Papers by Lawrence Bamikole
Philosophy Study, 2014
The notion of personal identity is a topic that is widely discussed in all philosophical traditio... more The notion of personal identity is a topic that is widely discussed in all philosophical traditions-western, African, Asian, and Caribbean. The thread that runs through the different conceptions of personal identity is that the notion is linked with self-consciousness, whether in the metaphysical, epistemological, religious, or social contexts. In this paper, I shall focus attention on Hume's conception of personal identity drawing from it, and certain implications for affective communal life in Africana societies. It is a common knowledge among philosophers that Hume denies the ontological and independent existence of the self. For Hume, the self is a bundle of perception. However, in another section of the Treatise of Human Nature, Hume examines the development of what could be considered as self, placing it in a broad social context in which mirroring fellow minds have a critical role. What is significant in Hume's conception of personal identity is that the self is the locus of multifarious experiences and the social context in which it is placed enables us to relate the self to affective and relational construction of identity. It is then argued that this conception of identity can be used to stress the need for affection, love, compassion, sympathy, and empathy among persons, which in turn can promote societal transformation in Africana societies.
Caribbean Quarterly, 2007
... are some things to learn which can illuminate the idea of identity which in turn can be creol... more ... are some things to learn which can illuminate the idea of identity which in turn can be creolized to form a ... This is exactly what is involved in the dialectical conception of identity and creolization. ... In order to have a distinctive Philosophy, Caribbean philosophy must creolize itself ...
The concept of national identity has been conceived and used in different ways and for different ... more The concept of national identity has been conceived and used in different ways and for different purposes, especially within the context of a multicultural state. In the first instance, its primordialist interpretation, which sees national identity in terms of 'blood relation' can be used by politicians and technocrats to subvert the unity that is paramount to a multicultural state. On the other hand, the social constructivist view, which sees the concept as an 'artificial contrivance' can be used by a vicious leadership as a weapon of repression against dissenting voices. In this paper, we shall argue for a middle ground between the primordialist and social constructivist conceptions of identity. This middle ground position suggests that national identity is a dynamic and transformative concept and in the hand of a visionary and committed leadership, national identity is a tool for establishing unity, cooperation, solidarity and development in the multicultural state.
The notion of personal identity is a topic that is widely discussed in all philosophical traditio... more The notion of personal identity is a topic that is widely discussed in all philosophical traditions-Western, African, Asian, and Caribbean. The thread that runs through the different conceptions of personal identity is that the notion is linked with self-consciousness, whether in the metaphysical, epistemological, religious, or social contexts. In this paper, I shall focus attention on Hume’s conception of personal identity drawing from it, certain implications for affective communal life in Africana societies. It is a common knowledge among philosophers that Hume denies the ontological and independent existence of the self. For Hume, the self is a bundle of perception. However, in another section of the Treatise of Human Nature, Hume examines the development of what could be considered as self, placing it in a broad social context in which mirroring fellow minds have a critical role. What is significant in Hume’s conception of personal identity is that the self is the locus of multifarious experiences and the social context in which it is placed enables us to relate the self to affective and relational construction of identity. It is then argued that this conception of identity can be used to stress the need for affection, love, compassion, sympathy, and empathy among persons, which in turn can promote societal transformation in Africana societies.
Keywords: David Hume, personal identity, affective community, sympathy and empathy, Africana societies
Two assumptions are made in this paper. The first is that there is more than one conceptual schem... more Two assumptions are made in this paper. The first is that there is more than one conceptual scheme in any attempt to understand and explain the realities in the universe; whether natural or human, visible or invisible. The second assumption is that conceptual schemes are always amenable to revision given the changes in human experience about the natural and the social worlds. The first assumption is a direct antithesis of Davidson's (1984) position that there is no alternative conceptual scheme beside the one that has been established by Western Philosophy. The second assumption is also opposed to Kant (1965) that conceptual schemes (categories) are fixed for all times. The position maintained in the paper is that there is indeed an African conceptual scheme which is different in important respects from the Western conceptual scheme. Furthermore, conceptual schemes are capable of being revised in order to enable us account for the mutual interactions that are witnessed through the different dimensions of the phenomenon of globalization. These two positions have implications for a relational conception of the self and rights which are at the bottom of human's attempt to give a more credible explanation of the self and the ascription of rights, within Western and non- Western philosophies The Self and the ascription of rights in Western (Anglo-American) Philosophy. The history of the analysis of the concept of self or person in Western Philosophy dates back to the Socratic period where attention was shifted from the Pre- Socratic philosophers' attempt to search for the external realities of things to the attempt where such search was directed inwards. This change of emphasis in the philosopher's search for truth and ultimate reality was exemplified in the Socratic injunction, "know thyself". The essence of this 'revolution' in thought is that in order to get to know what exists in the external world, there is the need to be familiar with the internal operations of the human mind, because it is only through the mind's operation that access can be made into external realities. However, the modern conception of self dates back to Rene Descartes who actually used the analysis of self for the larger project of searching for the criterion of truth and reality. Although the British empiricists' conception of the self was different from that of Descartes, the fundamental position regarding the notion of self was still the same. This position is that the self is the basic unit of analysis in all political, ethical and social
... JO Sodipo (Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2004). Idowu Williams, Theorizing Conflict and Violenc... more ... JO Sodipo (Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2004). Idowu Williams, Theorizing Conflict and Violence: Contemporary Africa and the Im-perative of Peaceful Co-existence, in Journal of the Centre for Ethnic and Conflict Studies, University of Port Harcourt, vol.1, no.1, 2004. ...
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Papers by Lawrence Bamikole
Keywords: David Hume, personal identity, affective community, sympathy and empathy, Africana societies
Keywords: David Hume, personal identity, affective community, sympathy and empathy, Africana societies