December 2005
The I Ching or “Book of Changesâ€: A Chinese space-time model and a philosophy of divination
Although often written about, studied, cited, and referred to casually, the I Ching or “Book of Changes” as it is commonly known in English is not well understood in the context of Chinese metaphysics. In this paper, we wish to set the I Ching in the context of a particular space-time model of the Chinese. By “space-time”, I mean the relationship between the events in time, and locations of those...
December 2005
Did a biased jury convict Plato’s Socrates?
It is a matter of scholarly controversy how much of Socrates’ conviction of impiety and for corrupting the youths could be blamed on Socrates’ own defense, on the strength of the persecution’s argument, which has not survived, on prejudicial pre-trial slanders against Socrates . At a point in his trial, Socrates was convinced - and he effectively told the jury this – that he has ably disposed of...
December 2005
Cultural identity and the future of Africa
The major challenge facing the development of the African culture today cannot be easily deciphered without unearthing the problems encountered by the exposure of traditional cultures to the beliefs and practices of other forms of life. Colonialism, capitalism and of recent, globalization are international trends that have called into question the views, ideas and thoughts of the traditional African culture. The result...
December 2005
Transmitting philosophic knowledge without writing: The Ekiti Yoruba philosphic sagacity experience*
Based on recent field research among the Ekiti, South West Nigeria, this paper explores the question of philosophical sages. It attempts to find traditional experts, possessing the capacity for critical and rigorous thought, as required by philosophy, but without the ability to write. Two key questions arise: Do experts in philosophic thought exist among the Ekiti Yoruba, and if so, do they match, if not surpass, the...
December 2005
Theoretical considerations on the impact of worldviews of development
The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and mechanism of the impact of world views (ideologies, broadly speaking) on the development of society generally, with particular reference to Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria. It has been recognized long ago that the materialistic interpretation of society (that sees the value-base of a society – that is, its philosophical value system – as a creation of the...
December 2005
The quest for an enduring social peace: The Nigerian situation
How can an enduring peace be assured a society? We subscribe to thesis that to achieve social peace, it is imperative that the culture of violence and war prevalent in virtually all societies is replaced with a culture of non-violence and peace. This requires embarking upon a process of peace education as a means of imparting and imbibing new set of values that are essential for constructing the right attitudes as...
December 2005
The interpretation of “Jihad†in Islam
It is unfortunate that misconceptions has been given to the meaning and duty of Jihad by some European writers, by assuming that the word is supposed to be synonymous with war. This paper therefore focuses attention on the true meaning and duty of Jihad. It also aims at stating the different kinds of Jihad and the manner in which each of these kinds is carried out.
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