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Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This article represents a response to ‘the problem of women and African philosophy’, which refers mainly to the absence of strong women’s and feminist voices within the discipline of African philosophy. I investigate the possibility that African women are not so much excluded from the institutionalized discipline of philosophy, as preferring fiction as a genre for intellectual expression. This hypothesis can be supported by some feminists who read the absolute prioritisation of abstraction and generalization over the concrete and the particular as a masculine and western oppressive strategy. Attention to the concrete and the unique which is made possible by literature more readily than by philosophy, could thus operate as a form of political resistance in certain contexts. If fiction is currently the preferred form of intellectual expression of African women, it is crucial that the community of professional philosophers in a context like South Africa should come to terms with the relevance of such a preference for philosophy’s self-conception, and it should work to make these intellectual contributions philosophically fruitful. In the process, we may entertain the hope that philosophy itself will move closer to its root or source as ‘love of wisdom’.Comment (from this Blueprint): This paper is interesting because it addresses the question of the representation of women in philosophy. It contrasts the underrepresentation of women in philosophy with their representation in literature and explains this difference by a deliberate choice consistent with the struggles of African women.
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Added by: Franci MangravitiAbstract:
While contemporary feminist philosophical discussions focus on the oppressiveness of universality which obliterates “difference,” the complete demise of universality might hamper feminist philosophy in its political project of furthering the well-being of all women. Dewey's thoroughly functionalized, relativized, and fallibilized understanding of universality may help us cut universality down to size while also appreciating its limited contribution. Deweyan universality may signify the ongoing search for a genuinely common language in the midst of difference.
Comment: available in this Blueprint
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Added by: Veronica CibotaruAbstract:
How have human beings expressed the consciousness and ideas hidden deep within the individual in order to overcome the regional and particular characteristics of language and attain universality as thought? Taking up the issues that have emerged since the “linguistic turn,” this work reflects on the linguistic experiences with which philosophers, thinkers, and writers from across time and cultures—including Zhuangzi and Laozi, Kūkai, Motoori Norinaga, and Natsume Sōseki—have grappled, going beyond the confines of modern Western cultural spheres.
Comment: This book offers a comprehensive survey of the history of Japanese philosophy of language and its relationship to Chinese philosophy of language while opening paths for dialogue with prominent themes in the history of Western philosophy of language, such as the linguistic turn. Nonetheless, it presupposes proficiency in Japanese, as the book has not yet been translated into English.