Science and African Metaphysics
If one takes the African situation as a case study, one finds that serious efforts are made for the sake of scientific progress and exploration. However, the results attained are not comparable to the energy expended. Lack of progress is often attributed to faulty policy formation and execution on the part of African leaders and governments. This essay attempts to shed light on the source of this problem. The heuristic principle I follow holds that the metaphysical preconditioning of consciousness leads us to approach sensory data in particular ways and, furthermore, influences both our formulation of problems and possible solutions. I note the lapses in African metaphysics and sketch an alternate metaphysics which I hope will inaugurate a new African system of thought.
INTRODUCTION
The distinctions Between metaphysics As Body Of Beliefs and metaphysics as a Tool Of Exploration shall serve as the foundation of this essay. The essay would review and highlight some important characteristics of metaphysics as the most fundamental science and the basic tool of exploration. This claim, among others, has incidentally been the root of most harsh and destructive criticisms against metaphysics as a quest in futility. (1) These doubts and criticisms notwithstanding the understanding of metaphysics as the catalyst of scientific progress and exploration would be upheld in this essay. This is borne from the insight that scientific progress is sustained by the urge to go beyond each attainable results. To stimulate this urge, whether real, hypothetical or even imaginary would be identified in this essay as the pride of metaphysics. Yet not all quest for quantitative and qualitative scientific growth based on this urge is rewarded with the same amount of progress. If the African situation is taken ask a case study, one discovers that serious and consistent efforts are made within this area to ask questions that go beyond the possible limits of attainable results. Yet the curious energy expanded within the African context in terms of search for scientific answer to challenging problems does not always seem to have yield commensurate results as comparable to what is obtainable elsewhere. A pertinent question then is this: Why is a quest sustained by the urge towards breaking new grounds fundamentally the same, but the results in terms of tangible or recognisable results remain at variance?
TWO MODELS OF METAPHYSICAL INQUIRY
Two models shall be put up for reflection - the science oriented model and the mythological model.
In my presentation today I shall focus first on Heidegger's attempt to tackle the problem of "metaphysics" and his wish to transcend it. Then I shall try to evaluate his thoughts about transcending metaphysics in connection with his interpretation of Nietzsche's anthropology which he considers to be the top achievement of metaphysics.
That the world is, is apparent, but what the world is, is neither evident, nor easy to comprehend. The theoretical analysis of the universe has still been the hardest problem for metaphysics the object of which is to determine the nature of things and relations and to discover the ultimate principle ordering all things and changes into one world.
Kant deals with the issue of metaphysics in his two prefaces of Critique Of Pure Reason. In the first preface, metaphysics is described as ‘the queen of all the sciences’ (Kant 1). This imagery is highly influenced by the time that Kant lived since many European countries had monarchical governments. Just like how a queen is the most influential figure in a monarchical country, metaphysics, in Kant’s time assumes this elevated role in philosophical inquiries and other fields have subordinate ones. Hence, the image of queen undoubtedly implies that metaphysics has a major role to play and other fields of study have subordinate roles. However, the empire of the ‘queen’ fell because of its firm grip on dogmatism, anarchy and scepticism which reigned from within.
The historiography of Africa is very important. It is the only factual way we can understand the history of Africa as a continent. Archeology, art, linguistics, genetics, and indigenous written sources are all great pieces of works needed to start to understand the history of Africa. Although they all come from departments in history, together they reveal and answer the questions we have had for many years. As we learn more about the different works, it opens more questions to be answered. The questions are to help reconstruct Africa’s past and respect the existence of the continent.
This paper discusses how cosmology and how philosophy can be connected to one another. In order to explain this reason, the paper is broken down into three subtitles which are: metaphysics, religion, and ontology. Each part connects to cosmology in one term or another. In each subtopic, it will discuss the topic, its background in the philosophical review. As a result, in the conclusion, it will discuss how cosmology compares to them all.
The origin of modern humans is one of the most widely debated concerns in the area of paleoanthropology. Ever since the discovery of the Neanderthal in the mid 1800’s, scientists such as Charles Darwin and many others have been overly curious about the similarity of man to certain great apes and how over long periods of time have evolved from different archaic forms of humans up to today’s homo sapiens.
The coming in of Europeans in Africa resulted in many changes. At first their arrival led to the improvement of trade, though a lot of minerals were taken away by them. But things turned worse when that trade turned into the selling and buying of human beings. From that time many things happened to the African people. Some of the things that happened were the arrival of missionaries who had also an impact on the African community. Later on it was the conquest and the partition of Africa. Many of these experiences that happened when the Europeans arrived affected Africans negatively. This paper will reflect on the changes and the consequences that happened when Europeans encountered Africans.
... the metaphysician is mistaken in his wordings and his errors in judgment. It seems that the metaphysical philosopher would gladly lead us into a world of untruths and a world that could never be true. Ayer lets the metaphysicians keep some dignity by states that, " although the greater part of metaphysics is merely the embodiment of humdrum errors, there remain a number of metaphysical passages which are the work of genuine mystical feeling; and they may more plausibly be held to have moral or aesthetic value." Ayer ends his papers letting the readers know that metaphysics should be reduced to a mere "mystic" reading, and that it should be left off as an idea of philosophy. He says we must forget that which is beyond our empirical understanding and focus on that which is within our realm to truly understand our lives, and the way they are, or should be lived.
Fathers and Sons by Russian author, Ivan Turgenev, is set in the Russian countryside in the mid 1900’s. The novel tells the story of a new coming belief and religion that causes a lot of tumult between the age generations in the country. The older individuals continue to follow tradition, while most of the younger generation starts believing a new belief: nihilism. We generally define nihilism as “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless” (Oxford Dictionary). According to Arkady one of the characters in the book, ”A nihilist is a person who does not take any principle for granted, however much that principle may be revered” (Turgenev, 57). The new and exciting belief attracted a lot of the younger generation of Russia. Those who didn’t like this new faith, stayed true to their aristocratic beliefs. An aristocrat is someone who believes in a government in which traditionally, nobility holds power. In this case, an aristocrat simply believes in the traditions and doesn’t encourage change. The historical context and setting of the novel are very important for the description of the theme in the novel. Through the setting of the story, which included Russia having big economical, social, political and religious disruptions, Turgenev explores the theme of generational conflict and sets the stage for the story.
The novel Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev follows the story of several characters in mid 19th century Russia. The novel touches upon some of the most important themes happening within Russia during this time.
In the 19th century novel Fathers and Sons, author Ivan Turgenev compliments the theme of the generation gap by portraying two divergent paradigms of nihilism and the author’s personal ideology, romanticism. Yevgeny Bazarov’s is used as a representative of nihilism thus epitomizing one side of the spectrum; meanwhile Nikolai Kirsanov serves as a token for romanticism. Both characters experience key tests through character interaction in the novel and thus strive to test their own perspective. Through the use of the characters of Nikolai Kirsanov and Yevgeny Bazarov, Turgenev respectively conveys that balance and progressiveness are essential in order to sustain one’s philosophy through life’s challenges.
Adas, Michael. 1989. “Africa: Primitive Tools and the Savage Mind” In Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology and Ideologies of Western Dominance, from Historical Problems of Imperial Africa. Edited by Robert O. Collins and James M. Burns, 30-39. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers.
Space exploration is known to create an intellectual understanding of our Earth and has become and influence to us in comprehending our solar system. Throughout history, many people have studied the view of our universe from Earth, but now we can rely on technology and discover other galaxies and planets. As space explorations become more advanced, it began to teach people about our universe and attract many people to work at NASA. From our nation's space explor...
Fathers and Sons is a novel written by Russian author Ivan Turgenev and originally published in 1862. Emerging in tsarist Russia during the realism period of literature, Turgenev examines the subject of changing generations in his novel. In Fathers and Sons the new generation is represented by the characters Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov and Evgeny Vasilich Bazarov, recent university graduates and self-proclaimed nihilists. Nihilism, a term popularized by Turgenev himself, is a broad philosophical school of thought that debases traditional values of life. Fathers and Sons was both written during and set in a time when nihilism movements in Russia were gaining a strong following. Throughout the novel Turgenev uses a combination of characterization, irony, and conflict to denounce nihilism.
W. V. O. Quine (1908-2000) did not conceive of philosophy as an activity separate from the general province of empirical science. His interest in science is not best described as a philosophy of science but as a set of reflections on the nature of science that is pursued with the same empirical spirit that animates scientific inquiry. Quine’s philosophy should then be seen as a systematic attempt to understand science from within the resources of science itself. This project investigates both the epistemological and ontological dimensions of scientific theorizing. Quine’s epistemological concern is to examine our successful acquisition of scientific theories, while his ontological interests focus on the further logical regimentation of that theory. He thus advocates what is more famously known as ‘naturalized epistemology’, which consists of his attempt to provide an improved scientific explanation of how we have developed elaborate scientific theories on the basis of meager sensory input. Quine further argues that the most general features of reality can be examined through the use of formal logic by clarifying what objects we must acknowledge as real given our acceptance of an overarching systematic view of the world. In pursuing these issues, Quine reformulates and thus transforms these philosophical concerns according to those standards of clarity, empirical adequacy, and utility that he takes as central to the explanatory power of empirical science. While few