One day a newly hatched eagle fell from its mother's clutches as she was flying over a chicken yard. The young eagle grew up in the chicken yard with young chickens and took on the habits, customs, and behavior of chickens. He ate like a chicken, walked like a chicken, and generally performed his daily routine like the birds who surrounded him. One day an eagle flew over the chicken yard, perhaps a parent eagle, looking for the lost eagle. Perched (...) high on a tree's limb over-looking the chicken yard, the eagle saw the young eagle that had fallen out of its mother's clutches. The old eagle called to the young eagle, “Eagle, can you hear me?” The young eagle thought of himself as a chicken and did not respond to the call of the eagle in the tree. However, the old eagle continued to call out to him, “Eagle down there, hello.” Finally the eagle in the chicken yard thought, can that eagle in the tree be yelling to me? So he looked up at the tree and saw that the old eagle was beckoning to him to fly up to the tree's branch. The young eagle said, “I cannot fly. I am a chicken.” Insisting that he try to fly the old eagle said, “No, you are not a chicken you are an eagle and I know your parents, in fact, I am your mother and your father is waiting for me to bring you.”. (shrink)

This essay deals with the ideas of Ifeanyi Menkiti and Kwame Gyekye on the individual-community relationship. I begin with a provocative statement: most African intellectuals struggle with abandoning Westernity and consequently remain at the Eshuean crossroads seeking to please both sides of the abyss. It is my argument that both Menkiti and Gyekye understood that teasing out our philosophical problems might lead us to an intellectual clarity about the concepts of community and individual in African cultures. I am making no (...) attempt to solve this problem of Eshuean crossroads in this essay; I simply want to establish the grounds upon which the combatants of philosophical ideas like Menkiti and Gyekye are fighting. Keywords: Westernity, Ifeanyi Menkiti, Kwame Gyekye, Eshuean Crossroads, Africa. (shrink)

White on White/Black on Black is a unique contribution to the philosophy of race. The text explores how 14 philosophers, 7 white and 7 black, philosophically understand the dynamics of the process of racialization.

Examining the lives and works of three iconic personalities —Germaine de Staël, Stendhal, and Georges Cuvier—Kathleen Kete creates a groundbreaking cultural history of ambition in post-Revolutionary France. While in the old regime the traditionalist view of ambition prevailed—that is, ambition as morally wrong unless subsumed into a corporate whole—the new regime was marked by a rising tide of competitive individualism. Greater opportunities for personal advancement, however, were shadowed by lingering doubts about the moral value of ambition. Kete identifies (...) three strategies used to overcome the ethical “burden” of ambition: romantic genius, secular vocation, and post-mythic destiny. In each case, success would seem to be driven by forces outside one’s control. She concludes by examining the still relevant conundrum of the relationship of individual desires to community needs, which she identifies as a defining characteristic of the modern world. (shrink)

Context and theory : Molefi Kete Asante and the Afrocentric idea -- Reason and analysis : Africana and new interpretations of reality -- Afrocentricity and modernism : innovation encounters and traditions -- Afrocentricity and post modernism : the moment of truth -- The paradigmatic rupture : critical Africology.

This article reconsiders Molefi Asante’s idea of Afrocentrism. It discusses Eurocentrism and the search for identity that provoked Afrocentrism as an intellectual paradigm. It details some basic tenets of the Afrocentric paradigm and makes some critical remarks on certain issues in the conceptualisation of the Afrocentric paradigm. Essentially, those remarks revolve around the notions of multiculturalism, identity and language. First, the article argues that the Afrocentric paradigm, through its openness to anyone interested in it – an extension of its (...) claim to multiculturalism – drags itself back into the problem of identity that it initially set out to resolve. This is because it provokes the dilemma of extreme inclusivity and extreme exclusivity. Second, it uses the language of Eurocentrism to fight against Eurocentrism, which seems absurd. Third, it glosses over the fact that, apart from Africa, other cultural civilisations might have significantly influenced the intellectual development of the ancient Geeks. The article argues, therefore, using the methods of analysis and critical argumentation typical of philosophical writing, first, that Afrocentrists may need to re-articulate the Afrocentric paradigm in such a way that would address the problem of identity which it set out to resolve by properly delineating its boundaries. Second, they need to address the language question, which is an important aspect of the problem of identity. Third, they need to recognise and respect the contributions of other cultural civilisations to the Greek intellectual development. This does not upset their multiculturalist programme. (shrink)

Në këtë artikull shtjellohet kontributi i Claude Lévi-Strauss-it në antropologji. Lévi-Strauss e shndërroi antropologjinë në një projekt shkencor me një vlerë shumë më të sofistikuar intelektuale për të kuptuar njerëzimin sesa ç'mendohet apo sesa ka arritur më parë kjo fushë. Kontributi i tij përfaqëson rithithjen e kësaj fushe në qendrën e ideve perëndimore, përderisa ai e riformuloi antropologjinë si një projekt intelektual, një profesion të intelektualëve të kohës, në vend të një profili të specializuar me gjuhën, të dhënat, metodat, teknikat, (...) dhe teoritë e tij të ralla. Sipas Clifford Geertz, asnjë antropolog nuk ka qenë më insistues sesa Lévi-Strauss në faktin se 'praktika e profesionit të tij përbëhet nga një kërkim personal i drejtuar nga një vision personal dhe që synon shëlbimin personal.' Në formën e mitit standard profetik të një kërkimi heroik me antropologun si hero, sipas Richard Shweder, Lévi-Strauss e shndërroi ekspeditën e tij në brendësinë e virgjër të Amazonës në një kërkim vizioni dhe e shndërroi antropologjinë në një mision shpirtëror për të mbrojtur njerëzimin kundër vetvetes. (shrink)

Proza e shkurtër në këtë vëllim, e ribashkuar nën titullin „Me duar në xhepa të qepur”, tërheq konflikte midis ekzistencës dhe thelbit, duke projektuar ngërçe, aporie identitare dhe shëmbëlltyra komunikimi. 1-0 (?) është një satirë për futbollin dhe aranzhimet - në favor të skuadrave apo lojtarëve të caktuar - që u prodhuan intensivisht gjatë periudhës socialiste, të dominuara nga gënjeshtra, mistifikimi dhe faji. GIONÍ diskuton për komplekset adoleshente-adoleshente të disa krijesave me status të pasigurt, të përhumbur nga dështimi dhe dështimi, (...) të cilat autori, në frymën amerikane, i shpëton në fund, duke i dërguar në punë (pa na shpjeguar sesi do të ishte i mundur shpëtimi ontologjik). Mekanizmi epik në XHAMANTANI BOJËALLI duket i huazuar nga Mircea Eliade, i zbatuar vetëm në dimensione deterministe, ndër të cilat zbulimi I paautenticitetit të një martese është më pak problematik. Tek KU ISHA NË VEND, strategjitë e fiksionit autobiografik funksionojnë me mjeshtëri, autori rikujtues na çon nëpër labirintin e fatit drejt arratisjes në brendësi. Katër tekstet e fundit (në anglisht) janë drafte për më vonë. Një sërë ilustrimeve mbështesin tekstet dhe, në tensionin e ideve, gjarpërimet e rrëfimit të Florentin Smarandache befasojnë këndshëm, duke shkaktuar keqardhje që autori, shumë më i tërhequr nga shkenca, por edhe nga avangarda, nuk kërkonte një konservator fati letrar në prozë. Kam bindjen se do të jetë një sukses. (shrink)

The study of phenomenological Marxism in China can be divided into three stages up to the present. The first stage spanned from the 1980s to the second half of the 1990s. During this period Luo Keting consciously set up the project of combining phenomenology with Marxism, and the boom in Sartre studies brought about the wide spread of existential Marxism. The second stage spanned from the second half of the 1990s to the 2010s, when Marxist researchers and Western philosophical researchers (...) in China energetically attempted the combination of phenomenology and Marxism. The third stage has run from 2010s to the present, in which specialized teams of researchers have researched phenomenological Marxism, and Chinese researchers have gradually showed their own awareness of problems facing Chinese society. However, how a phenomenological Marxism based on subjectivity can construct a holistic view of history is a problem that still needs to be deeply explored. (shrink)

O presente trabalho aborda questões conceituais sobre o racismo no Brasil relacionadas ao processo histórico de colonização, destacando a criação de um imaginário coletivo hegemônico, eurocêntrico, patriarcal, reproduzido pela ideologia dominante e reforçado por práticas racistas nas relações sociais. Por outro lado, trazemos a decolonialidade como uma ruptura epistemológica que procura romper com as ideologias coloniais dominantes que imperam sobre o pensamento ocidental e aponta saídas para o enfrentamento do racismo estrutural. O aporte teórico se dá pelo olhar decolonial de (...) autores como Walter Mignolo (2017), Anibal Quijano (2009), Molefi Asante (2009), Nah Dove (2017) e Lélia Gonzales (1984) e das questões sobre raça, racismo, anti-racismo e racismo estrutural com autores como Kabengele Munanga (1999), Antônio Sérgio Alfredo Guimarães (1999), Carlos Moore (2007), Antônio Olímpio de Sant`Anna (2004). A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa bibliográfica de caráter exploratório e descritivo. A sociedade precisa acreditar que o racismo existe para ser combatido, ao contrário da forma velada e negacionista como se apresenta no cotidiano brasileiro. Como resultados, temos um imaginário popular para formas de racismo específicos sedimentados culturalmente por um projeto de colonização que impôs e impõe a imagem do negro com características de inferioridade nas mais diversas instituições sociais existentes: racismo estrutural, racismo institucional, racismo midiático, racismo epistêmico e racismo ambiental. (shrink)

RESUMENDesde la teoría postcolonial se han cuestionado los modelos de historia de las ideas impuestos por el africanismo y el orientalismo. Diferentes teóricos africanos –Bachir Diagne, Mundimbe, Wiredu o Kete Asante– han formulado diversas soluciones para superar las dificultades. Este trabajo explora las principales dificultades y las propuestas para elaborar una historia de la filosofía africana.PALABRAS CLAVESFILOSOFÍA AFRICANA, AFROEPISTEMOLOGÍA, HISTORIOGRAFÍA FILOSÓFICA, TEORÍA POSTCOLONIALABSTRACTThe postcolonial theory was questioning the patterns of History of Ideas imposed by Orientalism and Africanism. Different African (...) theorists –Bachir Diagne, Mundimbe, Kete Asante or Wiredu– developed various solutions to overcome the difficulties. This paper explores the principal challenges and proposals so as to build a History of African philosophy.KEYWORDSAFRICAN PHILOSOPHY, AFRO-EPISTEMOLOGY, PHILOSOPHIC HISTORIOGRAPHY, POSTCOLONIAL THEORY. (shrink)

The involvement of the pharmaceutical industry in medical education can be seen as something completely natural. Who better than the producer of the med-icine would know how the drug was developed, how the process of it being au-thorized for sale proceeded, and what the side effects of it are? Today in the United States, more and more colleges are implementing strong pharmaceutical conflict-of-interest policies. Interaction between students and medical school staff with these companies is undesirable, because they share marketing materi-als (...) more often than honest data, and their representatives use various ways to influence these current and future physicians during their meetings. This article will describe research which shows what pharmaceutical mar-keting directed at students looks like in the USA – its character, frequency, and potential impact on future medical decisions. Also, ways of regulating interac-tion between medical schools, their staff and students and the pharmaceutical industry will be expressed. Guidelines of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Institute of Medicine and the American Medical Student Associa-tion will be described. At the end, questions about their influence on reality and whether medical schools’ policies can be an effective barrier for pharmaceutical marketing on medical schools will be asked. (shrink)

Pas një hyrjeje për karakteristikat e rajonit të përkufizuar si zonë kulturore dhe për përballjen e nacionalizmave serb dhe shqiptar, që nuk kanë humbur asnjë rast për t'u acaruar në çdo moment, do të përpiqem të integroj në këtë artikull qasjen antropologjike në lidhje me konsideratat historike dhe gjeopolitike mbi territorin dhe kulturën shqiptare. Për të kuptuar dukuritë aktuale, një çështje më duket thelbësore: të dihet që nëse trashëgimia historike dhe identitetet kulturore, nëse nuk justifikojnë, të paktën shpjegojnë, sadopak në (...) mënyrë të arsyeshme, konfliktet etnike dhe nacionalizmin apo, në të kundërt, shërbejnë thjesht për të përcaktuar dhe, në rastin më të mirë, për të racionalizuar marrëdhëniet ndëretnike midis grupeve sociale. (shrink)

Este artigo apresenta uma investigação sobre as produções científicas e tecnológicas ocorridas naantiguidade africana. Discute as várias realizações da ciência e tecnologia nas antigas civilizações doNorte da África e da África subsaariana, como também a cultura e os costumes. Desmistifica a falsaideia de que a África não teve uma história nem teria produzido conhecimento nenhum relevante, alémde ter sido injustamente considerada como civilização obscura e atrasada. Através de pesquisasrelevantes de filósofos europeus, estadunidenses e africanos como Cheikh Anta Diop, Molefi (...) KateAsante e Theophille Obenga abordadas neste trabalho, aponta-se aqui as contribuiçõesepistemológicas, científicas, filosóficas e culturais do antigo Egito e da África subsaariana. Assimsendo, este trabalho explora a África real que existiu na antiguidade onde ocorreu desenvolvimento emdiversas áreas do conhecimento. (shrink)

_Return to the Kingdom of Childhood: Re-envisioning the Legacy and Philosophical Relevance of Negritude_ examines the philosophy of Negritude through an innovative analysis of Léopold Sédar Senghor’s oeuvre. In the first book-length study of Senghorian philosophy, Cheikh Thiam argues that Senghor’s work expresses an Afri-centered conception of the human while simultaneously offering a critique of the Western universalization of “man.” Senghor’s corrective, descriptive, and prescriptive theory of humanness is developed through a conception of race as a cultural manifestation of being. (...) Thiam contends that Senghor’s conception of race entails an innovative Afri-centered epistemology and ontology. For Senghor, races are the effects of particular groups’ relations to the world. The so-called “Negroes,” for example, are determined by their epistemology based on their fluid understanding of the ontological manifestations of being. The examination of this ontology and its ensuing epistemology, which is constitutive of the foundation of Senghor’s entire oeuvre, indicates that Negritude is a postcolonial philosophy that stands on its own. The hermeneutics of Senghor’s race theory show that the Senegalese thinker’s pioneering postcolonial philosophy remains relevant in the postcolonial era. In fact, it questions and expands the works of major contemporary African-descended scholars such as Paul Gilroy, Edouard Glissant, and Molefi Asante. Thiam’s approach is thoroughly interdisciplinary, combining perspectives from philosophy, literary analysis, anthropology, and postcolonial, African, and cultural studies. (shrink)