In this episode, Aamir Kaderbhai (Mst Study of Religions), Heeyoung Tae (BA Philosophy, Politics, & Economics), and alicehank winham (MPhil Buddhist Studies) converse with Dr. Anatanand Rambachan (Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College), Dr Brett Parris (DPhil candidate in religious ethics at Oxford) and Dr Lee McBride III (Professor of Philosophy, The College of Wooster) about the nuances of liberatory philosophies in the African(a) and South Asian philosophical traditions.
In this series finale episode we intersect our journal’s subthemes though by no means end their exploration. Our guests link reasoning and logic to social thought and practice by reflecting on the African(a) and South Asian philosophical traditions as well as Euro-American educational practices. Their comparisons focus on liberatory philosophies that work on alleviating oppression through the transformative power of philosophy. Yet there are differences between philosophies of liberation despite this similar goal. We explore similar themes and nuanced differences between some South Asian and African(a) liberatory philosophies including new and old takes on Advaita Vedanta philosophy and insurrectionist ethics. We examine the dangers of essentialization and how we can use language in forms of coalition-based action from a philosophical lens. This ties philosophical analysis to our daily lives, socio-political institutions, and practiced norms. We become able not only to orient ourselves towards liberation but also to nuance our paths of questioning and education in that direction.
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In this episode, Aamir Kaderbhai (Mst Study of Religions), Heeyoung Tae (BA Philosophy, Politics, & Economics), and alicehank winham (MPhil Buddhist Studies) converse with Dr. Anatanand Rambachan (Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College), Dr Brett Parris (DPhil candidate in religious ethics at Oxford) and Dr Lee McBride III (Professor of Philosophy, The College of Wooster) about the nuances of liberatory philosophies in the African(a) and South Asian philosophical traditions.
In this series finale episode we intersect our journal’s subthemes though by no means end their exploration. Our guests link reasoning and logic to social thought and practice by reflecting on the African(a) and South Asian philosophical traditions as well as Euro-American educational practices. Their comparisons focus on liberatory philosophies that work on alleviating oppression through the transformative power of philosophy. Yet there are differences between philosophies of liberation despite this similar goal. We explore similar themes and nuanced differences between some South Asian and African(a) liberatory philosophies including new and old takes on Advaita Vedanta philosophy and insurrectionist ethics. We examine the dangers of essentialization and how we can use language in forms of coalition-based action from a philosophical lens. This ties philosophical analysis to our daily lives, socio-political institutions, and practiced norms. We become able not only to orient ourselves towards liberation but also to nuance our paths of questioning and education in that direction.
Episode 6: Tradition and modernity in African cultural philosophy
African(a) and South Asian Philosophies
1 hour 53 minutes
3 years ago
Episode 6: Tradition and modernity in African cultural philosophy
Scarlett Whelan and Kei Patrick interview Prof Ochieng’-Odhiambo and Zeyad el Nabolsy about attitudes to tradition, modernity and modernisation in the work of two African philosophers: Amilcar Cabral and Henry Odera Oruka. Scarlett Whelan (Mst African Studies) and Kei Patrick (BA Philosophy and French) interview Prof. Frederick Ochieng’-Odhiambo (University of the West Indies) and Zeyad el Nabolsy (Africana Studies, Cornell), on attitudes to tradition, modernity and modernisation in the work of two African philosophers: Amilcar Cabral and Henry Odera Oruka.
This episode aims to prepare listeners them for engagement with turn 2 of oxford public philosophy, by introducing some themes of modern Africana philosophy. We first raise and dispel some common meta-philosophical concerns about Africana discourses, and consider epistemic differences between the African and European traditions.
Diving into some approaches to particular philosophical traditions, Prof. Ochieng tells us about Kenyan philosopher Odera Oruka: his concept of philosophic sagacity, and his project of developing a truly authentic national culture, which would protect Kenya from harmful foreign practices and ideas.
Unpacking the idea of authentic national culture, we bring Oruka into conversation with cultural philosopher Amílcar Cabral. Cabral broadly endorsed an anti-essentialist, historicized conception of culture, and saw cultural liberation in terms of cultural autonomy as opposed to the preservation of indigenous cultures. Zeyad provides us with a useful distinction between cultural influence and cultural domination, which we apply to some common discussions about tradition and cultural development in Africa.
African(a) and South Asian Philosophies
In this episode, Aamir Kaderbhai (Mst Study of Religions), Heeyoung Tae (BA Philosophy, Politics, & Economics), and alicehank winham (MPhil Buddhist Studies) converse with Dr. Anatanand Rambachan (Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College), Dr Brett Parris (DPhil candidate in religious ethics at Oxford) and Dr Lee McBride III (Professor of Philosophy, The College of Wooster) about the nuances of liberatory philosophies in the African(a) and South Asian philosophical traditions.
In this series finale episode we intersect our journal’s subthemes though by no means end their exploration. Our guests link reasoning and logic to social thought and practice by reflecting on the African(a) and South Asian philosophical traditions as well as Euro-American educational practices. Their comparisons focus on liberatory philosophies that work on alleviating oppression through the transformative power of philosophy. Yet there are differences between philosophies of liberation despite this similar goal. We explore similar themes and nuanced differences between some South Asian and African(a) liberatory philosophies including new and old takes on Advaita Vedanta philosophy and insurrectionist ethics. We examine the dangers of essentialization and how we can use language in forms of coalition-based action from a philosophical lens. This ties philosophical analysis to our daily lives, socio-political institutions, and practiced norms. We become able not only to orient ourselves towards liberation but also to nuance our paths of questioning and education in that direction.