Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft <p><em>Filosofia Theoretica</em>&nbsp;is a publication of Calabar School of Philosophy (CSP), University of Calabar.&nbsp;<em>From 2018,&nbsp;<span lang="EN-GB"> the journal will begin to publish a third issue which will be a bi-lingual edition in both French and English languages</span>.&nbsp; Filosofia Theoretica</em>&nbsp;provides outlet for well researched and original papers in the following areas of African studies: philosophy, culture, religions, history and arts. It also publishes book reviews. Its publication cycle is January-June and July-December issues. The journal is abstracted/indexed on SCOPUS, EBSCO Humanities Source, ProQuest, Google Scholar, Ajol, EBSCO Database, Philosopher's index, etc. Filosofia Theoretica is also accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET), South Africa.&nbsp;</p> <p>Usage Policy: For student based personal use or general academic research only. Not to be used for commercial purposes without the prior notice of the publishers.</p> <p>The website related to the journal is <a href="https://cspafrica.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">https://cspafrica.org/</span></a></p> <p>The&nbsp;SCImago Journal Rank for this journal can be found here:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=21100812553&amp;tip=sid&amp;clean=0">https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=21100812553&amp;tip=sid&amp;clean=0</a></p> en-US The copyright belongs to the journal. filosofiatheoretica@unical.edu.ng (Jonathan Okeke Chimakonam) filosofiatheoretica@gmail.com (Dr. Mulumba Obiajulu) Thu, 23 May 2024 06:46:46 +0000 OJS 3.3.0.11 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 Chimakonam’s sense-phenomenalism and the bogey of consciousness https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271029 <p>In the 2019 work “A Sense-Phenomenal Look at the Problem of Personal Identity,” Jonathan O. Chimakonam articulates an intriguing and novel body-only perspective of personal identity that has a direct implication for our understanding of consciousness. In this article, I focus on the aspect of the work that adopts a seemingly eliminativist stance on the hard problem of consciousness. Chimakonam’s version of physicalism rejects the reality of consciousness or experience while accepting that humans have sensations. Having transferred the location of sensation from the mind (the within), and even the brain, to the sense organs (the outside) without eliminating the category of mind, Chimakonam unwittingly raises the question of whether his philosophy of mind represents an eliminativist stance or a reductive physicalist stance. In this article, I argue that while a reductive physicalist reading of Chimakonam is a plausible interpretation of his stance, the non-rejection of the category of mind and the seeming distinction between mind and brain supports the claim that sense-phenomenalism does not radically overcome the hard problem of consciousness.</p> Ada Agada Copyright (c) 2024 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271029 Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 A critique of J.S. Sanni’s argument on the role of religion in promoting silence and extortion in contemporary African (Nigerian) society using the name of God https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271033 <p>This study examines J.S. Sanni’s argument on the role of religion in promoting silence and extortion in contemporary African (Nigerian) society, leveraging on the name of God, with a view to determining the strengths and weaknesses of this argument. Sanni posits that religion (Christianity and Islam) have played crucial roles in promoting silence and extortion in Africa, with particular reference to Nigeria. He argues that the colonial debris of disempowerment, injustices, manipulation and extortion, using the instrumentality of religion, are still very much part of African society today. According to him, the above manipulations, extortions and injustices, perpetrated by the colonial masters on African societies using the tool of religion, is still very much part of the contemporary African society and have only assumed new outlooks and language and consequently plunged many Africans into silence in the face of what is often presented as sacred and holy. The study examines the strengths and weaknesses of this argument. The paper adopts historical hermeneutics and textual analysis methods.</p> Anthony Chimankpam Ojimba Copyright (c) 2024 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271033 Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Mothers but not wives: The <i>Biakē</i> custom and its implications on the Ogoni contemporary society https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271035 <p>The <em>Biakē </em>custom, an ancient practice among the Ogoni indigenous people, refers to a system by which certain girls or women are not allowed to marry, but are legitimately allowed to raise children for their parents or family, because of some peculiar circumstances of the household, thus the idea of ‘mothers but not wives.’ However, the <em>Biakē </em>practice has been misconstrued with the malapropism called ‘<em>Sira</em>-Custom,’ implying a system in which the first daughters are not given out for marriage. This study focused on the philosophical foundation of <em>Biakē </em>and its implications on the Ogoni contemporary society. The study discovered that there was never a time in Ogoni history when <em>Sira </em>(first daughters) was denied the right to marry out. Every Ogoni daughter is eligible for marriage. The study argues that though the philosophy of <em>Biakē </em>emphasizes the continuity of the family/lineage, women serving under <em>Biakē </em>and their children may experience psychological trauma due to the absence of a “father figure” and other unmet needs. Using the prescriptive method, this paper advocated for the promulgation of laws, and regulations to modify the <em>Biakē </em>custom to accommodate the Ogoni modern-day reality.</p> Burabari Sunday Deezia Copyright (c) 2024 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271035 Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Land management and the Bayaa institution: The enduring impact of Kasena-Nankana mortuary practises https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271030 <p>The significantly enduring traditional Kasena-Nankana Bayaase or Bayaaro institution is one of the profound cultural institutions that serve its communities' spiritual and mortal needs in diverse ways. A pall-bearer ritually fortified to execute indigenous morturary and burial practices. This ritual, per its very nature and function, may appear unenticing but is indispensable when it comes to preparing the dead for final travel, and the appeasement of Mother Earth. This institution has since not received deeper scholarly attention and is currently facing challenges resulting from enculturation, sheer neglect, and conflict with adherents of the Christian faith. While the expected harm to face when a deceased person’s mortals and spirits are not properly and customarily interred has been the major discussion of some scholars, there is still the need to offer deeper traditional and cultural insights into this institution, considering the increasing erosion of most indigenous cultural institutions and with that, the unpalatable resultant effects. The paper scrutinises some of the key traditional practices, challenges, and services of the Bayaa institution through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) of six seasoned Bayaase of high ranks within the Kasena-Nankana speaking areas of Navrongo. The study shows that the increasing Christian population and its ‘strange’ doctrines regarding traditional burial rites conflict with the age-long traditional practices of the Bayaase. The paper will show that from the dialogue with the Bayaase, it emerged that being subservient to traditional authority and incorporating elements of traditions that do not require traditional sacrifices are seen as one of the means for peaceful co-existence.</p> Joseph Aketema Copyright (c) 2024 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271030 Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Re-imagining indigenous African epistemological entanglement and resilience adaptation in the Anthropocene https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271036 <p>This paper examines how indigenous African communities have become critical for developing epistemologies of relation and entanglement in the dominant problem of contemporary resilience understandings of adaptation in the Anthropocene imaginary. Grounded in the indigenous African epistemological philosophies, this paper explores critical alternative futural framings that directly oppose the modernist epistemological understandings of resilience imaginaries in the Anthropocene. The analysis presented here is based on understanding indigenous non-modern ways of knowing as key in the context of ecological crisis in the Anthropocene resilience. This paper argues that reductionist modernist epistemology fails to fully acknowledge how alternative futural imaginaries of indigenous non-modern ways of knowing have become central to critical Anthropocene resilience approaches in the discipline of International Relations. In contrast, this paper explores indigenous African epistemologies of relation and entanglement as alternative futural imaginaries that better capture resilience climate adaptation in the Anthropocene. The paper concludes that focusing on resilience and understandings of adaptation in the Anthropocene opens other possibilities for the development of indigenous non-modern ways of knowing.</p> Charles Amo-Agyemang Copyright (c) 2024 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ft/article/view/271036 Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000