The study explores the maternal health delivery system of Johane Masowe Chishanu of Chitekete (JMCC), Gokwe in Zimbabwe. The Church is growing tremendously and has become popular, owing to its approach to maternal health. The study aimed to find out how the JMCC’s approach to maternal health relates to the biomedical delivery system. We wanted to find out how the JMCC handles this delicate balance in their search for maternal health services with a view to tapping from their experiences in (...) recommending integration between the two systems. The study is both empirical and theoretical. It employs qualitative phenomenological exploration and, makes use of the existing literature on the JMCC’s approach to maternal health issues. The theory of changing beliefs and enduring faith underpinned the study. Past researches on African Independent Churches (AICs) in general tend to focus on how their beliefs and practices influence negative health-seeking behaviours. They have often concluded that AICs are through and through part of the problem in health matters and not part of the solution. The study explores the extent to which the JMCC is positively reinterpreting its beliefs and practices in order to handle the sensitive maternal health issues in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Contribution: Researches have been conducted on maternal health systems and the pandemic of HIV and AIDS in apostolic sects in Zimbabwe in general, and the main focus has been on the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church. Little has been written on the Johane Masowe Chishanu’s (JMC) maternal delivery system, especially about the JMCC, Gokwe. (shrink)

This article unravels the destructive practice of bribery, which is ingrained in South African culture. Through the scenarios in the public transport industry and literature review, the article reveals that indeed bribery is a reality to reckon with. It is observed in all tiers of society such as politics, businesses and religious circles. Bribery explained as a ‘brown envelope syndrome’ is rife in the South African socio-political landscape. The objective of this article is to enlighten the readers that bribery from (...) socio-theological perspectives is ethically unacceptable. It promotes corrupt political accountability, economic inequality, social disrespect and religious hypocrisy. The article starts with personal scenarios and then delves into the definition of bribery as payment in a form of money, favours or gifts, to influence a decision, to receive favours in turn, facilitate fast delivery of goods, gain an unfair advantage, avoid legal prosecution or to supply substandard products or services. The second part of the artilce discusses how bribery clashes with Christian ethics as pointed by Jesus in Mark 7:21–22, as bribery lies buried in human hearts and manifests itself in different sins. There is a clear biblical condemnation of bribery as detestable, and that by all means possible, it should be proscribed. Bribery in political circles is known as ‘brown envelope’, which means the currency exchanges between the corrupt and the corrupted. Solutions suggested is that citizens in their national democracies should break out of the shell and become vocal against bribery. The church should emerge behind the trees and come up with prophetic discernment, wisdom and be vocal against bribery. Personally, those exposed to bribery situations must maintain wisdom and learn how to refuse offers without endangering themselves. This research unravels bribery and its devastating effects of promoting corrupt political accountability, economic inequality, social disrespect and religious hypocrisy. Contribution: This article calls for communities and churches to be vocal against bribery and encourages personal accountability when confronted with bribery offers. (shrink)

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has unmasked the underlying and once-ignored challenges in public health, especially in Africa. The pandemic has adversely disrupted people’s lives where systemic and structural inequalities have taken root owing to the interaction among religious, political, economic, socio-cultural, environmental and other influential factors, resulting in adverse outcomes. These interactions affected not only the psychological, physical, emotional and social wellbeing of all humanity but also their ethical way of thinking. Adherence to the local government ministry of (...) health’s stringent measures, such as voluntary self-quarantine or forced quarantine, may be unattainable. This raises several ethical issues that are not new but which become intensified in pressing situations. Ethically, legitimate public health measures and conservative environmental efforts are easier to voluntarily comply with than being enforced. In this article, a phenomenological methodology was employed to not only debunk the ethical difficulties in adhering to the pandemic’s preventive protocols, but also to reason on the entwinement between the public health and environmental concerns. The article foregrounded that the COVID-19 pandemic is both a healthcare crisis and an environmental ethics challenge. In focussing on how systemic and structural inequalities influence social life, the article argued that public health ethics informs environmental conservation towards a more holistic approach to health and wealth that flows from environmental health ethics. Contribution: The article advanced ongoing discussions on environmental health ethics. Environmental health ethics is a transdisciplinary and integrated approach that upholds sustainable balance and optimisation of the health of people, animals and ecosystems. A sensitisation and realisation of our inter-webbed relatedness to all, is a major step towards sustainable health and wealth. (shrink)

This article focuses on breast cancer as the second most prevalent cancer in Zimbabwe. However, despite several local studies on breast cancer and its risk factors, the incidence rate of the disease in the country is increasing. This article sought to establish the level of awareness of the risk factors of breast cancer among female students. The study was carried out at Great Zimbabwe University, an institution of higher learning in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. A mixed methods approach was employed involving (...) a focus group discussion comprising eight key informants and online individual questionnaires with open and closed questions used to capture attitudes of female students towards breast cancer. Risk factors were categorised into age, family history, reproductive factors, oestrogen, and lifestyle. There were also some cultural beliefs like bewitchment and myths about black brassieres causing breast cancer. Thus, there is need for educative campaigns to disseminate breast cancer information, especially promoting regular screening and awareness of predisposing factors. Additionally, more regular and in-depth studies on breast cancer in Zimbabwe are imperative as our results show a higher prevalence rate than current official statistics. The research provides relevant information for pastoral caretakers handling trauma in the discipline of practical theology. Contribution: This article represents an intersection between practical theology and basic health care. Insights resulted from this study provide a baseline upon which to develop ways to reduce prevalence of breast cancer. The research can also be utilised by specialists in pastoral care and women theologies. (shrink)

This article offers personal reflections and scholarly observations that identify the significance of maternal and paternal aunties in bogadi and ulwaluko traditional ceremonies. Bogadi is a Tswana marital and thanksgiving ceremony between two families. It is a rite of passage for the newlyweds as they are inducted into marriage. Ulwaluko is an initiation of Xhosa boys into manhood. Through an African Feminist lens and an analytic autoethnographic methodology, the authors narrate personal experiences of their aunties roles in closed ceremonial interactions (...) that highlighted the key role African women play in cultural rituals. Findings show that aunties are revered in African ceremonies. In both bogadi and ulwaluko ceremonies, it was evident that we revere aunties as intellectual and moral gatekeepers during these special cultural events. Contribution: The article adds to the growing literature that seeks to write about African women positively through an empowering lens that shows their agency in cultural settings. (shrink)

The COVID-19 period caused a lot of suffering globally, as millions lost their lives while others went through the pain of being infected. The introduction of vaccines to minimise chances of infection and death was a welcome development. However, it was also fraught with its own challenges in the area of sexual health and rights of both women and men. Scholarship on gender and religion noted the way women failed to access contraception in a period in which sexual activity had (...) increased as most couples were together for long periods of time. The introduction of vaccines was accompanied by a lot of misinformation. Lack of clarity on the effect of the vaccines on pregnant and lactating mothers caused a lot of anxiety. This was exacerbated by the information that was being circulated on social media platforms that the vaccines would interfere with individuals’ reproductive capacity. Yet African religio-cultural beliefs and practices place so much importance on both women and men’s ability to have children. In fact, one’s respectability in African indigenous societies is greatly linked to their ability to have children. This article seeks to examine the fears of some Zimbabweans to accept COVID-19 vaccines, establishing how these fears were tied to issues of sexual reproductive health and rights. The article focuses on showing how the terrain of sexual health and rights is a sensitive one which called for caution in a COVID-19 context in Zimbabwe. Data for the article were gathered through informal interviews and social media platforms. Contribution: The article makes a significant contribution to the way COVID-19 interfaced with issues to do with SRHR in Zimbabwe. (shrink)

In La Cena delle Ceneri Giordano Bruno wrote that “the moon is no more a heaven for us than we are a heaven for the moon”, anticipating, in some ways, what would later be called the principle of mediocrity or the Copernican principle: we are not privileged observers and the Earth is by no means a special place in the cosmos. For a long time this insight, supported by the belief that life is a widespread phenomenon in the Universe, drove (...) speculation and thus the search for intelligent life forms on other celestial bodies. However, the first images of the Martian soil already gave a bleak picture, and the same happened a few years later with Venus, only in appearance similar to Earth, in fact a burning hell surrounded by an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The belief that we are not in a privileged position, on a special planet, has given way to new interpretative hypotheses, on the basis of which life, a fortiori intelligent life, would be a rarer phenomenon than we might have expected. Recent advances in the field of astrobiology have made it possible to detect more than 5,000 exoplanets in our galaxy, and this undoubtedly opens up new exploration pathways for the search of extra-terrestrial life as well. Many questions arise: will we be able to recognise extraterrestrial life forms once we have them in front of us, or will they be so different as to be unrecognisable? Should such a discovery occur, will we have any direct duties towards alien ecosystems and exobiospheres? Who will decide what principles should guide future interactions and what criteria should be adopted? If, on the other hand, such contact never occurs, would our cosmic importance be magnified? Would our duties toward our common home be strengthened? And again: do we have a duty to protect our planet exclusively, or should the possibility of abandoning it to colonise new celestial bodies not be excluded? This Dossier aims to shed light on these and other questions, in the wake of a reflection that is now well-established. The philosophical reflection on astrophysics and astrobiology, in its various articulations, represents a field of investigation that for some years now has been trying to provide answers on the nature and impact of new scientific achievements, in ethical, socio-political and epistemological terms. At the same time, it also opens up new questions and new challenges that need to be explored in a spirit of interchange and fruitful collaboration. (shrink)

State of the art in the search for extrasolar planets In the last three decades, the study of exoplanets has evolved from a marginal field into a vital area of research with significant implications for other sciences and philosophy. In this article, we review the recent discoveries in the study of Earth-like planets and the prospects of searching for life through astronomical means.

Exploring an extension to Dick's "intelligence principle" Revisiting Dick’s “Intelligence Principle” in the light of recent technological developments, I present an argument for why one might consider a slight extension to the Principle and I explore some of the implications of the suggested modification.

Lessons from Antarctica. For an ecology of the Solar System It seems plausible that the near future will see an ever greater expansion of human presence in several environments of the Solar System, such as the Moon and the planet Mars. This expansion will have multiple goals, of a scientific, exploitative-commercial, and perhaps military nature. This raises a series of ethical question, made even more pressing by the possibility that some of the extraterrestrial environments affected by human activities may host (...) indigenous life forms. This article is meant to underline parallels and divergences of a future, hypothetical expansion of humanity in space with a process in many ways similar: human expansion in Antarctica. We intend to schematically describe the “Antarctic model”, i.e. the approach adopted so far by mankind as a whole towards the continent, highlighting its collective ethical, ecological and socio-political commitments and implications. Finally, on the basis of ideas taken from the literature on the philosophy of ecology, we will attempt to outline an “ecological mentality” that can be applied to the ethical problems relating to interaction with an extraterrestrial environment, be it entirely devoid of life or hosting a native biosphere. (shrink)

Into the Others’ mind. Remarks on the philosophy of geometry from Kant onwards The post-Kantian debate on the philosophy of geometry prevalently revolved around the question whether axioms are synthetic or analytic. In my view, this suggests that even though Kant’s philosophy often appeared as a critical target, it nonetheless provided a general frame of discussion. In this paper, I aim to expand on this and to show that along with this frame, Kant’s agonists inherited the structure of his transcendental (...) argument for the foundation of spatial cognition. After a short introduction, in the second section, I will thus reconstruct Kant’s transcendental claim, by highlighting that the supposition of the existence of extra-terrestrial minds is pivotal to ground the ‘infra-subjective’ character of the intuition of space. In this respect, I will also show that this hypothesis allows us, at least to a certain degree, to lower the importance of the unicity of intuition and thus the apodicticity of Euclidean geometry. In the third section, I will deal with von Helmholtz’s revision of Kantianism and explain that the endorsement of empiricism is nevertheless coupled with an example whose structure is undoubtedly Kantian. In the fourth section, I will dwell upon Poincaré’s reflection on similar examples and present the idea that conventionalism is in resonance with Kant’s infra-subjectivity. The final section contains concluding remarks. (shrink)

Are the characteristics of life as we know it universal? This paper explores the universality of life characteristics as we know them on Earth and addresses the “N=1 problem” – the challenge of making inferences about extraterrestrial life based on a single sample of life. We discuss Carol Cleland's proposal of a “Shadow Biosphere”, a hypothetical second biosphere with different biochemical and/or molecular features with respect to our known biosphere. This work critically examines Cleland's proposal, considering criticisms and possible cosmic (...) scenarios, such as the Impact-Bottleneck hypothesis, suggesting that catastrophic events, like the Late Heavy Bombardment, may have influenced the evolution of life on Earth and the potential existence of a shadow biosphere. We also explore the habitability of celestial bodies in our solar system, such as Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, as potential targets for testing the universality of life characteristics. The conclusion highlights the importance of ongoing research on these environments to provide insights into the existence of a shadow biosphere and the universality of life beyond Earth. (shrink)

The objective of this article is the critical assessment of contractarianism as an alternative approach to the justification of punishment. In doing this, the article focused on the logic, life, language and limit of contractarianism. The article discovered that even though the theory of contractarianism, when viewed from the perspectives of its life, logic, language and limit, is not a completely convincing alternative to traditional theories on the justification of punishment, however, it expresses emphasis on the unambiguous utility of the (...) social contract idea in the justification of punishment. Also, the article discovered that contractarianism, in its theoretical justification of punishment, hinges on contractarian ideals such as human rationality, consent, voluntary commitment, agreement, enjoyments of benefits and the desire to see to the sustenance of society, as a morally acceptable and praiseworthy basis for the justification. Contribution: The article concluded that an essential part to the merit of this theory of punishment is its positive allusion to and plausible accommodation and acknowledgement of the philosophy of preservationism. (shrink)

South African communities, especially in rural areas, still use indigenous practices such as applying soil paste as sunscreen, building huts with soil and stones and geophagia among others. This study aimed at identifying non-agricultural uses of soil in uMgungundlovu district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, while focusing on the three areas Elandskop, KwaNxamalala and Willowfontein. Information was gathered using key informant interviews and household questionnaires. Results showed that the most common soil uses were for cosmetics and as geophagia, followed by construction, (...) with medicinal use being the least common. Cosmetic use involved using soil as sunscreen or skin cleaner. While geophagic soil was mostly consumed for enjoyment, to satisfy cravings and least of all as a nutrient supplement. Medicinal soil was mostly used to treat wounds and skin ailments such as rashes and acne. Users believed that their pre-treatment methods such as boiling, burning or baking before use were effective in reducing microbial loads and other contaminants in the soil. (shrink)

Ubuntu is an ancient concept and a way of life among most African cultures. It describes the fundamental principles of living for African communities and is rooted in the values of reciprocal sharing. Ubuntu encompasses the whole community in contrast to the Western ideology of individualism and hence the need to sustain and transmit these values from one generation to the next. The study focused on exploring the experiences of high school learners regarding Ubuntu education and training in South Africa. (...) The study was conducted in two selected high schools in the Greater Giyani Municipality of the Limpopo Province. A qualitative research approach and an exploratory, descriptive design were applied. A purposive sampling method was used to identify 15 learners from the two selected high schools for the Boot Camp. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted as a data collection method among the grade 10 and 11 learners. Trustworthiness and ethical consideration were ensured. The findings from the study revealed that learners shared different experiences during the Boot Camp. One of the experiences shared by the learners is the knowledge gained on applying the concept of the theology of the body to Ubuntu values. Internalisation of Ubuntu values forms an essential landmark in the individual’s life, significantly young people growing up within African communities rooted in African culture. Contribution: This study’s findings will help educate young people about Ubuntu’s philosophies and encourage them to disseminate information regarding Ubuntu within their respective schools and communities. (shrink)

Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975) had an important role in the origin and development of evolutionary genetics in Brazil. Not only in 1943, when he had been here for the first time, about six months, but also in other moments, for more extended periods, hewas responsible for the formation of the first generation of Drosophilageneticists with an emphasis on evolution, who later originated groups of research in evolutionary genetics in their respective states/countries. His relationship with three members of the 1943 group deserves (...) special attention. Dobzhansky’s relationship with André Dreyfus (1897-1952), at the time the head of the Department of General Biology at the University of São Paulo, was always respectful and friendly; with Crodowaldo Pavan (1919-2009), Dobzhansky was highly affectionate, alt-hough he was worried about the future of his most beloved disciple; Dobzhansky’s relationship with Antonio Brito da Cunha (1925-2019) was one of admiration for his general culture and sophistication, however, it was less intense than with Pavan. Moreover, several members of his research team, from 1943 to 1956 deserved comments in his reminiscences (not always positive) for the Oral History of Columbia University, for more than 40 pages. (shrink)

At the beginning of the new millennium, in 2001 to be precise, a work began that at the time turned out to be a titanic task. The project of sequencing the genome of the bacterium Rhizobium etli -a nitrogen-fixing bacterium symbiotic with the bean plant- was the first to be carried out in Mexico and the results were not published until a few years later. But how did molecular biology and genetic engineering arrive in Mexico? Among the many ways and (...) paths that can lead to an answer, we chose the laboratory work of Dr. Fernando Bastarrachea Avilés and his trajectory to answer this question but mainly how the practice of bacterial molecular genetics was constructed in Mexico during the last years of the Cold War (1970-1980). As a first step we used the global history of science, where the units of historical analysis are the circulation of knowledge and collaborative networks. As a second step, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with former students of that laboratory in the ‘80s. Consequently, our aim is to account for the process of building socio-technical networks, focused on the field of microbiology. (shrink)

Cultural astronomy remains a vital component of indigenous communities across the world because it represents the preservations of their scientific knowledge. This knowledge consolidates various dimensions of indigenous knowledge systems on navigation, cosmology, religion, time, seasons, ritual, myth, ceremony, law, agriculture, food, economics and social structure. In the consolidation, one notes their concept and perception of objects such as the sun, the moon, the stars, months and seasons expressed in various modes, including poetry. Hence, in this article, eight Tshivenḓa poems (...) were purposely selected for their thematisation of the foregoing objects and provision of the Vhavenḓa’s knowledge production around them. Four poems came from Daniel Malivhadza Ngwana’s Vhakale vha hone, two poems were from Ralson Ramudzuli Matshili’s Zwiala zwa Venḓa, one poem was from Mashuwa Tshindane’s Mutambo wa muhumbulo and one poem was from Ntshavheni Alfred Milubi’s Ipfi ḽa lurere. Relying on the thematic analysis technique, the article shows that, in naming astronomical objects, not only is the Vhavenḓa’s onomastic ingenuity revealed but also their astronomical knowledge. The Vhavenḓa’s notions of onomastics, cosmology, selenology and astronomy can in this regard be viewed as meta-narratives translatable into myth, religion, ritual and philosophy. Contribution: Given the current discourse on the decolonisation and Africanisation of knowledge in South African education, this article might assist the design of pedagogy on Africans’ view of the harmony between the chthonic world and terrestrial life. (shrink)

Applied ethics as singular or plural? Disciplinary Pluralism and the Centrality of Science in the new Horizons of Bioethics The accelerated scientific and technological advancements of the 20th and 21st centuries have, on the one hand, created a gap between Sapiens’ technical abilities and its moral psychology. On the other, it has offered our species unprecedented possibilities for hybridisation with the world outside. The need for a well-structured reflection on the ethical-philosophical aspects of the new scenarios was the driving force (...) behind the transformation of Ethics. Toulmin, in a 1982 paper How medicine saved the life of Ethics, emphasised the key role that medicine played in giving new life to ethics and stimulating the birth of Bioethics, a kind of Applied Ethics at the center of a vast debate. In fact, to take up Toulmin’s expression and, in some ways, revive it, not only medicine, but the sciences of the biosciences as a whole, engineering in its various forms, information technology right up to the leading sectors of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology have fostered the emergence of new areas of reflection and the multiplication of applied ethics. Each area of applied ethics somehow claims its own autonomy, in terms of the elaboration of specific analytical tools, distinctive problems and specific skills that a scholar within that area should exhibit. Nonetheless, it is also clear that the common denominator between the various fields and the connecting elements that emerge in the differences and beyond them should not be overlooked. Faced with these scenarios, there are two main themes that the present Issue intends to focus on.1) To try to answer the question of whether disciplinary autonomy and pluralism in relation to Applied Ethics are the regulatory ideal to which we should adhere or rather (at least in some cases) an obstacle that prevents us from finding a more general framework for sectors of ethical reflection that often present points of contact and interconnected problems that it would be more effective to address by overcoming the hyper-specialisation that today seems to be the ultimate destiny (even) of the philosophical disciplines; 2) starting from the observation that in applied ethics the object of enquiry cannot be a mere Gegenstand (something that is in front of) but an active part of the process of reflection, a further question to be examined will be: what space in an ethics of science must scientific knowledge of reference occupy, in order to avoid making it the mere object of an external reflection? (shrink)

Bioethics and the Ethics of Extinction This article explores the idea of rethinking bioethics in terms of an Ethics of extinction. After showing the centrality to contemporary ethical debates of extinction, the article shows how bioethics was the first broad disciplinary reflection on the ethical consequences of human actions potentially bringing about extinction. In particular, it will focus on a widely debated issue in bioethics related to our inability as individuals and as a collectivity to deal with current existential risks.

Applied Ethics as “the New Ethics”. Toward a new Transformation of the Role of moral Philosopher as a “Moral Expert” This paper argues that applied ethics represents the new ethics. The first part reconstructs the origin of this new way of doing ethics, examining the theses of Parfit and Toulmin. Parfit argues that ethics is a recent discipline, distinct from religion, while Toulmin asserts that concrete problems have prompted philosophers to take up applied ethics. Subsequently, three levels of applied ethics (...) are identified: philosophical, political, and case ethics. However, it is emphasized that applied case ethics has yet to overcome certain prejudices. It is argued that philosophers should participate in case discussions due to their formal expertise. In the secularised and technologically advanced context, philosophy can offer practical solutions to contemporary problems, entering public debates and people’s lives. The philosopher is the ideal interlocutor to discuss contemporary values, adopting a secular and pluralist approach. (shrink)

Creative Ethics. From the Dissent of Science to Anthropo_Ethical Pluralism The techno-scientific accelerations have forced moral philosophy out of a certain self-referentiality and to face concrete problems concerning the life of men. Some factual questions of a bioethical nature (think of the redefinition of life or death) have required as many concrete solutions as possible. These solutions, of course, had to be guided and guided by general principles. And the general principles, in turn, had to be applied in various situations. (...) On the one hand, the general ethics with its principles and on the other, the applied ethics called to face the dilemmas emerging from the technological advance. Beyond the methodological criticalities deriving from the application of the general principles in specific situations and fields, the "general" ethics remains the sub-stale (the substance) of the applied variants, avoiding that the latter is increasingly directed at endorsing the prevailing model of liberalism, which in practice moves along the line of authorisation of all that is chosen autonomously and consciously, with the only limitation dictated by the possibility of insult and fraud. (shrink)

The Future of Bioethics between current Scenarios and new Horizons Bioethics is a complex discipline whose contributions have marked a fundamental part of the philosophical and moral debate of the second half of the 20th century and early 2000s. Adriano Pessina, one of the protagonists of this debate, offers his analysis to shed light on some of these aspects and to reflect on the transformations taking place. The contribution examines issues such as the role of ethics committees, the relationship between (...) bioethics understood as biomedical ethics and global bioethics, and whether it is possible to develop a universalist ethical model. (shrink)

Ethical Reflections from the bioethical Implications of the Ongoing technological Revolution Bioethics, as applied ethics that reason about the interconnections between the biological and technical dimensions of the human, cannot but evolve extremely rapidly. The constant innovations coming, for example, from the field of artificial intelligence or from the manipulation of the genome, cannot but constantly question the human form of life. In this interview, Rossella Bonito Oliva, a moral philosopher, discusses the complex issues of the unthought and artificial intelligence, (...) genome manipulation and the very latest innovation concerning the “production” of a “synthetic human embryon”, highlighting what she calls “the increasingly widespread disinterest in the 'human' form of life”. (shrink)

Bioethics at the Time of Artificial Intelligence Against the backdrop of the bioethical question and artificial intelligence, this paper aims to reconstruct the question starting from the ethical-political and social issues that span the twentieth century to reach our days in a way that, in the eye of the philosopher, can only be even more critical and problematic.

Artificial Intelligence, democracy and humanistic values The article examines various aspects of the technological turn brought about by artificial intelligence from the perspective of the goals that inspire humanistic and democratic ideals. The new technologies directly effect the humanistic ideal that represents individuals as progressive beings whose self realization requires mutual education (J.S. Mill). Cognitive technologies offer extraordinary tools that advance research and intervention capabilities, but the way in which they are spreading also shows their potential for levelling and the (...) tendency towards passivity. Education is a crucial key notion that needs to be introduced into the discussion. (shrink)

Aristotle's Material Reductionist Account of History of Philosophy In his account of the flux of ideas, Aristotle searches the models of his predecessors to find an alternative cause for this; and he finds none. Indeed, no answer is given either by himself or by them as to why nature conforms to order or to no order at all. For this reason Aristotle’s bewildering multi‐variety of causes‐essences is not realisable unless this variety refers to an ideal of unity beyond it. The (...) order, however, that accounts for this unity is beyond understanding in Aristotle. All that man can do is to dedicate himself to the futile pursuit of an ideal of unity. The pre‐Aristotelian philosophers and Aristotle himself resort to the language of myth to make an uneasy compromise between what we can do and what we cannot do regarding this realisation. This attribute of non‐realism is best ascribed to him by Thomas Aquinas; whereas Demetrius Cydones’ (1324‐1398) hellenised output of Aquinas’ Summa Theologica stresses a material reductionist strain as due to Aristotle’s limited understanding of this flux. To this end the functions of ratios and causal principles, once defined by his predecessors and by himself as well, are real because they are the only possible ones. However, any general statement about reality of the form “all is x” – where x is the pre‐Aristotelian idea of water, air, intelligence, love and strife, etc. – has been the result of confusion. We enmesh Truth with the above‐mentioned principles. However exclusive, necessary and sufficient these principles may be, they cannot give us irrefutable propositions regarding the idea of Truth about Reality. (shrink)

An Evolving Theory: The Work of Erasmus Darwin Between Lamarckism and Darwinism The work of the English physician, botanist and poet Erasmus Darwin has repeatedly described as anticipating both Lamarckism and Darwinism. The present analysis is aimed to the analysis of the true contribution of E. Darwin, in order to appreciate its value independently of what has been included in subsequent theories.

The Next Prison Cell: Five Figures Of The Time To Come This contribution takes the famous Prisoner's Dilemma as its starting point in order to think about generational responsibility to futures not yet present. The cell next door, a figure of otherness, is brought back to a temporal figure, defined as the unthought par excellence of the market economy. The movement to move from a thought of spatiality to a reflection on time, thus on duration and sustainability, is articulated in (...) five moments (Marinetti's Manifesto, the Deleuzian reading of Nietzsche, Bergsonian indications of method, Musil's doubts, the action of Pussy Riot), whose role is to guide through the three syntheses of time. In order to move from the total war promoted by futurism to the need to build social horizons capable of duration (cfr. Braidotti, 2017), it is indeed necessary to move from the capitalist paradigm of accumulation to ethical thought, whose field of pertinence does not lay on a spatial perimeter, but is actually time. Only within this field in fact will the concept of vulnerability no longer lead to the paralysis of action, but rather to a thought of sustainability. (shrink)

Epistemology and Metaphysic in Darwin’s Theory of sexual Selection The theory of evolution by natural selection appeared for the first time in 1859 and, despite the initial opposition of some scientists and Churches, in a few years it established itself throughout Europe. Darwin's recognized prestige did not prevent him from criticism and open aversion when in 1871 he published The Descent of Man, a book in which he expounded the theory of sexual selection, which was contested and forgotten for over (...) a century. Its rediscovery occurred when there was a change in epistemological paradigms, also under the influence of different social situations. (shrink)

Simulation loves to hide. Virtual reality between Jean Baudrillard and David Chalmers This essay faces the question of simulation from two different perspectives. The first one is linked to the concept of Hyper-reality conceived by Jean Baudrillard, the second one is elaborated through the concept of Reality+ proposed by David Chalmers. This two concepts can be used to investigate the existenzial phase shift generated by Virtual Reality. The latter, as a risult of the ontological refondation between anthropos and the world, (...) echoes the fondative issue of Western civilitation, materialized in the seamless circuit between artificium and reality. Nowadays, this circuit repeats the ancestral question of anthropos in a new way: how can Homo Sapiens reshapes its narrations within the Virtual Reality? (shrink)

Death in the Light of Vital Tension. Narratives And Responsibility Death narratives are always within our thoughts, even if this is not always highlighted. Whichever way you look at it, death remains an unsolved question, and the main objective of this work is to reflect on the importance of caring, through the tool of narrative captured in a balanced way. Death will always remain a mystery, but our approach to its idea pursues the goal of respectful adaptation to the irregular (...) and jagged edges of its profound essence. This brief survey consists of two parts: in the first, more substantial part, we will attempt to expose the way in which the question of death is thought of in certain cultural contexts; in the second, on the other hand, as a brief systematic conclusion, we would like to briefly highlight the vital tension present in the different narratives of death, with the perspective of an ethical approach in order to indicate the principle of responsibility as the privileged way to fully live the time of choices. Responsibility cannot be interpreted as a hermetic stopper over the black hole of non-sense, but rather as the way towards the production of a concrete reason, not as a projection of illusions, but as a reflection on each person’s history. (shrink)

Different reports by the Ministry of Education in Rwanda have confirmed a decrease in student enrolments in Rwandan private universities since 2014, such that there is a need for effective strategies to address this issue. This study was undertaken to explore effective strategies to revamp student enrolments in six selected private tertiary institutions in Rwanda. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and used a sample of 382 participants out of 13914 subjects. The study employed a structured questionnaire for data (...) collection. The data was analysed by means of percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviation. The findings revealed that the effective institution-based strategies to improve student enrolments in private universities in Rwanda are notably: motivate new applicants by helping the alumni to get jobs, reduce the costs and bring flexibility in fee payment, offer more flexible and marketable programs, improve quality in teaching and provide adequate instructional facilities. It was also found that the effective Government-based strategies are notably: promote graduate employability in Rwanda, provide study loan to private university students, promote more technical programmes than general ones, provide financial support to private universities by the Rwandan government to build their capacity. The study recommended that there should be partnership between the managers of private tertiary institutions and the government of Rwanda in putting in place the suggested effective strategies to revamp the student enrolments of the institutions. (shrink)

Christian street evangelism is one of the Bible-based doctrinal practices found among Nigerian Christians, especially in Southwestern Nigeria. Studies have examined language use in Christian activities, including sermons in church services, at funerals and in marriage ceremonies. However, no scholarly attention has been paid to a linguistic description of language use in Christian street evangelism, which, although sit hares some features with other contexts of Christian activities, manifests some elements that characteristically define it within the series of Christian evangelistic activities. (...) This study, therefore, is a generic structural potential analysis of Christian street evangelism in Southwestern Nigeria. Data were gathered using ethnographic techniques. Data comprised fifteen observed street evangelism activities randomly sampled in different cities in Southwestern Nigeria. Data were subjected to discourse analysis within the purview of Halliday and Hassan’s (1985) Generic Structure Potential (GSP) theory. Findings reveal Christian street evangelism features five obligatory elements: songs, greetings, sermon, prayer and finis; and three optional elements: declaration of purpose, call for confession, and welcome to the fold. (shrink)

There has over the decades been a recrudescence of francophobia in many francophone African countries. This has attracted the attention of scholars across the world and has fuelled a discourse which has myopically constructed francophone Africans’ francophobic sentiments either as a purely xenophobic movement or a nationalist feeling. Meanwhile, for many members of the African diasporas and intelligentsia, francophobia is essentially an expression of their pan-African convictions. In effect, for many francophone pan-African political activists, the act of fighting and mitigating (...) neocolonialism in their countries is inextricably tantamount to exhibiting francophobic sentiments. Such an act is also tantamount to deploying various forms of animosity against France. This is so perhaps because France is arguably perceived as the most dominant neocolonial force in their countries. In this paper, this popular trend is illustrated with close respect to the Cameroonian experience. Using secondary sources and critical observations, the paper specifically looks at how various manifestations of French neocolonialism have given birth to waves of anti-French sentiments among the intelligentsia and in the media; and how this anti-French feeling is mostly expressed in the name of Pan-Africanism. The paper thus examines how Pan-Africanism has, to both the Cameroonian intelligentsia and the media, meant adopting a virulent anti-French discourse or rhetoric. In line with this central objective, the paper answers three principal research questions: what body of evidence proves that there is French neocolonialism in Cameroon? How has French neocolonialism engendered a virulent pan-African discourse that is basically anti-French? And how has this pan-African francophobic discourse been observed or manifested among the Cameroonian intelligentsia and in the country’s private media? (shrink)

This work analyses the discursive ideologies embedded in campaign speeches of Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress (ANC) and Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the period before May 8, 2019, the South African general elections. The study is an attempt to uncover the hidden ideologies the candidates subtly employ to sway voters in their favour. The study employed Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the campaign messages. The data for the study comprised the campaign exchanges of (...) the two candidates retrieved from www.youtube.com. This study shows that the two presidential contenders, through their campaign speeches, employed different ideologies through which they hoped to sway the electorate in their favour. The incumbent, Cyril Ramaphosa, projects the ideology of renewal and the elements of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in his campaign speeches. Julius Malema, on the other hand, being a young leader, sells the ideologies of economic liberation, ‘us’ versus ‘them’ and ‘young’ versus ‘old’, depicting that only the youth can lead South Africa to the promised land. The study submits that political discourse is laden with specific ideologies which are intended to convince the voters to vote for them. It is therefore important that the public be well informed so that they can rationally uncover and identify these ideologies and either accept or reject them. (shrink)

This paper provides an overview of the empirical literature on cyberethics issues within an academic environment, specifically young adults’ behaviours in using cyber technology. While digital media is a part of the institutional and societal drive for informational inclusion and knowledge development, the ethical practices and behaviours among the users of cyber technology have raised questions on users’ awareness and understanding of the implications of ethical violations in cyberspace. Using technology might provide significant theoretical paradigms in understanding how digital media (...) adoption and diffusion, driven by information technology, can vary globally. The study reviews the literature on the emergence of cyber technology ethics, individual characteristics, awareness level, challenges to undergraduates’ cyberethics behaviour, and the central role policy plays in strengthening or promoting ethical conduct in cyberspace. This paper provides current information for awareness of CE, teaching and research on information ethics and related domains. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between smart classrooms and learner’s academic performance in public boarding schools in Gicumbi District, Rwanda. The first objective was to assess the relationship between the availability of instructional facilities and learner’s academic performance in Rwandan public boarding schools. The second objective was to explore the relationship between IT-trained staff and learner’s academic performance in Rwandan public boarding schools. The study targeted 12 public boarding schools from Gicumbi District, where 4 public (...) boarding schools were selected. The study population comprised 1334 respondents, while the final sample size was 308, people who had been selected using Yamane sample size determination. Reliability was ensured through a pilot study and by using Cronbach’s Alpha to measure co-efficient of internal consistency, which yielded good results for approving the study, of 85%. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21. Findings of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between smart classrooms and learner’s academic performance in Rwandan public boarding schools. All the involved variables had a significant relationship with dependent variables which were the availability of instructional facilities (r=.923 and p-value=0.000), IT-trained staff (r=.949 and p-value=0.000). Researchers recommended that teachers need regular Continuous Professional Development to help them update knowledge on the use of smart classrooms. Parents should be mobilised on how to create a technological atmosphere at home for their children because any academic achievement of students depends on how parents have helped them at home. It would be better if parents were able to afford electronic devices to expose their children to technology. Government should make frequent schools supervision on the use of smart classrooms and make sure that sector education officers and head teachers do not keep those machines in hte store instead of letting learners use them. The implication is that if smart classrooms are increased and monitored in Rwanda, academic achievement will improve in boarding schools. (shrink)

This study examined the discourse of resistance in Fem Fani-Kayode’s (FFK) Facebook posts. FFK’s use of language of resistance has not attracted the attention of scholars, especially in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The thrust of this work is to investigate and examine different resistance strategies in some of his political posts. Data for this work were collected from the Facebook page of Fani-Kayode. The posts were downloaded and saved on the laptop device for further analysis. The work adopts a purposive (...) sampling method in data collection, which was preferred because it allows manual assessment of FFK posts to extract relevant data for this work. Five political posts were selected and downloaded from his Facebook page. The five posts were selected because they discussed critical political and security issues in the country. From the five posts, 12 extracts were culled because of their resourcefulness in the use of resistance strategies. This study adopted qualitative analysis using CDA because CDA helps to unravel inherent ideologies in the posts. The study identified and discussed different resistance strategies in the FFK posts on Facebook and their implications. The identified resistance strategies include: proposition, presupposition, negation, propaganda, and emotive lexis. The study submits that the strategies have political, social and academic implications for society. It concludes that social media users should filter information on the media before they react, to avoid the dissemination of wrong information and prevent conflict in the society. (shrink)

Retirement involves the transition from one stage in life to another. This transition has some implications which require coping strategies to survive the occurrences. This study, therefore, investigated coping strategies of retired elderly persons in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. The research design is a descriptive survey. The population of the study comprised elderly persons in Kwara State and the target population consisted of retired elderly persons in selected local government areas in Ilorin Metropolis. 300 retired elderly persons were purposively selected through (...) snowball sampling, with the assistance of the pension office. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The data was analysed using mean and analysis of variance. The results show that retired people adopted the coping strategies of having regular contact with people, spending time in nature (sleeping), performing regular exercise, seeking spiritual comfort, engaging in pleasurable hobbies and receiving support from family. However, there were significant differences in the coping strategies of retired persons in Ilorin Metropolis on the basis of gender, marital status and educational qualifications. The study recommended that male and female retirees should be encouraged to attend retirement counselling regularly, to adjust to the challenges of retirement. This implies that retirement counselling should be arranged for the elderly to ensure better health, emotional stability and physical functioning. This study has provided fresh information regarding coping with retirement that can be used for comparative studies as well as for informing retirement education and management within and outside employment in Nigeria, and perhaps elsewhere. (shrink)

Transparency is an essential tool of local governance which enables the local citizens to hold local institutions accountable for their performance, to foster trust in government, minimize corruption and improve local service delivery. Accountability and transparency have been on the top of agendas in all the local government reforms in Tanzania. For transparency to work properly, it needs effective structures of implementation. Within the local government system in Tanzania, the structures of transparency are present but appear to be not working (...) as they should do. This paper seeks to assess the extent to which the problems of transparency have persisted under the new phase of local government reforms and how they are likely to impact on local service delivery in Tanzania. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to examine the extent to which fiscal transparency in local governments in Tanzania is practised and how this has played a greater role in service delivery. The study used a case study of purposively selected local councils in Tanzania to examine the dynamics of fiscal transparency and service delivery. The findings show that there is little flow of information from higher levels of local governments to the lower levels in relation to resources available and results achieved. The information received from the councils is sometimes opaque or fuzzy in the sense that it does not reveal all about what their leaders do or what important decisions have been made about their councils. The study concludes that the importance of accountability and transparency attached to service delivery in any country is essential for good practice in local governance. Hence, instruments for accountability and transparency at the local levels must be enhanced to enable public institutions and public officials to be responsive to the citizens. (shrink)

COVID-19 offers new opportunities for confrontation and transcendence of the givens of life, including illness, suffering and death. These givens also bring humanity’s greatest gifts, such as joy and compassion. This article reports on two recent African psychology studies on COVID-19. The first study on local rural Zulu persons’ COVID-19 coping experiences provides a contemporary context for the second study on universalising and indigenising the meaning and practice of love after COVID-19. Five main points are made. First, African psychology is (...) original psychology. Second, it refers to psychology in, of, for, and from Africa, on, by and for Africans. Third, it has much to offer psychology in other continents. Fourth, the Greek philosophy of love has considerable African origins. Fifth, the concept of Ubuntu both relates to and extends the notion of agape or unconditional love, through its emphasis on human relationships, which require extra compassionate care during and after COVID-19. (shrink)

The purpose of the present writer is multiple. It is (a) to consider the core philosophy and politics underpinning the teaching of the humanities in the light of the ‘’right to conquest’’; (b) to sum up the key features of the struggle for epistemic decolonisation by the African intellectual icons; and (c) to identify the responsibility of a new generation of African scholars in giving meaning and relevance to such disciplines. Pursuant to these issues, the thesis advanced here is that (...) due to the history of colonisation and the attendant epistemicide in Africa, there is an ethical and educational necessity to inscribe African epistemology and philosophy of education in the teaching and practice of the humanities. The implications for such inscription speak to the need to address epistemic injustice and cognitive dissonance suffered by African students in the learning of such disciplines. Methodologically, the paper does not look at a particular discipline but takes a broad generalisation about the humanities, based on desk-top resource material and reflexivity of the author’s positionality. (shrink)

Over the years South African Traditional Healers have been discriminated against, with claims that they are ‘witch-doctors’. Non-heterosexual Africans are also often faced with the horror of violent attacks stemming from the belief that homosexuality is ‘un-African’. The harsh experiences of homosexual, bisexual and transgender traditional healers are, therefore, unimaginable. This study explored the spiritual (ancestral) influence on the sexual identity of African Traditional Healers, particularly iZangoma. The study revealed that for some iZangoma engaging in same-sex relationships is never a (...) choice but ‘imposed’ or forced by the dominant ancestral guide, depending on which sex the ancestor was attracted to when they were still alive. This paper challenges the idea that homosexuality has never existed in Africa, and is therefore an import from the West. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: this study may potentially inform contemporary African debates around homosexuality and challenge how it is perceived amongst groups that are regarded as playing significant roles of healing and leadership in African communities. Since homosexuality amongst iZangoma is not a chosen identity but forced by ancestral guides, this calls for an end to discrimination against ancestral possession, homosexuality in Africa, and the double stigmatisation against iZangoma who are attracted to the same sex. (shrink)

Studies on retrenchment effects have mostly observed the organisation, the affected, and the survivors, overlooking that of the community. This study explores the effects of involuntary employee retrenchment on community development within the mining sector. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered for the study by adopting a mixed-method approach using snowball and purposive sampling techniques. To establish the effects of retrenchment on the community, an exploratory factor analysis and content analysis were used, drawing on the philosophies of the complex adaptive (...) systems theory. The findings reveal that retrenched employees suffer a reduction in income and spending. Again, the local community where most affected workers reside suffers major developmental setbacks, mainly due to the non-payment of property and other taxes that are used to develop the community. The study confirms the interconnectedness of organisations and environments: they exist as a confirmation of the complex adaptive systems theory. Again, the revelation of the effects of retrenchment which transfers from the organisation to the affected and the community, contributes to retrenchment studies. The study recommends that management negotiates to establish consensus with stakeholders to follow provisions in the Labour Act relative to retrenchment. Again, retrenched staff should learn other employable skills to aid their re-employment. Although engaging employees who have been retrenched was quite difficult due to their scattered nature, this was managed through the use of snowball sampling. A significant implication for organisations and stakeholders in this study is the fact that retrenchment does not guarantee improved performance and can be costly. (shrink)

Human rights gained prominence in sub-Saharan Africa in the wave of democratisation following the collapse of communism. After decades of repressive systems of government, the fledgling democracies took several measures to safeguard democracy, one of which was the introduction of human rights education and education for democratic citizenship in their education systems. This paper reports on a study in Malawi where the advent of democracy led to the introduction of a discipline policy in secondary schools that appeared controversial because it (...) took away teachers’ prerogative and unrestricted powers to discipline accused students. Since the policy came as a directive, without proper consultation of stakeholders, it caused an uproar on the secondary education landscape. The aim of this study was to explore and compare dynamics and forms of resistance that were found in two schools following their implementation of the discipline policy. Using the qualitative design and the comparative case study approach, the study generated data from two purposively sampled secondary schools of different types. The findings of the study showed that although the schools apparently followed the guidelines of the policy, the handling of cases was highly contextual, allowing each school to evade the elements of the policy that appeared controversial. The findings bring to the fore covert and subtle forms of resistance to policy implementation through the dynamics involved in the procedures for handling disciplinary cases. The article argues for a negotiated approach when there is a clash between sociocultural beliefs and policy changes dictated by ‘universal’ demands, otherwise policy implementation will be fraught with internal political undercurrents. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been observed as both a destructive and a transformative game changer in all human activities where it has been adopted. This study looked into the role of Artificial Intelligence in Integrated Marketing Communications, with Jumia Online Ghana as a case. Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as convenience and purposive sampling techniques, the study obtained qualitative and quantitative data from IT staff and customers of Jumia Online Ghana. A total of 112 (...) respondents participated in the study. The study revealed that Jumia Online Ghana boost their marketing communications; undertake marketing leads; and promote their contents and products through the use of Artificial Intelligence. The study recommends that the need exists for AIpowered contents of Jumia Online Ghana to be optimized for mobile devices. It has been established that the use of AI empowers marketing communications in order to reach wider markets. (shrink)

Banking is one of the sectors that have deployed the resourcefulness of the new media for business transactions in Nigeria. Studies from the non-linguistic angle have established immense contributions of the sector to economic growth in Nigeria. While existing linguistic investigations have engaged the language of banking from the pragmatic viewpoint, studies from the stylistic component are very few. Studies have not examined how the banking sector in Nigeria deploys rhetorical devices to create awareness for their prospective customers. This paper (...) engages a rhetorical investigation of banking advertisement in Nigeria with a view to describing how rhetorical devices serve persuasive purposes in the selected banks. The study is anchored on ethos, a subset of the theory of rhetoric. The study describes how the sampled banks deploy extrinsic and intrinsic ethos to persuade their potential customers. Guaranty Trust Bank and First Bank were purposively selected, considering their strength of patronage and deployment of new media advertisements. The study reveals that the selected banks package their advertisements to reflect character, expertise and experience. The selected adverts manifest creative and contextual engagement of songs; verbal, adjectival, pronominal, phrasal, clausal and sentential choices, rhetorical questions, repetitions and parallelism to express the inherent ideologies of the banks. The rhetorical devices adopted express how the banks deploy linguistic devices in enhancing patronage. A rhetorical engagement of advertisements of the selected banks reveals that the ideological statements, mission and visions of the selected banks are contextually expressed via rhetorical devices. (shrink)

The purpose of the study was to explore how to create a Per-Poor innovation (PPI) approach in a way that contributes knowledge. A lot of indigenous system research exists, but the percentage transformed into approaches, products and services is low. The study will create a low-income level innovation artifact by integrating indigenous knowledge (IK) and global knowledge (GK) for Per-Poor innovators. Analogy design science research method was used to create a system of innovation proverbs. Analogy between indigenous Harambee and global (...) systems: Open source software, Software patterns and Kaizen was used to discover innovation rules and principles applicable to PPI. The research findings are synthesising African philosophies and provide a paradigm for integrating IK and GK. Synthesising proverbs and Theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) principles aided in the discovery of possible ways beeping innovation was created. The originality of this research is being first to create an indigenous PPI. (shrink)

This article examines the role of indigenous knowledge (IK) in increasing food security. It questions whether IK can be regarded as inferior to increasing food security given that food scientists and technologists use scientific methods in increasing food security. The rationales for the examination stem from the notion that while IK has been recognised as one avenue for increasing food security, such knowledge is treated as inferior to modern measures or techniques. People who use IK are associated with poverty, backwardness (...) and superstitions. Indigenous knowledge is often marginalised and given little attention in the mainstream studies, research and development institutions. Many professional experts tend to scoff or criticise such knowledge system, viewing them as nonsensical, superstitions, irrational and mythical. The article explores a theoretical research based on an extensive literature review for using IK in increasing food security and advances reasons why IK may or may not be regarded as inferior to increase food security. The theoretical research may be seen as a limitation in this topic, as an empirical research based on interview may have produced a better result. The article reveals that both modern technologies and IK play an important role in increasing food security. Following that IK as Intellectual Property (IP) is taking new significance in the search for answers to many of the world’s most vexing problems, the article proposes measures within Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the form of patent and other approaches through which IK could be applied with other scientific methods to increase food security. (shrink)

This article follows the study of the anti-politics machine that explains why and how developmental projects fail, in the context of a little drought-stricken Karoo town called Vanwyksvlei, Northern Cape. The five (corporate) social responsibility programmes, under the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in South Africa, can be considered a failure and this reveals ‘mismatches’ and contradictions in what is considered ‘development’ between Vanwyksvlei’s residents and SKA. With ethnographic methods, semi-structured interviews and textual analysis, the ‘anti-politics machine’ is useful in deconstructing (...) and depoliticising the relationship among developmental actors involved in the five programmes. Firstly, deconstructing and depoliticising the five programmes attempts to explain the success–failure binary of development that points to critiquing the development discourse from problem-orientated to a problem-solving orientation. Secondly, Habermas’ theory of communicative action aids in the quest of consensus through deliberative and negotiation strategies between local people, national governments and global organisations. Lastly, the significance of the anti-politics machine goes beyond accounting for the five failed corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and extends to the recognition of local sphere, not only to depoliticise the politics of astronomy knowledge with indigenous insight, but also assist in the urgency of water supply. (shrink)

This article focuses on the exploration of behavioural deficits that are manifested by the traditional male circumcision (TMC) initiates of the contemporary epoch. A qualitative research approach amid an exploratory and descriptive design followed by interpretivism paradigm was applied. A purposive sampling technique of non-probability sampling method was used. The in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used as data collection methods. Cala and Mdantsane were selected as research domains because of their involvement in the practice of TMC. Thematic analysis (...) effected through coding was used to analyse data. The findings revealed that contemporary TMC initiates embrace negative teachings in the initiation school that fails to meet societal moral and ethical expectations, such as the preponderance of violence and abuse of alcohol. It also showed non-compliance to the moral code and cultural goalposts by the contemporary TMC initiates. Furthermore, this study recommends for policies to ensure that the rite achieves its sociocultural objective amid the training of traditional nurses and surgeons to astutely manage the rite. (shrink)

Football is a global sport; almost all cultures have catalogues of terms devised to designate its concepts. This study, which is a part of an on-going project by this researcher to develop “A metalanguage for football terms in Yorùbá” (one of the three major languages in Nigeria), seeks to describe strategies for designating football concepts in Yorùbá. Source language data were generated mainly from Dictionary – Inside UEFA – UEFA.com and translated using Newmark (1981) semantic and communicative translation strategies. The (...) essence of the translation is to enable cognition of the terms in the target language. Existing Yorùbá terms for football concepts were generated from audio recordings of radio sports news presentations and dicourses and from football fans at football viewing centres with the aid of questionnaires. The researcher also relied on informants who are competent speakers of Yorùbá and are experts in football matters. These experts were helpful in making choices from the existing designations, and in offering alternative designations where existing terms are deemed inappropriate. The strategies employed for labeling football terms in Yorùbá include composition, idiomatisation, explication, loan translation, borrowing, use of existing equivalents, coinage, derivation, semantic extension, modulation, decentialisation and interlinguistic or hybrid formation. For the purpose of clinical cognition, these terms were categorised into native language creation, borrowing and interlinguistic based on linguistic sources of term creation. It is hoped that the study will significantly improve effective and efficient use of a football vocabulary in the study of the language. (shrink)

Poverty and unemployment are significant barriers to growth in South Africa and are reflected in low levels of income and high levels of unemployment and human deprivation. Rising unemployment is forcing the majority of deprived people to venture into a variety of survival activities such as day labouring in the informal sector of the South African economy, to eke out a meagre livelihood. As the vulnerability of day labourers in South Africa is socially and economically unjust, the main thrust of (...) this article concerns the role of community development in an integrated approach to achieving sustainable livelihoods for South African day labourers. This article takes the form of a review of relevant available literature to provide a coherent account of the vulnerable circumstances of day labourers in South Africa. The inevitable conclusion that can be drawn from the review is that the hardships to which day labourers and their families are subjected, as a consequence of the nature of their work and the poor remuneration that it generates, when they are able to secure a day’s work, effectively condemn them to being obliged to cope in circumstances that could best be described as untenable. (shrink)

Mozambique has the trappings of a progressive African state: abundant gas and coal resources, expanding foreign direct investment, aid from international donors, a decade of political stability, and social welfare for her most vulnerable. However, Mozambique ranks among the least developed nations on the African continent (World Bank 2018; UNHDI 2018). This study investigated why resource-rich, democratic Mozambique is underdeveloped, aid-dependent and poor. Using survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, findings indicate three critical factors: Mozambique’s version of democracy, particularly the dominance (...) of Frelimo; "Dead Aid" and state inefficiency, evidenced by weak forward and backward linkages within the economy, and escalating insecurity in Cabo Delgado. These red flags indicate deficits in Mozambique’s democratic process and shortfalls in her political economy. Affluence and democracy have become sundered during this recent history; this paper seeks causes. One main challenge to the existing deficit could be provided by the introduction of a Freedom of Information Act to strengthen radical media and civil society groups and open up Mozambique’s politics to ethical, progressive and democratic scrutiny. Urgency is required to alter the current regressive path Mozambique treads. The study’s limitation is its moderate sample size. (shrink)

This article presents the findings of a study that measured the extent gender differences in division of housework and religion affected marital conflict in Bamenda, Cameroon. There is extant literature on the general causes of marital conflict from Western studies, such as use of drugs, alcohol, physical and verbal abuse, income, unequal distribution of housework and infidelity, but there is a gap in the body of knowledge for Cameroon, Africa. Studying this phenomenon was of interest because it has been asserted (...) that gender inequality is institutionalised in Cameroon. Rational choice theory (RCT) is used to analyse the phenomenon. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyse the quantitative data. A total of 180 participants completed the questionnaires. The findings revealed that there is no statistical difference between the wife doing all the household chores and marital conflict; equally, there is no statistical difference between the wife’s practice of religion and marital conflict. The findings of this study provide new data that could be used to inform public policy, and support educators, religious ministers and practitioners in conflict management. Recommendations are suggested for public policy consideration. (shrink)

This paper explores the preference for indigenous medicinal plant medicine in Buliisa district, situated in the Albertine Graben. Despite attempts to improve access to conventional health services, there seems to be a preference for alternative medicine from medicinal plants. The specific objectives included examining the forms of indigenous herbal medicine, how they are administered and passed on from generation to generation, preservation challenges and mitigation measures. The study utilises a multidisciplinary approach by using archaeological transect walks, oral interviews with 50 (...) herbalists, observation of the administration of herbal medicine, focus group discussions, and documentary review to collect data. Four hundred and seventy-seven medicinal plant sites were marked using a hand-held Global Positioning System at 80 locations. The results revealed that all plant parts are used for treatment as either independent parts or combined and often with other plant types. The most commonly used medicinal plant parts are the leaves. Buliisa medicinal plants cure various diseases, but the most common ones are sterility, sexually transmitted infections, high blood pressure, back pain, eye diseases, external body injuries, poisoning, and nose bleeding. In addition, treatment for aspects such as luck and spiritually related ailments are also handled. Though the harvesting poses a key conservation challenge, the secrecy embedded in the transmission of indigenous knowledge, education, Christianity and oil exploration is each equally a threat. The study recommends that since most herbal medicines have no overdose, there is a need to undertake more research to document the dosage and side-effects of using medicinal plants and compile a red list of the endangered species. The study has implications for the knowledge and development of herbal indigenous medicinal plants. (shrink)

This article critiques the Mental Health Policy in Brazil with emphasis on the history of struggle for the right of people who have mental disorders and against violence in psychiatric institutions. The article is divided twofold; firstly, addressing exclusion, violence and exercise of citizenship, highlighting the Psychiatric Reform Movement in Brazil from 1970; secondly, contextualising the Ximenes Case with the hospital-centred model in Brazil, bringing information about the National Inspection Report in Psychiatric Hospitals. The legal framework against torture about the (...) deprivation of liberty of people considered ‘mentally ill’ and the social division between desirable and undesirable as a characteristic of this reality. It contextualises the Mental Health Policy and the ongoing counter-reform in the Brazilian Scenario by presenting an item about the Bolsonaro Government and the attacks on Brazilian Mental Health Policy. It is pointed out in the final considerations that torture materialises in the counter-reform underway through the ‘New Mental Health Policy of Brazil’, which masks a new form of torture and suffering exposed by the structuring inequalities of capitalist society. As for the processes of resistance, the fundamental defense of community and participatory policies is pointed out in the face of challenges and complaints against human rights in institutions and logic in the Brazilian government. (shrink)

Family has long been said to have an influence on children’s education. Thus, it can be understood that any difficult domestic situation may have repercussions on children’s education. This study was undertaken to examine the effect of domestic violence on learning effectiveness among primary school learners in Rubavu District, Rwanda. It was carried out in 35 primary schools located in the district. This study adopted the correlational research design; its population comprised 14423 primary school learners, from whom a sample of (...) 390 participants was chosen using stratified random sampling. The data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire with five-point Likert scales. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics including analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis. The findings revealed that domestic violence perpetrated against parents has a significant effect on learning effectiveness among primary school learners (= 0.676, p-value 0.05) in Rubavu district. It was also found that domestic violence perpetrated against learners has a significant effect on learning effectiveness among primary school learners (= 1.024, p-value 0.05) in Rubavu district. Although the Government of Rwanda has taken serious measures to fight domestic violence, the study found that there are a few families in which this offence is still perpetrated. Therefore, the study recommended that there should be collaboration between local leaders, police, school managers and the affected children to apprehend and punish the perpetrators. It was also recommended that each primary school should hire a counsellor to help the affected learners. Each school should also accord special support to the affected students to enable them to succeed in their studies. The findings of this study imply that domestic violence has a detrimental effect on children’s education and that more effort should be made to get rid of this danger among Rwandan families. This study was conducted during the period of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore data collection was difficult; there were restrictions to moving from one district to another. (shrink)

Education in South Africa, and Africa at large, has always been construed from Eurocentric perspectives despite Africa being rich with indigenous philosophies and knowledge systems such as the Ubuntu philosophy. In this paper, we bring forth the viability of Ubuntu pedagogy, which draws from the indigenous Ubuntu philosophy, for the promotion of co-existence, social cohesion and inclusivity in education. Drawing from the Collective Fingers Theory, we examine the extent to which the principles of Ubuntu philosophy can cultivate and restore African (...) indigenous values and cultures in diverse educational settings. We draw from literature to position Ubuntu pedagogy within educational practices. Themes emerging from the subject literature are: Collective Fingers theory, Ubuntu philosophy, principles of Ubuntu pedagogy. As a transformative approach, Ubuntu pedagogy, when embraced with the understanding and dignity it deserves, has a potential not only for reconnecting students with their indigenous values, heritage and cultures, but it also has a capacity to cultivate Ubuntu social values of solidarity, co-existence, respect and cooperation among students. We recommend Ubuntu pedagogy as a transformative and decolonial approach that promotes inclusion and social justice. The paper provides principles that guide the possible and effective implementation of Ubuntu pedagogy in diverse educational settings and implications for practice. The paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the decolonisation of education and the role of Ubuntu philosophy in the restoration of African values in the South African education system. (shrink)

A number of creative texts by Nigerian migrant writers recreate migrant characters’ experiences of love, intimacy and connected identity politics in the diaspora. However, there is a paucity of scholarly engagements with Nigerian migrant writers’ representation of the complexities that attend the formation and reconfiguration of migrant characters’ identity and love relationships outside the motherland. This study, therefore, examines the intersection of love, place and identity in three purposively selected texts – Segun Afolabi’s Goodbye Lucille, Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah and Unoma (...) Azuah’s Edible Bones. The three novels are closely read and analysed using the Postcolonial theory’s conceptions of Othering and unhomeliness, in order to foreground the impact of the ‘condition of the diaspora’ on migrant characters’ relationships and identity negotiations. The study reveals that all three novels feature characters that struggle to align their multiple identities and at the same time maintain meaningful love relationships outside the motherland. There is also the representation of same-sex marriages, green marriages, dysfunctional inter-national, inter-racial and transnational relationships, and the negative effects of distance on love relationships. Time and chance then determine the politics of love and identity in diasporic spaces. Nigerian migrant writers represent the pervasively unpleasant experiences of migrant characters belied in the construction of love with identity politics as coordinate relationships in the Nigerian diaspora, through a rhetoric pain and suffering, in order to underscore the unpleasant second side that there is to the migration narrative of bliss and fulfillment. Thus, they destabilise the hegemonic discourses around West-ward emigration as the panacea to African subjects’ experience of postcolonial disillusionment, in an effort to write back, write right and write committedly. (shrink)

The current spate of religious terrorism in Nigeria is concealed by the perpetrators as a desire to “fight for God”. It is often argued by the insurgents that they are “fighting for God”. The present level of terrorism in Nigeria, occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency, is commonly adjudged to be the most devastating in her religious and political history. The act of terrorism has affected economic, political and social development in Nigeria, amidst destruction of lives and property. The objectives (...) of this study include an examination of some common causes of religious terrorism and the attendant panaceas. The study also examined the reinforcement of the perpetrators due to the conviction that they are “fighting for God”. The study applied the historical research design method. The theories of B.F. Skinner and Abraham Maslow which address the principle of reinforcement and motivation respectively underpin the study. Findings from the study revealed that most of the terrorists are reinforced by the conviction that their act would be rewarded through easy opportunity to get to paradise since their actions were perpetrated in favour of God. The study also revealed the common causes of religious terrorism and some immediate panaceas. The recommendations include the education of the religious adherents by the church, mosque, family and other forms of mass enlightenment by the government and non-governmental organizations. The implications of the study include the unwillingness of international investors to come to the nation due to the unsafe state occasioned by the activities of the insurgents. In addition, the law-abiding citizens are faced with constant attacks on their lives and property by the terrorists who claim to be “fighting for God”. (shrink)

This article focuses on the socio-cultural status of barracks women in Nigeria. The study is important, contrary to the thinking that army wives have no history worth studying because of culture, environment, and sex stereotypes. The paper argues that since the incorporation of women into the barracks, their roles have been complementary in both empire-building and nation-building. Remarkably, their influence contributed to the construction of social relations and interdependence between the colonisers and the colonised. With the departure of European wives (...) from the colony, indigenous officers’ wives transformed their roles from the private to the public spheres to meet the challenges of nation-building and social change. In this piece, we draw on oral sources, military magazines and literature, qualitative data and Internet sources to highlight the socio-cultural status of women and their involvement in colonial and post-colonial societies. This paper reveals that rank is a factor in women’s involvement in gender and service politics. It concludes that barracks women can improve their status in the social and economic spheres through government empowerment and social investment programmes. This study is limited to barracks women in Nigeria. It will help society to know that barracks women have a history worth studying. (shrink)

The stereotyping and sexual objectification of womanhood in Nollywood films have partly been attributed to Nigerian actresses. According to a number of critics and scholars, female actors’ passivity and complicity are to blame for the continuous negative portrayals of women in films. This popular belief follows from the arguable myth that female actors most often accept demeaning roles in films; meanwhile, it is axiomatic that if they reject such roles, androcentric/sexist screen writers will be compelled to develop better female characters (...) for their films. If the above logic seems pertinent, it tends to hastily generalise on Nollywood actresses’ attitude towards the objectification of womanhood. The logic also fails to recognise the grossly understudied efforts made by many Nigerian actresses against women stereotyping in the Nigerian film industry. This paper focuses on these understudied efforts with a view of filling a knowledge gap. Specifically, the paper hinges on secondary sources and critical observations to explore some of the ways in which Nollywood actresses have struggled – and continue to struggle – against women’s stereotyping in Nollywood films. In the first place, the paper examines women stereotyping and objectification in Nollywood films; and in the second it explores three ways in which Nigerian actresses resist their stereotyping in the Nigerian film industry. These include the rejection of demeaning roles, feminine feminist cinema and the tendency to request the same demeaning roles for men. (shrink)

Unlike the inquisitorial court system, the adversarial court requires that counsels willfully resort to face-aggravating impolite non/verbal acts through the instrumentation of relevant court papers as well as the use of professional privileges at the cross-examination phase to the detriment of the opposition, thereby elevating the quest for victory above fact-finding and the dispensation of justice. The study evaluates counsels’ impolite nonverbal communicative behaviour and professional antics which are complementary to verbal impoliteness. Anchored on Watts’ (2003) theory of relational works (...) and Culpeper’s (1996) impoliteness super-strategies, the study drew fifteen (15) purposively selected examples, with preponderance of underlying nonverbal face-aggravating behaviour by professional courtroom participants, from archived pretrial documents and transcripts of proceedings in Mosojo versus Oyetayo (2012). Against the existence of inquisitorial and fact-finding alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms, the disputants chose the adversarial Western-like court system, with a penchant for impolite non/verbal behaviour, for the resolution of the Obasinkin chieftaincy dispute in a Nigerian community. Findings revealed that counsels’ antics and nonverbal impolite behaviour are not only embedded in some legal documents, but also manifested in the form of time-wasting, willful absence from court and embedded presupposing boobytrap arguments that were meant to frustrate the opposition and influence the course of justice. Litigants are advised to explore the ADR alternative while judges should regulate the courtroom use of language to prevent the miscarriage of justice. (shrink)

The Theory of Evolution between Mistakes and Misunderstandings In the late 19th and early 20th century, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was at the center of widespread international debate concerning the causes of evolution. The naturalist Julian Huxley called this phase the “eclipse of Darwinism” to indicate the fact that the evolution of living things had been widely accepted in scientific circles, but not all naturalists of the time believed that natural selection and random mutations were the main causes. Historian (...) of science Peter J. Bowler used the same expression to refer to the period between about 1880 and 1920, when there was a stimulating proliferation of alternative explanations for natural selection as the cause of evolution. Although immediately branded as ideas to be rejected, many of the theories proposed at the time (neo-Lamarckism, orthogenesis, vitalism, mutationism) were not only important in consolidating the theory of evolution, but some elements of them later became constitutive of the very theory they were in fact intended to replace. (shrink)

Jakob von Uexküll’s Opposition to Darwin The Estonian biologist Jakob von Uexküll is considered an important precursor of environmental ecology and a forerunner of zoosemiotics. He was at the centre of German scientific and philosophical debate in the early 20th century for his «theoretical biology» and his theory of «subjective environments». His positions were radically opposed to Darwinian evolutionary theory; however, his arguments often appear flawed by profound misunderstandings, interpretative distortions and confusion between the positions of Darwin's supporters. Added to (...) this is the strong prejudice against a revolutionary worldview regarded as a new religion. (shrink)

At the origin of the inheritance of acquired characters: from Erasmus Darwin to Jean Baptiste de lamarck to remember their true legacy The terms "Lamarckism" and "Lamarckian inheritance" are today widely present in the scientific literature, as a consequence of the recent discoveries in the field of epigenetic inheritance. This article analyzes the different forms of inheritance of acquired traits present in the work of Erasmus Darwin and in other naturalists that anticipated the Lamarck’s proposal in order to show that (...) the current reference to alleged Lamarckian legacies is incorrect both from a historical and epistemological point of view. (shrink)

On Human and other Apes of the kind: Darwinism, Paleoanthropology and Archaeogenetics The affirmation and diffusion of darwinism in Europe coincides with the birth of paleoanthropology. This paper analyzes the interaction between these elements from a historical perspective, underlining on the one hand the relevance of paleoanthropology within the reception of Darwin’s theories at the time, and on the other hand, the importance of recent discoveries in the field of human evolution, stemming from the so-called “Revolution of ancient DNA”. The (...) fall of all anthropological models, brought forward by the implementation of archaeogenetics, opens a new season in the study of humanity’s deep past: the human “family tree” has been chopped down, and in its place, an unexpected and more complex scenario seems to unravel. (shrink)

On some models of chance in Darwin starting from Wilhelm Windelband’s Doktorarbeit The incidence of the notion of chance in the evolutionary mechanism that Charles Darwin envisages in On the origin of species (1859) is one of the basic reasons why the father of the theory of evolution does not willingly use the term “evolution”. At the same time, this incidence also underlies the fact that many of those who, after the publication of Darwin's masterpiece, accepted the evolution of living (...) things as a fact, were reluctant to recognize the core of “evolution” in the interaction between natural selection and the heritable intraspecific variations. However, it must be said that the notion of chance is, in general, anything but univocal. From this point of view, the essay aims to synthetically highlight the presence of some "modes" of chance, which interact with each other, in Darwin's «long argument». In order to reach this end, it will resort to the investigations into the "causal notion of chance" that the neo-Kantian philosopher Wilhelm Windelband develops in his doctoral dissertation, entitled Die Lehren vom Zufall and published in 1870. (shrink)

A river of beneficial variations: Asa Gray’s theistic evolution This paper presents the american botanist Asa Gray’s «theistic evolution», founded on the idea of the compatibility between natural selection and natural theology, as it emerges from his writings on the darwinian themes and from his correspondence with Darwin. To the «orthodox presbyterian» Gray, the variations on which natural selection works, whose origin Darwin defined as «accidental», have been led «along beneficial lines» by God, the author of the design of nature.

From Ladder to Link: metaphors and epistemological obstacles between natural history and evolutionism This paper analyses the history and conceptual implications of two metaphors that pre-existed the reflections of modern biology and yet arrived in scientific discourse through the natural history of the 18th century. Integrating historical perspective and epistemology, the metaphor of the scala naturae and the image of the missing link are examined. The heuristic use of such images concerns the continuist and gradualist conception implicit in the accounts (...) that have attempted to explain the transformations of living beings and their variety over the course of time; therefore, their historical coordinates are briefly reconstructed, analysing how their logic came to be applied to the monophyletic conceptions of human evolution during the 20th century. On closer inspection, as knowledge increased, the metaphors proved to be epistemological obstacles to the advancement of research and theories, as was the case with the nascent evolutionary theory, the effects of which spread as far as neo-Darwinism. (shrink)

The Humiliation by Darwin. Biological Roots of Non-Anthropocentric Developments in Contemporary Environmental Ethics In a 1916 essay, the famous founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud compares his theory to the discoveries of Nicolaus Copernicus and Charles Darwin, talking about three severe humiliations inflicted by scientific investigation on human narcissism. The main aim of this paper is to show how some of the most famous non-anthropocentric environmental ethics are rooted in the humiliation inflicted by Darwin further developments of his theory. The paper (...) focuses on authors such as Aldo Leopold, John Baird Callicott, Paul Taylor, and Holmes Rolston III. Leopold and Callicott’s land ethic claims that moral community will sooner or later correspond to the entire biotic community, following a process of social-ethical evolution characterized by the gradual extension of that same moral feeling of communitarian altruism of which Darwin discusses great evolutionary advantages. Taylor brings a famous epigram wrote by Darwin – in which he recommends himself to never define “superior” or “inferior” the structure of an organism – to its extreme ethical consequences, to the point of founding a biocentric ethics articulated around the intrinsic value of every living organism. Rolston’s Earth ethic pick up a humanity “humiliated” by Darwin’s discoveries and their further developments and offer a chance to redeem itself, moving from its great uniqueness to its great moral responsibility. Through an analysis of the main thesis of the theories of the above cited authors, the paper shows how, in order to found a non-anthropocentric environmental ethics, we should not deny, but rather put in dialogue – and thus highlight – both human natures: the one of a biological organism that lives adapting to the world, and the one of a moral agent who decides how to live his life. (shrink)

The Ideal Nature of Mathematics In the form of images of the world, cartesian mathematics functions unconditionally. Every real number is a complex one. This applies to rationals and irrationals in mathematics. Mathematics takes authority from within itself, not from the world. Thus, it can make no claims on the world and its reality. Benacerraf makes good use of this as he encounters the problem not only of mathematics but of science in general. If we make a compromise between epistemology (...) and semantics in the realm of mathematics, we shall only blur its ideal nature; we do not know what triggers it. Rayo responds to this challenge by admitting that semantics certainly cannot trespass such limits, whereas Linnebo reluctantly accepts the compromise as a possibility for safeguarding the ideal. (shrink)

Man is what he eats. From Feuerbachian gastrotheology to nutrigenomics The first part of the contribution will aim to briefly reconstruct the socio-historical context in which the relationship between Feuerbach's anthropology and Moleschott's physiology was consolidated, in order to analyse the meaning behind the famous slogan 'man is what he eats'. In the second part, it will be shown how Feuerbach's idea that our food choices testify important characteristics of our modus essendi has found further scientific validation in today's Nutrigenomics, (...) which since the 2000s has emerged as an independent field of research that has brought about major changes in food production, processing and consumption. The idea I intend to develop is that the Feuerbachian analysis of food can be useful in framing the conceptual cornerstones of nutrigenomics and in providing tools for framing and understanding this discipline. (shrink)

Moral and legal Autonomy in the Era of artificial Intelligence The ethical principle of autonomy is one of the core principles in the field of applied ethics, from bioethics to ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). In this paper, we pursue an ethical inquiry into how AI systems can affect human autonomy according to a moral and legal perspective, that is, both in its moral dimension (as implicit endorsement) as well as in its legal one (as explicit consent). More specifically, after (...) having defined the concept of individual autonomy from a moral and juridical standpoint as the human normative power of self-determination both in the moral sphere and in the legal one, and thus, better substantiating the AI ethics principle of autonomy as currently adopted in the field, we show how the design of novel AI systems, such as machine-learning and deep-learning algorithms, that widely rule the functioning of digital information and communication technology (ICT), can negatively affect both the preconditions of our moral and legal autonomy, by suspending intrinsic consent that individuals can express in order to endorse external information as a true motive of their choices and actions, as well as bypassing the legal conditions for a valid consent, as the external manifestation of the individual legal autonomy. We conclude by highlighting the ethical implications and risks of such phenomenon and proposing ethical and legal design practices to prevent or mitigate them. (shrink)

The Loss of Handcraftsmanship in the technological Era From Kant to Darwin, from Wallace to Bergson, the hand has been defined as the irreplaceable tool of the human species to free itself from nature and subdue it. Yet is the situation still the same in the age of deferring to technology every task that concerns us? Is this looming danger only about the ability to survive social and energy crises, or does it also concern our disposition to produce authentic art? (...) Art indeed requires the ability to mould matter. Faced with these questions, it will be useful to recover the lesson of Robert Graves, who surrounded himself exclusively with handmade objects in order to create and communicate poetically. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that the Greek term techne indicated precisely man's artistic ability, even before mere technique. (shrink)

«Self» and manifestation. On the relationship between Metaphysical and cosmological perspective in René Guénon Starting from a René Guénon’s study about a particular kind of yoga called «layayoga» (i.e. yoga of dissolution), this essay aims to point out Guenon’s interpretation of the relationship that cosmology and cyclic Hindu’s cosmological theory has with «metaphysical» perspective, that is, the relationship between manifested universe and infinity or non-duality of «ultimate reality», which is called in some cases «Self» (ātmā) or «Supreme Self» (Paramātmā). In (...) addition to being a sign of the arising western interest in the hitherto almost unknown tantric traditions, Guenon’s study, represents for its author an opportunity to point out more than just the «theorical» character of what he means by «metaphysical» traditions. (shrink)

Body schema: between Paul Schilder and Maurice Merleau-Ponty This article aims to investigate the theme of body schema in Paul Schilder’s work, The Image and appearance of human body, and Merlau-Ponty’s writings of 1940s. The choice of dealing with this topic is motivated by the importance of the notion for the comprehension of the embodied existence, essential field of study in both science and philosophy. Therefore, starting with a brief introduction to the topic and emphasizing the importance of some crucial (...) studies in the development of the concept, the article analyzes subsequently some significant aspects of Schilder’s conception: unity, synesthesia, movement, driving and emotional elements in the structuring of the image. The second part is mainly focused on Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of perception, in order to show how the French philosopher surpasses a mere psychological conception of the schema to reach a phenomenological one. (shrink)

Bachelard’s works on imagination have been used primarily by literary critics interested in the archetypal imagery of writers. His treatment of the imagination of matter has led to a method of classifying poets according to their favorite substances, based on a view of Bachelard as a “psychoanalyst” of the elements. But the phenomena of imagination, the images themselves, are not his fundamental concern. Bachelard’s physics and chemistry of imagination also imply a metaphysics. Definition of the contents and function of imagination (...) illustrating a philosophy of imagination in itself is the purpose of the present essay. (shrink)

This contribution aims to offer food for thought on the ancestral role of music for mankind, considering its potential, transversal to different areas of interest, including psycho-pedagogical, clinical and didactic, as a heterogeneous expression of cultures, communities and characters. In spite of the fact that music education is compulsory in secondary schools, not in all contexts the activities are structured and carried out taking into account the positive implications on pupils’ psycho-physical well-being, rehabilitative potential and increased motivation to learn. Just (...) as the possibilities for dynamics and time in music are manifold, so too is the horizon of options that looms over the sky of educational action, intersecting also with the world of technology, which puts innovative tools such as serious games at the service of education. (shrink)

The paper aims to deepen the characteristics, training needs and critical issues related to the initial training of the support teachers in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first part offers a synthetic theoretical framework about the problem. The second part presents the results, still in the initial phase of elaboration, of an exploratory survey conducted among some students attending the active training internship (TFA, fifth cycle) at the University of Foggia. An initial analysis of the results reveals the (...) profile of a rather motivated aspiring support teacher, eager to acquire new skills, with a good level of confidence in technology. The article proposes, in the final part, paths for reflection and action that can be used by training designers and academic decision makers in order to optimize future specialization training for support teachers, at multiple levels. (shrink)

The “threefold” transition from adolescence to adulthood of unaccompanied boys and girls hides an infinite number of personal stories, expectations, sufferings and hopes. These are fundamental elements that must be acknowledged, listened to and valued, along a process of integration that, in its deep meaning, also includes that of the “integrity” of the self. The excursus on legal protection and institutional interventions to protect “young” migrants is accompanied by a broader reflection on interculturality for a pedagogy of encounter.

Today’s scenarios of constant transformation of society call for a necessary reflection on work from an exquisitely pedagogical point of view, in consideration of the multiple transitions that we are witnessing because of phenomena such as progress, forced digitization, the Covid-19 pandemic, conflicts and economic-financial crises. It’s essential to move, for an education to the transition to the Recommendation of 18 December 2006 of the European Parliament on key competences for lifelong learning, from learning to learn. It is one of (...) the eight competences, but essentially the most characterizing so that “learners take the starting point from what they have previously learned and from their life experiences to use and apply knowledge and skills in a whole range of contexts: at home, at work, in education and training”. (shrink)