Diogenes articles from June 2004

Diogenes archives from June 2004

Preface.
June 22, 2004... Porto-Novo (Benin), 19-21 September 2002. A conference on 'The encounter between rationalities', jointly organized by the Centre Africain des Hautes Etudes, the UNESCO network 'Paths of Thought' and the International Council for Philosophy...

Signposts for a theory of the encounter between rationalities.
June 22, 2004... The author distinguishes two features of the encounter between rationalities: a postulate, and a problem. The postulate concerns the existence in the history of different societies and civilizations of rationalities defined by experts in the...

'Rationality' and 'rationalities' within the framework of the modernism--postmodernism debate.
June 22, 2004... Words, as well as ways of behavior, can be the objects of value judgments. The term 'rational' is such a word: to be rational is to be good. This is probably why, as a reaction to 'western rationality', people began to speak of many...

Reason and culture: debating the foundations of morals in a pluralist world.
June 22, 2004... Masolo takes as his starting point a dinnertime discussion between two teenagers on the role of tradition, a discussion that led into a debate on the merits of the idea of autonomous reason. The author was struck by their cosmopolitan...

The reasons of madness.
June 22, 2004... In the area of questions, or rather responses, around the subject of madness (research, treatment, etc.), 'scientific' rationality falls back on simple causality, together with a concern for generalization. Drawn from the pure sciences, these...

Erwin Schrodinger in the psychiatric hospital.
June 22, 2004... The meeting of rationalities is the core of the psychoanalytic treatment of madness. We see madness as a field of research in the area of historical, political and natural disasters where the social bond disintegrates, language slips away,...

Hegel in African literature: Achebe's answer (1).(Critical Essay)
June 22, 2004... There are three facets to the colonial project: a practice, a body of knowledge, and mental engineering. The third is the result of colonialism as text, for such a text bolsters the minds behind colonizing practices and is simultaneously a...

Rationalities and legal processes in Africa.
June 22, 2004... Taking together place, time and manner, it would be possible to describe the encounter as comprising at least six modes: fragility, temporality, activity, integrity, causality and disparity. The author then explores what is meant by a...

Of change, famished roads, and African development.
June 22, 2004... 1. Introduction The fact of the underdevelopment of Africa is a direct challenge to the enlightened minds on the continent. Indeed, it is a burden that is borne with a certain amount of shame by those who are more sensitive and capable...

Conflict of rationalities: the destiny and destination of research on Africa.
June 22, 2004... Many scholars say, even demand, that research on Africa should be intensified and increased. Its destiny is linked to the future of Africans' self-awareness and their radical de-alienation. However, the current direction of some projects...

Mathematical thinking and geometric exploration in Africa and elsewhere.
June 22, 2004... The author was invited by the organizers of the Benin symposium on the encounter between rationalities to contribute from the particular perspective of his research experience in ethno-mathematics--the study of mathematical ideas and...

Islam and philosophy: lessons from an encounter.
June 22, 2004... This contribution is a presentation of the encounter between Greek philosophy and Islam and of the way in which philosophical thought was consequently appropriated by the Muslim world. What made this encounter possible was the existence,...

Universalist grandeur, romantic depth, pragmatist cunning.
June 22, 2004... Relativism has been a central topic of philosophical discussion for centuries. This is because the very idea of philosophy was a product of Plato's reaction to Protagoras' claim that man is the measure of all things. The Platonic distinction...

Giulio Preti (Pavia 1911-Djerba 1972): a critical rationalist.(Comment)(Biography)
June 22, 2004... This appreciation outlines the life and work of Giulio Preti, a philosopher of the critical rationahst movement. His was a tormented and conflictual philosophical itinerary from his intellectual roots in 1930s Italy, via the philosophical...