Synthesis Philosophica 65 (1):209-224 (2018)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
The dominant view amongst contemporary Western philosophers about the essence of a natu ral object is that it is constituted by its intrinsic properties. The ontological approach salient in the African philosophical tradition, in contrast, accounts for a thing’s essence by appeal to its relational properties. The Afrorelational ontology is underdeveloped, with the primary aim of this article being to help rectify that weakness. Specifically, this article’s aims are: to articulate an African approach to understanding the essence of a concrete, natural thing in terms of its relationships; to illustrate the Afrorelational approach with the examples of the self and of water; to contrast the Afrorelational characterization of the essence of the self and of water with a typically Western construal in terms of their intrinsic properties; and finally to provide an initial defence of the Afrorelational approach, both by responding to some objections facing it and by providing some new, positive reasons to take it seriously.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Naming and Necessity.Saul Kripke - 2003 - In John Heil (ed.), Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology. Oxford University Press.
View all 25 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Traditional African Religion as a Neglected Form of Monotheism.Thaddeus Metz & Motsamai Molefe - 2021 - The Monist 104 (3):393–409.
African Perspectives of Moral Status: A Framework for Evaluating Global Bioethical Issues.Caesar Alimsinya Atuire - forthcoming - Medical Humanities:medhum-2021-012229.
Recent Work in African Philosophy: Its Relevance Beyond the Continent.Thaddeus Metz - 2021 - Mind 130 (518):639-660.
Being Gay and African: A Contradiction in Being?Martin Odei Ajei - forthcoming - Philosophical Papers:1-24.
Similar books and articles
Replacing Development: An Afro-Communal Approach to Global Justice.Thaddeus Metz - 2017 - Philosophical Papers 46 (1):111-137.
The Western Ethic of Care or an Afro-Communitarian Ethic?: Finding the Right Relational Morality.Thaddeus Metz - 2013 - Journal of Global Ethics 9 (1):77-92.
Essence and Identity.Lee-sun Choi - 2008 - Proceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 15:29-36.
The Question of the Essence in Heidegger’s On the Essence of Truth.Robert Simonič - 2006 - Phainomena 55:157-172.
Constitutive Essence and Partial Grounding.Eileen S. Nutting, Ben Caplan & Chris Tillman - 2018 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 61 (2):137-161.
Essence and Intrinsicality.David Denby - 2014 - In Robert M. Francescotti (ed.), Companion to Intrinsic Properties. De Gruyter. pp. 87-109.
Aquinas' Transcendences to Aristotle in the Doctrine of Essence.Dezhi Duan - 2007 - Frontiers of Philosophy in China 2 (4):572-582.
Aquinas on Being and Essence As Proper Objects of the Intellect.Caery Evangelist - 2011 - American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 85 (3):361-390.
Hegel's Critique of Foundationalism in the 'Doctrine of Essence'.Stephen Houlgate - 1999 - Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 44:25-45.
Revelation and The Essentiality of Essence.Franck Lihoreau - 2014 - Symposion: Theoretical and Applied Inquiries in Philosophy and Social Sciences 1 (1):69-75.
The Thick-Esse /Thin-Essence View in Thomistic Personalism.Matthew Schaeffer - 2015 - American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 89 (2):223-251.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2017-12-20
Total views
242 ( #45,046 of 2,499,615 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
45 ( #18,833 of 2,499,615 )
2017-12-20
Total views
242 ( #45,046 of 2,499,615 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
45 ( #18,833 of 2,499,615 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads