come with a variety of cultural neuroses and manias that are inscribed on place. I consider the ways in which terrorism has become a feature of place, and how we can expect to see the terror of the place in the future. First, we can expect a relative diminishment in 'place-making imagination', the ability to see places as rich, ambiguous, and multi-purposed. Second, we can expect the terror of the place to exhibit itself as an inability to come to terms with the other. Third, we can expect the continuation and development of a triumphalist narrative of place, including a sense of entitlement. Fourth, we can anticipate the death or the fear of the agora, the true 'agoraphobia', as the public space of discourse is closed down, and the private space of patriarchally enforced agreement gains ascendancy. Fifth, we can expect people to regard specific places as having fixed and permanent meanings, and to try to constrain those meanings in such a way as to guarantee that permanence. Sixth, we can expect topophobia, not only the fear of place but also stage fright, as the expression of self on the world stage becomes more and more limited and narrowly focussed. And seventh, we can expect a re-assertion of memory of place, perhaps with a shifted baseline, as the places of terror become exhausted. We can furthermore expect all of these phobias and manias to be rationalized as virtue in a society that cannot deal with the terror of the place.
Janz addresses several questions pertaining to geography, place, and space in African philosophy.... more Janz addresses several questions pertaining to geography, place, and space in African philosophy. First, to what extent and in what way has the Africanity of African philosophy shaped its historical and contemporary practice? How is “Africa” conceived by African philosophy? Second, how does philosophy differ in different places across the continent? How does geography matter in the history of African philosophical and conceptual development? Third, how have the spatial incursions and domination of external exploration and colonialism had an effect on the development and emergence of African philosophy? Fourth, what are the imagined and desired spaces of thought in Africa? Is there intellectual space that emerges before or after colonial domination, or as an alternative to it? Fifth, how does the African diaspora relate to the continent intellectually? Sixth, what is the geography of African philosophy in the world? What are its allegiances and its conversations, and how do (or how might) those shift over time? Seventh, (how) has African philosophy reflected on its own places, both in a physical sense and in an intellectual sense? How has it carved out and maintained an intellectual space, or alternately how has it examined life within its own spaces? And finally eighth, how can African philosophy spring from its own places, that is how can it become philosophy-in-place?
When we think about dialogue, we often implicitly assume that we are thinking about speaking. We ... more When we think about dialogue, we often implicitly assume that we are thinking about speaking. We are faced, though, with the breakdown of the ‘rules’ of dialogue, resulting in a situation that has more in common with war than with a marketplace of ideas. I raise the question of the other side of dialogue, listening, as having an active role in constructing the ecosystem of thought in which dialogue can happen. Listening is difficult to compel, hard to measure, and easy to mischaracterize, but it nevertheless is crucial in establishing the conditions for productive intellectual exchange.
ABSTRACT Samantha Vice’s proposal on how to live in ‘this strange place’ of contemporary South Af... more ABSTRACT Samantha Vice’s proposal on how to live in ‘this strange place’ of contemporary South Africa, includes an appeal to the concepts of shame and silence. In this paper, I use Emmanuel Levinas and Giorgio Agamben to move the discussion of shame from a moral to an existential question. The issue is not about how one should feel, but about the kind of self that whiteness in South Africa makes possible today. Shame desubjectifies. Vice’s recommendation of silence is then taken as witnessing/listening, which I argue grounds the possibility of a recovery of the self.
Conversational thinking has emerged in recent years out of the scholarly philosophical work cente... more Conversational thinking has emerged in recent years out of the scholarly philosophical work centered in Calabar Nigeria and spread throughout Africa and elsewhere. I have previously had the pleasure of discussing some of the finer points of conversationalism with Jonathan O. Chimakonam in the journal Confluence and the journal's relaunch as the Journal of World Philosophies. (CHIMAKONAM 2015; JANZ 2016). Our discussion there centered on questions I raised earlier about the nature and limits of dialogue (JANZ 2015), as well as my work on philosophy and place in an African context (JANZ 2009). Our conversation, in other words, has a history, and I expect it will also have a future. It is a conversation that comes from different places. I am not an African, and I lay no claim to be able to represent African life. Therefore, the approach to philosophy I take is one of examining the conditions for the possibility of philosophy, and the barriers to being able to enact those conditions. This is why I write about place so much. The conditions for thinking in a place and about a place differ in different places, but also have some commonalities. And the barriers to thinking in and about place can be fairly clearly outlined. This is of relevance, I argue, in thinking Africa, not as a set of identities or a history but as a space of thought.
Machines have always been a tool or technical instrument for human beings to facilitate and to ac... more Machines have always been a tool or technical instrument for human beings to facilitate and to accelerate processes through mechanical power. The same applies to robots nowadays – the next step in the evolution of machines. Over the course of the last few years, robot usage in society has expanded enormously, and they now carry out a remarkable number of tasks for us. It seems we are on the eve of a historic revolution that will change everything we know right now. But not only robots have an impact on our life. It is digitization in its entirety, including smart applications and games, that confronts us with new spaces. This special volume of Ethics in Progress tries to broaden our understanding of a philosophical field – robots and digitization – that is still in its infancy in terms of it research and literature.
The article is combined of six chapters authored by these who voiced their experiences with socia... more The article is combined of six chapters authored by these who voiced their experiences with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemics in various contexts, but mostly centered on psychological, sociological, and ethical aspects. Authors, mostly psychologists and philosophers, were invited to describe their perspectives on the sense and practice of social distancing in times of pandemics. Their reflections seek to demonstrate various perspectives related to subjects’ novel self-experience, social situatedness, and their dealing with conventions and habits altered through the pandemics. As “the owl of Minerva takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering” (Hegel), there is no conclusion in this article. It rather encourages other authors to reflect on the nearly global, still lasting phenomenon.
What follows is a reaction to the recently passed Florida Bill HB-7, often called the "Stop Woke"... more What follows is a reaction to the recently passed Florida Bill HB-7, often called the "Stop Woke" bill in popular circles (DeSantis calls it the "Stop W.O.K.E.", or Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act). My comments are not political, that is, I am not interested in engaging in advocacy for some political party or position in response to this bill. Instead, I want to talk about how it affects teaching at the university level, and why it is a departure from accepted standards of instruction and inquiry in universities. First, a couple of clarifying comments. Even though the bill applies to all education in the state of Florida, including K-12, I will only speak about universities. While there are some similar issues between those two contexts, there are also dissimilarities. Second, I am going to assume that students in the university are legal adults. I recognize that this is not always the case, especially in the earlier years. Third, I am going to focus on the classroom situation. The bill applies to all sorts of instruction, including employee training, but for this purpose I will focus on the situation of a standard classroom in which there is at least one instructor who has been hired by the university and approved according to SACS criteria for their discipline, and one or more students who have chosen to be in the class. The important thing to understand at the beginning is the overall way of understanding both scholarship and teaching in the university. Classically it is understood as the "marketplace of ideas". This metaphor has its problems, but for now we can use it. Basically, it means that in the university in at least its modern form, it is a space of inquiry. That means that one cannot go into it assuming he or she is right from the outset. The specific marketplace that people usually
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Books by Bruce Janz
By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and sidelined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy, Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Césaire writings on négritude.
This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Souleymane Bachir Diagne
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Spaces of Thought in African Philosophy
1. The Ceremony Found and a New Human Problematic: Sylvia Wynter After Humanism
2. Vitalism and Bantu Philosophy: Placide Tempels and Jamaa
3. Sasa, Zamani, and Myths of the Future: John Mbiti, Memory and Time
4. Oginga Odinga as Sage Philosopher: H. Odera Oruka and Historicity
5. Ubuntu as Enactivism: Mogobe Ramose and Be-ing
6. A Literary Tradition of Thought: Sophie Olúw?lé, Euphrase Kezilahabi, and a Literature of Philosophy
7. How Do We Speak Of Our Place? Achille Mbembe's World
8. “The Poet Becomes a Prophet”: Suzanne Roussi Cesaire's Négritude
9. Future Events?
"New Visions of Nature" focuses on the emergence of these new visions of complex nature in three domains. The first selection of essays reflects public visions of nature, that is, nature as it is experienced, encountered, and instrumentalized by diverse publics. The second selection zooms in on micro nature and explores the world of contemporary genomics. The final section returns to the macro world and discusses the ethics of place in present-day landscape philosophy and environmental ethics.
The contributions to this volume explore perceptual and conceptual boundaries between the human and the natural, or between an ‘out there’ and ‘in here.’ They attempt to specify how nature has been publicly and genomically constructed, known and described through metaphors and re-envisioned in terms of landscape and place. By parsing out and rendering explicit these divergent views, the volume asks for a re-thinking of our relationship with nature."
Philosophy in an African Place both opens up new questions within the field, and also establishes "philosophy-in-place", a mode of philosophy which begins from the places in which concepts have currency and shows how a truly creative philosophy can emerge from focusing on questioning, listening, and attending to difference. This innovative new approach to African philosophy will be useful not only to African and African-American philosophers, but also to scholars interested in any cultural, intercultural, or national philosophical projects.
Papers by Bruce Janz
By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and sidelined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy, Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Césaire writings on négritude.
This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Souleymane Bachir Diagne
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Spaces of Thought in African Philosophy
1. The Ceremony Found and a New Human Problematic: Sylvia Wynter After Humanism
2. Vitalism and Bantu Philosophy: Placide Tempels and Jamaa
3. Sasa, Zamani, and Myths of the Future: John Mbiti, Memory and Time
4. Oginga Odinga as Sage Philosopher: H. Odera Oruka and Historicity
5. Ubuntu as Enactivism: Mogobe Ramose and Be-ing
6. A Literary Tradition of Thought: Sophie Olúw?lé, Euphrase Kezilahabi, and a Literature of Philosophy
7. How Do We Speak Of Our Place? Achille Mbembe's World
8. “The Poet Becomes a Prophet”: Suzanne Roussi Cesaire's Négritude
9. Future Events?
"New Visions of Nature" focuses on the emergence of these new visions of complex nature in three domains. The first selection of essays reflects public visions of nature, that is, nature as it is experienced, encountered, and instrumentalized by diverse publics. The second selection zooms in on micro nature and explores the world of contemporary genomics. The final section returns to the macro world and discusses the ethics of place in present-day landscape philosophy and environmental ethics.
The contributions to this volume explore perceptual and conceptual boundaries between the human and the natural, or between an ‘out there’ and ‘in here.’ They attempt to specify how nature has been publicly and genomically constructed, known and described through metaphors and re-envisioned in terms of landscape and place. By parsing out and rendering explicit these divergent views, the volume asks for a re-thinking of our relationship with nature."
Philosophy in an African Place both opens up new questions within the field, and also establishes "philosophy-in-place", a mode of philosophy which begins from the places in which concepts have currency and shows how a truly creative philosophy can emerge from focusing on questioning, listening, and attending to difference. This innovative new approach to African philosophy will be useful not only to African and African-American philosophers, but also to scholars interested in any cultural, intercultural, or national philosophical projects.