- South Africa
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The narrative tradition, going back to the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey, presents itself as a framework for any person faced with taking up their life and making something of it. It works with archetypes, images that... more
The narrative tradition, going back to the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey, presents itself as a framework for any person faced with taking up their life and making something of it. It works with archetypes, images that seek to resonate with the human psyche. According to Christopher Booker, the central theme underlying the narratives – from quest stories through tragedy and comedy – is one that moves us from egocentricity to the achievement of an authentic and generous self. But the narrative relies on the distinction between an appearance of success or failure (“above the line”), and the personal journey that is, or is not, successfully undertaken, “below the line”. Our global commercially oriented culture has decoupled us from the traditional normative images and roles, but the danger, for example with superhero fantasies, is that the below the line plot is lost, and with it the self-referentiality that is the source of character growth. Against Booker’s negative take on post-moral fiction, I argue, finally, that a more self-conscious self-referentiality is shown in the technique of “free indirect style” discussed by James Wood, calling for a greater degree of co-authoring of the moral of the plot.
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This paper raises some questions to do with freedom or human emancipation as an ethical ideal. The vision of freedom or emancipation, personal and social, animates philosophers from Hegel (just nineteen years old during the storming of... more
This paper raises some questions to do with freedom or human emancipation as an ethical ideal. The vision of freedom or emancipation, personal and social, animates philosophers from Hegel (just nineteen years old during the storming of the Bastille) and Marx (1844 rebellions) through Sartre (Paris, May 1968) and Habermas and has profound implications for attitudes in a developing and contradictory country such as our own. What may we reasonably commit ourselves to? I am going to question the plausibility of the conception of emancipation as brought about by 'historical forces' and suggest rather the possibility of a potentially universal moral ideal or set of moral virtues. In this latter conception we can note a resonance with the notion of 'ubuntu', which suggests the idea that there is a norm of being human which we can, and normally do mature into through experiential learning. In common with Marx this approach challenges the liberalist paradigm of freedom which ...
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The standard philosophy agenda is set up so as to disallow genuine dialogue with the African traditional thought-world. What characterizes contemporary global culture dominated by technology is a kind of autism, a loss of a... more
The standard philosophy agenda is set up so as to disallow genuine dialogue with the African traditional thought-world. What characterizes contemporary global culture dominated by technology is a kind of autism, a loss of a well-articulated sense of self. This is mirrored in the familiar standard topics of introductory philosophy from "can we know anything at all?" to "the intractable problem of free will" and on to a procedural (value free!) ethics and concept of justice. The disengaged subject stands over and against the world which is to be studied. But a good curriculum will help the learner to articulate their sense of self in ever more adequate ways and so become more self-aware and self-directing. Every pre-modern culture articulates, however inadequately, an understanding of human agency and responsibility (adulthood) as a norm. By bypassing this crucial element the curriculum allows the dominant attitudes and values (individualism, the disengaged stance, cultural relativism) to remain uninterrogated and alternative views simply placed alongside. I present an alternative philosophy curriculum drawn from the non-skeptical pre-modern thomistic tradition but framed not by any naive understanding of human nature but by the critical norms of being a subject and agent.
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On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les traditions particulieres ainsi que les liens avec familiaux, tribaux et religieux. Du point de vue du professionnalisme, ce qu’est important... more
On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les traditions particulieres ainsi que les liens avec familiaux, tribaux et religieux. Du point de vue du professionnalisme, ce qu’est important sont des regles internes a la profession et aussi les droits universels de l’homme vu comme individu abstrait. Dans une societe ou l’individualisme et le commerce deviennent omnipresents, les traditions ethiques et les identites narratives pourraient pourtant constituer un cadre de motivations cle pour l’integrite ethique professionnelle. Je prendrai comme exemple la profession militaire et en particulier l’utilisation de mercenaires. En distinguant entre les competences et les vertus je me demanderai si oui ou non il y a une relation necessaire entre un bon soldat et le fait d’etre un citoyen. Le fait d’etre est compris ici comme categorie morale qui occasionne un certain ideal de caractere et en particulier des vertus. Je conclus que l’action de cont...
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Before his death in May this year (2016) Augustine Shutte wrote an “autobiographical account” of a selection of his theology papers that situates his writings within his public involvement in church and society – seminary, academy, the... more
Before his death in May this year (2016) Augustine Shutte wrote an “autobiographical account” of a selection of his theology papers that situates his writings within his public involvement in church and society – seminary, academy, the Catholic Church, African culture, a thought-world of science and secularity. The account also documents a pattern of development in his understanding of Christian faith that arises out of this involvement. As such the narrative constitutes a theological reflection on God’s self-communication in Jesus in the context of doctrinal formulations and traditional church practices that cry out for rethinking. The influence of Karl Rahner is evident throughout but his narrative also acknowledges his two formative teachers, at Stellenbosch and UCT, as his theology as a whole can be seen as an exercise in secularisation (Johan Degenaar) through a truly personal and existential appropriation of our Christian heritage (Martin Versfeld). The narrative is introduced...
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Marcel Gauchet argues that whatever impulse previously gave rise to religion is now fully translated by the values of representative politics, empirical method, future orientation and productivity as an end in itself. The good and... more
Marcel Gauchet argues that whatever impulse previously gave rise to religion is now fully translated by the values of representative politics, empirical method, future orientation and productivity as an end in itself. The good and productive citizen replaces the dutiful Christian. His foundational thesis is twofold: (a) religion is the surrender of human autonomy to a power other than human beings, issuing in a hierarchical social structure thought to be given by nature; and (b), paradoxically, religion has at the same time been the impulse to move away from religion. Christianity in particular is “the religion to exit from religion”, propelling society, particularly in the West, toward a disenchanted world-view, one that is non-supernaturalistic and implies non-hierarchical social arrangements. In recounting his argument, I conclude by agreeing with (b) but disagreeing with (a). I suggest that what Gauchet terms “religion” is better thought of in terms of Sartre’s concept of “bad faith”. In this project, Sartre’s – and Gauchet’s – concept of human freedom in terms of the power of “refusal” may well be complemented by the understanding of the person as empowered through interpersonal solidarity. I argue that this supplies a corrective to Gauchet’s interpretation of Christianity, and, further, is a reason to move away from his liberal idea of the state as neutral towards religions. As the secular and humanist re-articulation of religious traditions, the democratic state of its nature challenges rival interpretations of those traditions, whether fundamentalist or reductionist.
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The reductionist conclusions of some evolutionary theorists are countered by appealing to the transformation of feeling-traces from our evolutionary origins. Presupposed to the science of evolutionary biology is the capacity to get at the... more
The reductionist conclusions of some evolutionary theorists are countered by appealing to the transformation of feeling-traces from our evolutionary origins. Presupposed to the science of evolutionary biology is the capacity to get at the truth of things, and to live by values, which Rahner terms “spirit”; its appropriation comes about through the process of moral and intellectual “conversion” (Lonergan), extended into the realm of feelings and the psyche (Doran). This allows a non-supernaturalistic way of understanding the saving interpersonal transaction at the heart of Christian belief; framed as a personal journey, it implies a less conceptual and more imaginal approach to faith.
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ABSTRACT
Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer an alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. I argue that to do so plausibly they will have to show (a) their accounts do not entail a simple dualism of reason over desire; and (b) how... more
Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer an alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. I argue that to do so plausibly they will have to show (a) their accounts do not entail a simple dualism of reason over desire; and (b) how they account for weakness of will. McCabe argues that for living organisms perception is a matter of receiving “intentionally”, allowing for a degree of voluntariness, and that by virtue of the human capacity for language, and insertion into a culture, the human animal can direct itself by means of its grasp of good reasons for action. In partial disagreement, Shutte clarifies the non-material nature of this human capacity as referring to our capacity for self-enactment—which gives rise to, or finds expression in, language and culture. The further problem of weakness of will is explained by Farrer as a question of the quality of one’s willingness, one’s ability to be persuaded—mistakenly thought of as a matter of the correct knowledge of the good taken out of the context of deliberation about action. Furthermore, the logic of growth in the breadth of one’s willingness is unpacked by Shutte by means of the guru-novice model of interpersonal transaction. I conclude that framing our understanding of agency in terms of a philosophical anthropology is eminently reasonable.
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Standards of excellence in the sphere of work are often taken to be at odds with our ethical obligations in general. In an age of commerce little attention is paid to how the manner in which things are done impacts on the agent's... more
Standards of excellence in the sphere of work are often taken to be at odds with our ethical obligations in general. In an age of commerce little attention is paid to how the manner in which things are done impacts on the agent's character. Jane Jacobs' phenomenology of our moral intuitions about the public world of work reveal two frameworks, the 'commercial moral syndrome' stressing fairness, and the 'guardian moral syndrome' emphasizing loyalty. In the latter set of values we have a way of countering the bias of contemporary culture. This is best understood as a modified Aristotelian approach. The example of adversarial advocacy in the legal profession is taken as an illustration.
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CHAPTER VIII MAKING SENSE OF BEING IN DISGRACE PATRICK GIDDY What is it to be in disgrace? I am going to take JM Coetzee's Tanner Lectures, The Lives of Animals (Coetzee, 1999a, henceforth Lives) as a protest against the rationalist... more
CHAPTER VIII MAKING SENSE OF BEING IN DISGRACE PATRICK GIDDY What is it to be in disgrace? I am going to take JM Coetzee's Tanner Lectures, The Lives of Animals (Coetzee, 1999a, henceforth Lives) as a protest against the rationalist tradition by which we judge ...
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Education systems focus on the means for achieving our aims, through science and technology, while there is a general neglect of subjecting those aims themselves to rational scrutiny. The project of humanizing higher education will make... more
Education systems focus on the means for achieving our aims, through science and technology, while there is a general neglect of subjecting those aims themselves to rational scrutiny. The project of humanizing higher education will make these aims and purposes central to teaching and learning. This will necessitate a revision of the standard questions in the dominant stream of anglophone philosophy on the grounds of a critically based understanding of human agency and with the aim of its proper appropriation. Furthermore, in the context of a global multicultural context what is needed is a method for introducing all traditional-religious understandings into the heart of the public debate. Secular liberal democracies have a hands-off policy toward those traditions as anomalous in modernity, but this threatens to lead to the formation of cultural ghettos. Gauchet (1997), however, sees liberal humanism as arising out of religion. This chapter puts forward the idea that these person-foc...
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What characterises the dominant global culture is a kind of autism, the loss of a well-articulated sense of self, a reluctance to spell out its core values and aims. A good education system, on the contrary, helps the learner articulate... more
What characterises the dominant global culture is a kind of autism, the loss of a well-articulated sense of self, a reluctance to spell out its core values and aims. A good education system, on the contrary, helps the learner articulate his/her sense of self in more adequate ways and so become a more self-aware and self-directing learner. In the context of African traditional culture, this will mean engaging with the pre-philosophical expressions of self-understanding, which will have to be considered in the context of modernity. The differentiation of consciousness that is at the heart of our ability to do this, however, is only articulated within a philosophical framework that has not lost the foundational notion of the presence to self of the questioning subject. In what follows I develop this contention for general philosophy, for ethics, for the philosophy of religion, and for how philosophy is presented in an African cultural context. This article is an attempt to show the und...
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Contemporary multicultural societies for the most part frame themselves in terms of a procedural rather than substantive ethics, by emphasizing rightness rather than goodness, and elevate tolerance to key value. But this cannot of itself... more
Contemporary multicultural societies for the most part frame themselves in terms of a procedural rather than substantive ethics, by emphasizing rightness rather than goodness, and elevate tolerance to key value. But this cannot of itself replace a substantive and motivating norm of the good life and can be experienced as a loss, disaffecting citizens. It will also fail to confront the limits of acceptable action, the unconditionality associated with the moral point of view. The classical tradition in ethics, proposing a norm of human flourishing, can be re-expressed to bring out this unconditionality. I point to the counter tradition of ethical reasoning in terms of proportionality, exampled in the case of war ethics, as useful and draw on an alternative concept of democracy in terms not of formal or substantive rights but of an ethic of participation.
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Copyright© 2001 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box261 Cardinal Station Washington, DC 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Protest and... more
Copyright© 2001 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box261 Cardinal Station Washington, DC 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Protest and engagement: philosophy after apartheid at an ...
I approach environmental ethics here through an appeal to the human capacity for appreciating value wherever it is found, contesting the supposed disunity of person and external world that is arguably at the root of the global disrespect... more
I approach environmental ethics here through an appeal to the human capacity for appreciating value wherever it is found, contesting the supposed disunity of person and external world that is arguably at the root of the global disrespect for the natural environment. In the more dominant non-anthropocentric approach attention is drawn to the overarching eco-system equalizing the functional roles of both human and non-human. But this seems self-undermining, as appeal is necessarily made to that human moral and rational consciousness whose regulating role is at the same time being called into question. Drawing on an Aristotelian/Thomist metaphysics, congruent with the African traditional idea of “vital force” running through natural and social reality, I argue that organisms—human or otherwise—are not functional elements in the ecosystem but historically viable co-determinants thereof. The role of the human organism is that of co-determining through narrative and history. Human subjectivity is not, pace Nagel, confined to a species-perspective but there is a supra-biological patterning of experience intending understanding and true value. However, the development of these powers of agency, and sympathy, are stultified by a picture of self-determination as the most absolute independence from the “other”. In contrast, the African traditional value of ubuntu posits a normative development of agency through others that can be unpacked to apply beyond simply social custom. The contribution this cultural tradition brings is enhanced if the metaphysics of “force” or “spirit” is interpreted non-dualistically and without appeal to a supernaturalism.
The proposals for reintroducing religion studies at schools in South Africa urge a non-partisan approach yet one that conveys the worth of religious faith. In response I suggest a framework which foregrounds the inquirer herself as... more
The proposals for reintroducing religion studies at schools in South Africa urge a non-partisan approach yet one that conveys the worth of religious faith. In response I suggest a framework which foregrounds the inquirer herself as someone taking up her life in an intelligent and responsible way, whether in the limited project that is science, or in the more comprehensive arena of our existential hopes and fears, where religious narratives come into play. In this way the challenge to common-sense religious faith posed by the rise of modern science can be met - scientific understanding is always grounded in the capacity of the inquirer to reach some objectivity, and hence in a sort of personal integrity that is the concern of religion. This urge towards responsibility is illustrated through African traditional creation myths, and also some obviously intelligent developments in the Christian religious tradition.
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ABSTRACT
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CHAPTER VIII MAKING SENSE OF BEING IN DISGRACE PATRICK GIDDY What is it to be in disgrace? I am going to take JM Coetzee's Tanner Lectures, The Lives of Animals (Coetzee, 1999a, henceforth Lives) as a protest against the... more
CHAPTER VIII MAKING SENSE OF BEING IN DISGRACE PATRICK GIDDY What is it to be in disgrace? I am going to take JM Coetzee's Tanner Lectures, The Lives of Animals (Coetzee, 1999a, henceforth Lives) as a protest against the rationalist tradition by which we judge ...
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Copyright© 2001 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box261 Cardinal Station Washington, DC 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Protest and... more
Copyright© 2001 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box261 Cardinal Station Washington, DC 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Protest and engagement: philosophy after apartheid at an ...
I argue, in spite of the Enlightenment’s critique of heteronomy, that obedience has a legitimate place in anyone’s moral horizon, as long as framed by the context of moral identity and an encompassing tradition. So far as concerns... more
I argue, in spite of the Enlightenment’s critique of heteronomy, that obedience has a legitimate place in anyone’s moral horizon, as long as framed by the context of moral identity and an encompassing tradition. So far as concerns motivation for action in military struggles I draw on the participants’ own self-understanding as found in the Report of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I argue that a common affirmation of a substantive rather than simply procedural ethic (usually, nationhood) is a necessary foundation for an ethical understanding of obedience. Professionalism by itself doesn’t do the job. As backdrop for the discussion I reflect on Jonathan Glover’s moral history of the twentieth century.
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In his autobiographical account of his theology Augustine Shutte (2016) clarifies how his understanding of the Christian faith has, finally, put him in conflict with orthodoxy. More recently he explains that “in the absolute distinction... more
In his autobiographical account of his theology Augustine Shutte (2016) clarifies how his understanding of the Christian faith has, finally, put him in conflict with orthodoxy. More recently he explains that “in the absolute distinction between creator and creature it is appropriate to see God alone (Father, Word and Spirit) on one side and Jesus and me and you on the other.” This affords us a useful starting point for a discussion of a Christian faith marked by unorthodoxy. As foil for the discussion I take Bart Ehrman’s thesis that the early development of the understanding of Jesus as “uniquely divine” is unjustified, and this undermines Christian faith. I argue in response that the cognitional dimension is only one aspect of religious faith; secondly I unpack the structural side of orthodoxy; and thirdly I introduce Shutte’s concept of salvation in terms of a fundamental human need. The uniqueness of God’s presence in Jesus implies a sectarianism unhelpful in a plural culture.
Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer a much needed alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. To do so plausibly they will have to show (a) their accounts do not entail a simple dualism of reason over desire; and (b) how they... more
Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer a much needed alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. To do so plausibly they will have to show (a) their accounts do not entail a simple dualism of reason over desire; and (b) how they account for weakness of will. McCabe argues that for living organisms perception is a matter of receiving ‘intentionally’, allowing for a degree of voluntariness, and that by virtue of the human capacity for language, and insertion into a culture, the human animal can direct itself by means of its grasp of good reasons for action. In partial disagreement Shutte clarifies the non-material nature of this human capacity, as referring to our capacity for self-enactment – which gives rise to, or finds expression in, language and culture. The further problem of weakness of will is explained by Farrer as a question of the quality of one’s willingness, one’s ability to be persuaded – mistakenly thought of as a matter of the correct knowledge of the good taken out of the context of deliberation about action. Furthermore the logic of growth in the breadth of one’s willingness is unpacked by Shutte by means of the Guru-novice model of interpersonal transaction.