Philosophy Manual: A South-South Perspective

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p. 6: Today we are offering the world this book with the modest title “Philosophical Manual: A South-South perspective”. The modest title should not, however, conceal the true significance of this work, misleading the reader into thinking, perhaps, that it is just another philosophical manual, despite the fact that it is from the “South” and dedicated to somewhat “exotic” philosophy. If we begin this brief introduction warning against the risk of drawing this potentially hasty conclusion, it is because this manual – on account of both its systematic and methodological structure and its contents – is a work that challenges us with a call to become committed to working towards an innovative turning point, not only in the perception of the theoretical purpose and social role of philosophy, but also as regards the task of philosophy teaching in contemporary societies. As readers themselves will see, the work in this manual addresses, on the one hand, UNESCO’s important mission to promote peace in the world, and on the other, the role that philosophy must play as both critical knowledge and wisdom in this task. This manual can therefore be presented as an “instrument of peace” whose conception and realization corresponds, basically, to the express intention of showing that the philosophical traditions of the “South” represent a living and essential heritage for a humanity seeking peace as a form of coexistence and an expression of self-reconciliation. It is necessary, however, to emphasize that there will be no true peace in the world if we do not spread throughout the world the belief that the “desire for power” must be decidedly opposed by the “desire for truth” and the “desire to do what is right”. True peace is not simply the result of political negotiations or strategic agreements between peoples and States, but the work of human beings with the training and the passion for seeking truth and doing good. True peace therefore has an anthropological basis, which is the humanized human being who is committed to truth and good as the common property of all humankind. This is precisely the fundamental importance that philosophy should have in promoting peace in the world today, as it represents the form of knowledge that quintessentially teaches human beings that the desire for truth and the desire for good come together in the desire to coexist in peace with oneself, with nature and with others. Thereby, this manual invites us to rethink the theoretical purpose and social function of philosophy in the light of the need to promote peace in the troubled world today. However, we must insist in the idea already evoked that this manual invites the reader to undertake such a task from a specific viewpoint, which is that of the “South”, meaning a viewpoint that wishes to make visible the ways of seeking truth and doing good that have been marginalized by hegemonic epistemologies and policies. Hence, the focus is not on the negative or destructive criticism of hegemonic philosophical thought but on the visibility of the diversity of the ways of thinking and well-doing of humanity that have been marginalized. The “South” is admittedly a problematic expression, most often referred to with quotation marks and epistemic caution rather than without. The concept cannot be reduced to the geographical sense of the term or its geopolitical meaning. It is understood without being given a rigid definition, much like the concept of “cultural area” whose contours are blurred, but whose effects are clear. This “South” is a perspective – that of marginalized societies – and implies a specific tradition, not a tradition in the sense of a set of customs and beliefs resistant to the flux of time, but a tradition in the sense of a living transmission that takes various forms: in Africa, where the notion of text is far from consensual, there is a strong oral tradition; in Asia and the Arab region there is a tradition of highly structured fundamental texts; and in Latin America, where there is a clear ‘before and after’ the Columbian colonization, there is a strong rupture and strong discontinuity. In this sense, the book is like a map showing ups and downs and the paths to help guide the reader through the complex terrain, languages and spirits of philosophy in Africa, the Arab region, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean. And as an additional aid for a better management of experiences in this philosophical journey, the book also offers a systematic structure that enables us to study the wealth of the “South” individually in the different areas, such as cosmology, epistemology, political forms of living together, gender equality, the environment and nature, and aesthetics. Acknowledgments 3 Foreword 4 Preface 5 General Introduction 6 AFRICA 14 Introduction 16 I. Cosmology and the human person 20 1. The intellectual, self-engendering cosmic principle 22 Text: The creation of the world according to the Theology of Memphis 22 Text: The book of knowing the creations of Ra and of felling the snake Apep 24 2. The birth of the world according to the analogies based on mechanics 25 Text: The birth of the world according to the Mvet 25 II. Epistemology and model of knowledge 28 1. Egyptian mathematics and the philosophy of learning 30 Text: Egyptian mathematics under the pharaohs and the modern theory of science, Emmanuel Malolo Dissakè 30 2. Logical structure and linguistic structure 31 Text: “The linguistic and mathematical structure of oral numeration utterances”, Abdoulaye Elimane Kane 31 3. Our rational relationship to the world 33 Text: “Natural mathematics and rationality”, Abdoulaye Elimane Kane 33 III. Political forms of living together 36 1. Government and the public space 38 Text: “Instructions to Vizier Rekhmire” 38 2. Communal life and rights 39 Text: The Manden Charter: The Mandinka Declaration of Human Rights 39 3. Communal life and the exercise of thought 41 Text: An essay on the problem with philosophy in Africa today, Marcien Towa 41 IV. Gender equality 44 1. Femaleness and human identity 46 Text: “How can the gender issue be used to correct the philosophical tradition concerning human nature?”, Ariane Djossou-Ségla 46 2. Matronymics and the status of women in Black Africa 47 Text: Freedom I. Negritude and Humanism, Léopold Sédar Senghor 47 V. Environment and nature 50 1. The environment and agrarian religion in Africa 52 Text: Freedom I. Negritude and Humanism, Léopold Sédar Senghor 52 2. Nature and environmental ethics 52 Text: “The rehabilitation of indigenous environmental ethics in Africa”, Workineh Kelbessa 52 3. Nature and aesthetics 54 Text: Lovers and plants in the park 54 4. The inhospitality of nature and the harshness of social life 55 Text: The Mountain People, Colin Turnbull 55 VI. Arts and creation 58 1. Representation and exemplarity 60 Text: Freedom I. Negritude and Humanism, Léopold Sédar Senghor 60 2. The question of the intrinsically beautiful 61 Text: “Black African aesthetic awareness”, Alassane Ndaw 61 3. The artist, the author and his creation 62 Text: “Reflections on the aesthetics of the Fang people. From technological principles to philosophical notions”, Louis Perrois 62 4. Art and national feeling 64 Text: The damned, Frantz Fanon 64 ARAB REGION 68 Introduction 70 I. Cosmology and the human person 76 Cosmology tested by Averroes’ semantics 76 Text: The decisive treatise, Averroes 78 II. Epistemology and model of knowledge 80 1. The search for truth 80 Text: “On first philosophy”, al-Kindī 82 2. Knowledge of self, knowledge of things 84 Text: Treatise of the Soul, Avicenna 86 3. Practical knowledge 88 Text: The bargain between two peasants - a djinn and a man 89 III. Political forms of living together 90 1. Civilization and history 90 Text: Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldūn 92 2. The power of the hybridization of cultures: India, Persia, the Arab world 94 Text: The mirror for princes: an apprenticeship through fables according to Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ 96 Text: Example of a fable according to Ibn al-Muqaffa‘: The man, the dragon, the snake and the two rats 97 3. Law and laws 99 Text: The legislator, the jurist and the judge, according to Al-Fãrãbī 100 4. Grammar of emancipation and plurality of languages 102 Text: Islam and the Foundations of Political Power, Ali Abdel Razek 104 IV. Gender equality 106 1. Emancipation of women 106 Text: The condition of women in Islam, Mansour Fahmy 108 2. Gender equality, according to Tahtawi 110 Text: A profile of Paris, Tahtawi 111 I. Environment and nature 114 1. The local and the global 114 Text: The Rule of the Solitary, Ibn Bãjja 116 2. Nature, environment, care 118 Text: The Improvement of Human Reason exhibited in the Life of Hayy Ibn Yaqzân, Ibn Tufayl 120 VI. Arts and creation 122 1. Logic and aesthetics 122 Text: Imagination and action: ethics and aesthetics, according to al-Fãrãbī 123 2. Art and subversion: aesthetics and politics 125 Text: Book of songs, al-Asfahānī 126 ASIA-PACIFIC 128 Introduction 130 I. Cosmology and the human person 134 1. The mystery of being 134 Text: Rigveda X, 129 136 2. Being and non-being, nothingness and fullness 138 Text: The Daodejing, Chapter 1 139 II. Epistemology and model of knowledge 140 1. What is philosophizing about? 140 Text: “Teaching Philosophy”, Roque J. Ferriols 140 2. The deconstruction of desire 142 Text: Verses of the Elder Nuns 143 III. Political forms of living together 146 1. Individual ethics: properties and lightness of body and mind 146 Text: The First Ten Years of Suan Mokh, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu 146 2. Confucian ren ethics: the relational person and family feeling 149 Text: Analects, Confucius 150 3. Daoist governance, humility and soft power 152 Text: The Daodejing, Chapter 66 153 4. Soul-force, self-control a nd passive resistance in politics 155 Text: Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, Mahatma Gandhi 156 IV. Gender equality 158 1. Gender perspective and yinyang dynamics 158 Text: The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic 159 2. Gender equality and intersubjectivity 162 Text: Rumi’s love poem 162 V. Environment and nature 164 1. Altruism and compassion toward nonhumans, according to King Ashoka 164 Text: The Rock and Pillar Edicts of King Ashoka 165 2. Mindfulness and the environmental crisis, according to Thich Nhat Hanh 167 Text: “Beyond environment: falling back in love with Mother Earth”, Thich Nhat Hanh 168 VI. Arts and creation 170 1. Mind tranquility and aesthetics experience 170 Text: “Living in the human world”, Zhuangzi 171 2. The Pacific Power of Beauty, according to Yanagi Sõetsu 173 Text: The Unknown Craftsman, Yanagi Sõetsu 174 LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 178 Introduction 180 I. Cosmology and the human person 182 1. Náhuatl philosophy 182 Text: Cantares Mexicanos 184 2. Andean philosophy 186 Text: The Ticci Wiracocha poem 187 3. Maya-Quiché philosophy 191 Text: Popol Vuh 192 II. Epistemology and model of knowledge 194 1. The causes of philosophical inauthenticity, according to Augusto Salazar Bondy 194 Text: Between Scylla and Charybdis, Augusto Salazar Bondy 195 2. The authenticity of Latin American philosophy, according to Leopoldo Zea 197 Text: America as Consciousness, Leopoldo Zea 198 III. Political forms of living together 200 1. The origin of the discourse of the nature of Indians 201 Text: Apology, Bartolomé de las Casas 202 Text: “On royal power”, Bartolomé de las Casas 202 2. First decolonial hermeneutics 204 Text: First new chronicle and good government, Guamán Poma de Ayala 205 Text: “The author walks”, Guamán Poma de Ayala 206 3. Guaraní reductions in Paraguay (1768–1610) 208 Text: Platón and the Guaraníes, Josep Manuel Peramàs 209 4. Indigenous cultural value, according to Francisco Xavier Clavigero 211 Text: Ancient History of Mexico, Francisco Xavier Clavigero 212 5. Independence thought, according to Juan Pablo Viscardo y Guzmán 214 Text: Letter to the Spanish Americans, Juan Pablo Viscardo y Guzmán 215 6. “Our America”, according to José Martí 217 Text: Prologue to “Niagara’s poem” by Juan Antonio Pérez Bonalde, José Martí 218 7. Libertarian awareness, according to Paulo Freire 220 Text: Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire 221 IV. Gender equality 224 1. The poetics of resistance, according to Gloria Anzaldúa 224 Text: Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Gloria Anzaldúa 225 2. Towards a feminist political consciousness, according to Urania Ungo 228 Text: To change lives: the politics and thought of feminism in Latin America, Urania Ungo 228 V. Environment and nature 230 Eco-philosophy of liberation, according to Leonardo Boff 230 Text: Ecology and Liberation: A New Paradigm, Leonardo Boff 231 VI. Arts and creation 234 The secret of colour. Game of creating and thinking, according to José Vasconcelos 234 Text: Aesthetic philosophy, José Vasconcelos 235 Biographies of contributors 238