Introduction: A popular orientation about the meaning of human life in scholarly and public discourses is to conceive of human life as a form of existence whose essential value exists per se, that is, human life is necessary and not contingent on other ideals or entities. The import of this orientation is that human life is valuable in and by itself; and thus held to be sacred. This article employs expository and hermeneutical approaches in arguing for a fluid and ambivalent understanding of human life among the Yorùbá people mostly in Nigeria. By drawing from orature – sayings, anecdotes, proverbs – the article shall argue for the preponderance among the Yorùbá of a situation approach where the quality of life of an individual, social status, moral conduct and the particular context of death determines the value attached to human life. Such
Introduction: Participatory expressions of spirituality have begun to flourish over the last few decades through the collaborative efforts and individual journeys of a network of scholars and practitioners. Several authors have made important contributions to the ongoing definition of participatory spirituality (including but not limited to Ferrer 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011; Ferrer et al. 2004; Ferrer and Sherman 2008; Heron 1996, 1998, 2006; Reason 1994b, 1998b; Reason and Bradbury 2001a; Sherman 2008; Tarnas 2001, 2002). By way of orienting the definition given here, I adopt a three-question format borrowed from an earlier definition (Reason 1998b) of participatory spirituality that includes the questions of methodology, epistemology, and ontology. The order in which these questions will be introduced is not arbitrary.
Introduction: Nikolai Jeffs received his BA and Ph. D in Literature from the University of Essex, UK. He currently lives in Slovenia where he teaches at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska, and at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He has published in both English and in Slovene on a wide variety of subjects ranging from postcolonial literature and popular culture to activism and the new social movements. Among other things, he also co-edited the first Slovene volume dedicated to contemporary African studies (Afrike, together with Borut Brumen, 2000) and the first Slovene postcolonial studies reader (Zbornik postkolonialnih študij, 2007). He can be contacted at nikolaijeffs@ gmail. com.
Introduction: Many authors have noted that wisdom is making a comeback, after being associated for a long time with old people, tradition, and conservative caution in a culture of youth, modernization, innovation, and risky exploration. The revival of wisdom is especially evident in areas where knowledge and (technical) knowhow come up against questions of ethics, values, beauty, the shaping and flourishing of the whole person, the common good, and long-term perspectives. 1 As will become clear throughout this paper, the resurgence of wisdom can be explained as a reaction against the negative effects of the dominance of scientific rationality, which boasts of its objectivity and its independence from ethical and existential considerations. Many people ask themselves “how the modern world can retrieve a wisdom, ie a knowledge, a conscience that is not only based on objects of knowledge, but relies also on life itself as it is lived daily, on a way of living and existing?” 2 From a broader, historical and cross-cultural perspective, the unilateral focus on scientific rationality in the West is rather exceptional. Religious and secular traditions around the world, from Hinduism over the mythologies of ancient Egypt and Greece to those of Northern Europe, from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, over Zoroastrianism to Judaism and Christianity, abound with revelations of wisdom. These traditions have permeated the history of humankind with stories and legends about and sayings of wise men and women.
Introduction: La mission des chercheurs africains issus des milieux urbains pour développer le savoir dans les zones de l’Afrique rurale se confronte à deux défis significatifs: la prédominance des mythes et «l’être comme force» au sein du réseau africain de la gnose, et l’attitude méprisante des chercheurs issus des milieux urbains envers les systèmes de connaissances indigènes (IKS). Cette approche est le résultat d’efforts coloniaux pour sauvegarder l’hégémonie épistémique et le néocolonialisme par le biais d’un assujettissement des Africains qui va à l’encontre d’un éventuel système de connaissances africain. L’idée fixe qui porte sur les mythes et sur la force des acteurs issus du milieu rural, mais également sur celle du système de connaissances acadé¬ mique constitue, des deux côtés, des structures de pouvoir qui ont pour effet d’étouffer les tentatives accumulées pour comprendre l’Afrique de l’intérieur. Ce travail, en s’ orientant vers le savoir de la communauté Yoruba, applique une approche de reconstruction en proposant deux voies qui mènent à un développement solide de la base du savoir africain. La première voie discute le fait que les acteurs ruraux qui contribuent au développement du savoir africain doivent éclaircir la situation là où il est nécessaire de le faire. La seconde voie se penche sur l’urgence pour parvenir à une complète décolonisation. Alors que la première voie conçoit l’évolution du rural à partir des mythes et se dirige vers la formation d’un système épistémique libéral, la se-conde voie souhaite se débarrasser de l’incrédulité et du mépris des chercheurs urbains envers la réalité du savoir en Afrique
Introduction: Die Aufgabe der Fortentwicklung des Wissens über afrikanische ländliche Gebiete seitens der urbanen Forscher Afrikas stößt auf zwei bedeutende Herausforderungen: die Überlegenheit der Mythen und „das Wesen als Macht “im Netz ruraler afrikanischer Gnosis sowie die verächtliche Haltung urbaner afrikanischer Forscher gegenüber den indigenen Wissenssystemen (IKS). Ein solches Herangehen ist das Ergebnis kolonialer Bemühungen, die epistemische Hegemonie und Neokolonialisierung beizubehalten, und zwar mithilfe von Afrikanern, über die man gegen die Interessen des afrikanischen Wissenssystems die Oberhand behielt. Die Fixierung auf den Mythos und die Macht der ländlichen Akteure sowie des westlichen, akademisch orientierten Wissenssystems vereint beiderseitig antagonistische Machtstrukturen mit dem kumulativen Effekt, Versuche zu ersticken, Afrika von innen heraus zu verstehen. Diese Arbeit, indem sie sich auf das Wissen der Yoruba¬-Gesellschaft konzentriert, setzt den rekonstruktiven Ansatz ein und schlägt zwei Wege zur Entwicklung einer robusten afrikanischen Wissensbasis vor. Der erste Weg argumentiert, dass die ruralen Akteure, die der Entwicklung der afrikanischen Erkenntnis ihren Beitrag leisten, erforderlichenfalls entzaubert werden müssen. Der zweite Weg ist auf die Dringlichkeit der Umsetzung einer vollständigen Dekolonisation ausgerichtet
Introduction: Zadatak razvijanja znanja o afri?kim ruralnim podru?jima od strane urbanih afri?kih istraživa?a susre?e se s dva zna?ajna izazova: nadmo? mitova i ‘bi?e kao sila’u mreži ruralne afri?ke gnoze i prijezirno držanje urbanih afri?kih istraživa?a spram domoroda?kih sustava znanja (IKS). Ovaj je pristup rezultat kolonijalnih nastojanja da se sa?uva epistemi?ka hegemonija i neokolonijalizacija uz pomo? Afrikanaca koje se okrenulo protiv mogu?nosti afri?kog sustava znanja. Fiksacija na mit i silu ruralnih aktera i zapadnja?kog akademski orijentiranog sistema znanja sa?injava obostrano antagonisti?ke strukture mo?i s kumulativnim efektom zagušivanja pokušaja da se Afriku razumije iznutra prema van. Ovaj rad, usmjeravaju?i se na društveno znanje Yoruba, primjenjuje rekonstruktivni pristup predlažu?i dva puta do razvoja robusne afri?ke baze znanja. Prvi put argumentira da se ruralni akteri koji doprinose razvoju afri?ke spoznaje moraju raš?arati gdje je to potrebno. Drugi je put usmjeren na urgentnost postizanja potpune dekolonizacije. Dok prvi put vidi kretanje ruralnog od mitova prema artikulaciji liberalnog epistemi?kog sistema, drugi put želi ukloniti nevjericu i prijezir koji urbani istraživa?i imaju o zbilji znanja u Africi.
Introduction: The task of advancing knowledge on Africa from rural African spaces by urban African researchers confronts two formidable challenges; namely, the preponderance of myths and ‘being as a force’in the network of rural African gnosis and the contemptuous poise of the urban African researcher against indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). This attitude is the aftermath of colonial efforts at reserving epistemic hegemony and neocolonisation by Afri cans who have been inundated against the possibility of an African knowledge system. The fixation on myths and force by rural agents and western academyderived knowledge sys tem constitute mutually antagonistic power structures with the cumulative effect of stifling efforts at understanding Africa from inside out. This paper focusing on the Yoruba knowl edge society employs a reconstructive approach in proposing two paths to the development of a robust African knowledge base by African researchers. The first path argues that rural agents contributing to developing African episteme must disenchant where necessary. The second is directed at the urgency of achieving a consummated decolonisation.
Introduction: This paper is an addition to existing scholarly literature regarding the theme of gender depiction in media practice, particularly as it relates to the portrayal or stereotyping of the female sex and the undesirable effect of negative gender role identification by women. This paper argues for a re-negotiation of gender depiction in media practice through increased functioning of the active voices of women, who themselves are at the receiving end of skewed media practices. With the widening of the frontiers of gender discourse to include the active voices of women, this women’s agency approach to the challenge of negative media representation becomes appropriate in the quest for greater advancement of gender equity.
Introduction: L’argument majeur de ce travail se construit sur l’importance de diminuer l’utilisation des catégories occidentales de la morale telles qu’on les trouve dans le concept du soi et du personnalisme lorsque l’accent est mis sur les problèmes moraux et pratiques dans certaines contrées africaines ; spécialement chez les Igbos et les Yorubas appartenant aux communautés nigériennes. En résumé, le personnalisme en tant que théorie éthique promeut la valeur et la dignité de l’être humain, rendant cette théorie de la morale attractive et facilement applicable à un niveau général du problème de la morale. Cependant, cela s’accompagne de quelques risques puisque la connaissance des problèmes moraux n’est pas conçue de la même manière au sein des diverses sociétés et cultures. Par exemple, la conception africaine de la personne humaine, à savoir la manière dont elle est représentée dans le système de la morale des peuples Yoruba et Igbo, ne possède pas de différenciation catégorique stricte entre le transcendant, l’esprit et le matériel, à l’instar des conceptions occidentales qui mettent l’accent sur la dimension matérielle, fonctionnelle et corporelle. Il reste à voir si un débat de ce type a une importance instrumentale dans la production des valeurs et d’un cadre nécessaire pour étudier les innombrables problèmes avec lesquels le continent africain est confronté.
Introduction: Temeljni argument ovog rada izgra?en je na osnovi važnosti ublažavanja korištenja zapadnih kategorija morala kako ih se može na?i u konceptu sebstva i personalizma pri apostrofiranju moralnih i prakti?nih problema u nekim dijelovima Afrike; specifi?no u etni?kim nigerijskim skupinama Igboa i Yorube. Sažeto, personalizam kao eti?ka teorija promi?e vrijednost i dostojanstvo ljudskog bi?a, što je ?ini atraktivnom teorijom morala koja se lako primjenjuje na op?em planu problema morala. Me?utim, s tim dolaze neke opasnosti jer je znanje o nekim moralnim problemima druga?ije pojmljeno od razli?itih društava i kultura. Primjerice, afri?ka koncepcija ljudske osobe, kako je predstavljena u moralnom sistemu Yoruba i Igbo naroda, nema oštro kategori?ko razlikovanje izme?u transcendentnog, duhovnog i materijalnog, kako je to slu?aj u koncepcijama Zapada koje naglašavaju materijalnu, funkcionalnu i tjelesnu dimenziju. Predstoji vidjeti da rasprava ovog tipa ima instrumentalnu važnost u pribavljanju vrijednosti i potrebnog okvira za ispitivanje bezbroj problema s kojima se susre?e afri?ki kontinent.
Introduction: Das zugrundeliegende Argument dieser Arbeit baut auf der Wichtigkeit der Minderung der Verwendung von westlichen Moralkategorien auf, wie man sie im Konzept des Selbst und des Personalismus bei der Apostrophierung moralischer und praktischer Probleme in einigen Teilen Afrikas, kennzeichnend in ethnischen nigerianischen Gruppen von Igbo und Yoruba, antreffen kann. Kurzum, der Personalismus als ethische Theorie fördert den Wert und die Würde des menschlichen Wesens, was ihn zu einer attraktiven Moraltheorie macht, die leicht auf das allgemeine Gefilde des Moralproblems angewandt werden kann. Damit gehen allerdings etliche Gefahren einher, da das Wissen über einige moralische Probleme in diversen Gesellschaften und Kulturen unterschiedlich ausgedeutet wird. Beispielshalber verfügt die afrikanische Konzeption der menschlichen Person, wie sie im Moralsystem der Völker Yoruba und Igbo präsentiert wird, über keine scharfe kategorische Differenzierung zwischen Transzendentem, Geistigem und Materiellem, wie das in den Konzeptionen des Westens der Fall ist, die materielle, funktionale und körperliche Dimension hervorheben. Es bleibt zu sehen, dass die Diskussion dieses Typs von instrumentaler Wichtigkeit ist bei der Wertebeschaffung und beim notwendigen Rahmen zur Untersuchung unzähliger Probleme, mit denen der afrikanische Kontinent konfrontiert ist.
Introduction: The idea of the university is essentially a philosophical idea. This is owing to the fact that separating young people from the core of society, with the view to giving them intellectual training under special settings called the university shows some epistemic justification in the possibility of the transformation of individual for the good of society. This firm belief in the possibility of the transformation of the individual cannot be limited to training and acquisition of skills, it has to, basically be centered on the development of the intellect for effective living within society. In the Nigerian experience, there is a heavy acceptance of a corrosive idea of the university in terms of seeing the university as a place for acquisition of skills and skills alone, at least if what we see in the job market is anything to go by. There is a general misunderstanding about the true purpose of the university to the extent that the idea itself becomes fuzzy in our understanding and also forms a large part of the reasons given for the formation of the private universities in Nigeria. This paper therefore using critical analysis and secondary sources is submitting that if the present crop of private universities in Nigeria is to help effectively in the transformation of society, there should be an unfuzzying process done to our understanding of the idea of the university. There should be an understanding that education as different from schooling, is an idea that is capable of developing the intellectual faculties of a person first before giving the person requisite skills. When this is taken into consideration, we would have recovered the authentic idea of the university in Nigeria.
Introduction: The fundamental argument of this paper is built around the importance of deemphasising the use of Western moral categories as found in personhood and personalism in addressing moral and practical issues in some parts of Africa; specifically, among the Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups of Nigeria. Essentially, personalism as an ethical theory promotes the value and dignity of human beings which makes it an attractive moral theory that is likely to be applied universally to moral issues. However, there are some dangers in the universal applicability of the theory, as knowledge of certain moral issues is perceived by different societies and cultures. As an instance, the African conception of the human person as repre sented in the Igbo and Yoruba moral systems has no strict categorical difference between the transcendental, spiritual and the material, as it is in the Western conception, which emphasises the material, the functional and the physical dimensions. It is, therefore, to be seen that a discourse of this sort is pertinent and instrumental in providing the values and needed framework to interrogate the myriad of problems faced in the African continent.
Introduction: One of the problems bedeviling development and growth of most African nation is the problem of corruption. Nigeria as a nation has not been spared of this. This explains why she has been described as a failing state, from the political, economic, social and moral perspectives. The Nigerian nation has been experiencing unprecedented levels of deeprooted crises. Much of the crisis include: political corruption, poverty, social and religious upheavals, ethnic conflicts, unemployment, endemic diseases, disrespect for the rule of law, flagrant disrespect for human freedom, equality and human rights. These issues have earned the nation appellations like,'failed state','rogue or the pre-bendal state.'Despite the efforts of government agencies and other relevant organizations, the problems of corruption remain unresolved. In view of the foregoing, this paper submits that, the Catholic Church as a stakeholder in the struggle against corruption must explore new mechanisms and improve the old ones, which include: repackaged education, enlightenment campaigns, seminars, symposia and conferences, and so to combat the problem of corruption in Nigeria.