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11Challenges of Multiculturalism in Science Education: Indigenisation, Internationalisation, and TranskulturalitätIn Michael R. Matthews (ed.), International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching, Springer. pp. 1759-1792. 2014.The biggest challenges facing science education have possibly been accessibility and relevance to its target audiences—challenges that have become more pronounced with the increasingly multicultural nature of teaching and learning environments. How does one render accessible a field of inquiry that has often been viewed as unnatural, difficult, or the intellectual playground of a select few? How does one instil in students a sense of relevance of science to their own lives and experiences, espec…Read more
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27African communalism, persons, and the case of non-human animalsFilosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions 7 (2): 60-79. 2018.“I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am”, generally regarded as the guiding principle of African humanism, expresses the view that a person is a person through other persons and is closely associated but not identical with African communitarianism, or communalism. Against Ifeanyi Menkiti’s “unrestricted or radical or excessive communitarianism” Kwame Gyekye has proposed a “restricted or moderate communitarianism”. Whereas personhood, for Menkiti, is acquired over time, with increa…Read more
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3Critical Animal Historiography, Experiential Subjectivity and Animal Standpoint TheoryIn Michael J. Glover & Les Mitchell (eds.), Animals as Experiencing Entities: Theories and Historical Narratives, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 97-122. 2024.‘Critical animal historiography’ arguably emanates from ‘critical animal studies’, which evolved from ‘animal studies’. After briefly tracing these connections and developments, this chapter considers the question to what extent, if any, it is meaningful to regard other-than-human animals as subjects of and as both agents and recipients in history, as individual subjects of experience who impact and who are impacted by historical processes. The notion, especially, of animals being considered sub…Read more
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133International Handbook of Philosophy of Education (edited book)Springer Verlag. 2018.This handbook presents a comprehensive introduction to the core areas of philosophy of education combined with an up-to-date selection of the central themes. It includes 95 newly commissioned articles that focus on and advance key arguments; each essay incorporates essential background material serving to clarify the history and logic of the relevant topic, examining the status quo of the discipline with respect to the topic, and discussing the possible futures of the field. The book provides a …Read more
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9The Animal in African PhilosophyIn Björn Freter, Elvis Imafidon & Mpho Tshivhase (eds.), Handbook of African Philosophy, Springer Verlag. pp. 457-470. 2023.African philosophy has, in recent decades, emerged from the academic margins to assume occupation of its rightful place in the scholarly mainstream, having garnered long-overdue acknowledgement and recognition. Within African philosophy, the question of the animal, which has for a long time been ignored or deemed comparatively unimportant, is now beginning to get the kind of attention it deserves, acknowledgement that has, similarly, been long overdue. This chapter examines the status of “the an…Read more
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38Knowledge, Education and the Limits of AfricanisationJournal of Philosophy of Education 38 (4): 571-587. 2004.Abstract‘Africanisation’ has, during the last few decades, been a buzzword that has enjoyed special currency in South Africa. Africanisation is generally seen to signal a (renewed) focus on Africa, on reclamation of what has been taken from Africa, and, as such, it forms part of post-colonialist, anti-racist discourse. With regard to knowledge, it comprises a focus on indigenous African knowledge and concerns simultaneously ‘legitimation’ and ‘protection from exploitation’ of this knowledge. Wit…Read more
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11Rhetorical, Narrative, Cognitive, and Epistemological Perspectives on Science and Culture (review)Science & Education 27 (9-10): 1029-1032. 2018.
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7‘on Bullshit’ And ‘mindfucking’: an essay on mental manipulation in educationSouth African Journal of Philosophy 33 (1): 35-46. 2014.In 2005 and 2008, respectively, two books by well-established and -respected analytical philosophers caused some controversy, not only because of their provocative and eye-catching titles but also because of the sheer brevity of the essays they contained. Harry Frankfurt’s book, which analysed the prevalence of ‘bullshit’ in contemporary society, was generally lauded for elevating a slang term to a new epistemological category, despite some people’s understandable unease with the author’s opport…Read more
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26Of ants and men: epistemic injustice, commitment to truth, and the possibility of outsider critique in educationEthics and Education 9 (1): 127-140. 2014.Does the imperative that we ought to try to understand one another make any sense? Presumably not – if it is correct that there are indeed different truths, and that the quest for objectivity is appropriate only in certain cultural contexts. After carefully mapping out the epistemological and ethical terrain, with special reference to the notions of ‘outsider understanding’, ‘other ways of knowing’ and epistemic injustice, this article presents a case for outsider critique. Education for belief …Read more
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22Inclusive education and Barrierefreiheit: some social-epistemological considerationsEthics and Education 12 (1): 23-34. 2017.Barrierefreiheit is a key term in the German inclusion movement, in education and more generally. Sometimes translated as ‘accessibility’, it refers not just to absence of barriers but to freedom from barriers, which in turn indicates a significant social and ethical component. It signals an active, conscious intervention by agents, a consequence of agentic commitment towards crossing borders and overcoming boundaries. In this regard, this article seeks to provide an epistemological analysis and…Read more
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61‘Diverse Epistemologies’, Truth and Archaeology: In Defence of Realism (review)Science and Engineering Ethics 17 (2): 321-334. 2011.In a recent journal article, as well as in a recent book chapter, in which she critiques my position on ‘indigenous knowledge’, Lesley Green of the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town argues that ‘diverse epistemologies ought to be evaluated not on their capacity to express a strict realism but on their ability to advance understanding’. In order to examine the implications of Green’s arguments, and of Nelson Goodman and Catherine Elgin’s work in this regard, I apply…Read more
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8Claudia W. Ruitenberg and D. C. Phillips : Education, Culture and Epistemological Diversity—Mapping a Disputed TerrainScience & Education 22 (3): 709-716. 2013.
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41Animals and African EthicsJournal of Animal Ethics 7 (2): 119-144. 2017.African ethics is primarily concerned with community and harmonious communal relationships. The claim is frequently made on behalf of African moral beliefs and customs that, in stark contrast with Western moral attitudes and practices, there is no comparable objectification and exploitation of other-than-human animals and nature. This article investigates whether this claim is correct by examining the status of animals in religious and philosophical thought, as well as traditional cultural pract…Read more
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24African and Afrikaner'ways of knowing': Truth and the problems of superstition and'blood knowledge'Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory 57 (123): 27-51. 2010.
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33Philosophy of Education: Becoming Less Western, More African?Journal of Philosophy of Education 50 (2): 177-190. 2016.Posing the question ‘How diverse is philosophy of education in the West?’ this paper responds to two recent defences of African philosophy of education which endorse its communitarianism and oppose individualism in Western philosophy of education. After outlining Thaddeus Metz's argument that Western philosophy of education should become more African by being more communitarian, and Yusef Waghid's defence of communitarianism in African philosophy of education, we develop a qualified defence of a…Read more
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27Rethinking the ‘Western Tradition’Educational Philosophy and Theory 47 (11): 1166-1174. 2015.In recent years, the ‘Western tradition’ has increasingly come under attack in anti-colonialist and postmodernist discourses. It is not difficult to sympathise with the concerns that underlie advocacy of historically marginalised traditions, and the West undoubtedly has a lot to answer for. Nonetheless, while arguing a qualified yes to the central question posed for this special issue, we question the assumption that the West can be neatly distinguished from alternative traditions of thought. We…Read more
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26Rethinking humane educationEthics and Education 4 (2): 201-214. 2009.The increase in violence in South African schools, as elsewhere, has been associated with a general 'decline in moral values'. There have been three different responses that emphasise the decline in religious teaching at schools, the loss of traditional values like ubuntu , communalism and the like; and humankind's increasing alienation from nature. In other words, in terms of teaching and learning initiatives, we should turn to religion, community and the common good and nature (the natural env…Read more
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72‘#FactsMustFall’? – education in a post-truth, post-truthful worldEthics and Education 12 (3): 273-288. 2017.Taking its inspiration from the name of the recent ‘#FeesMustFall’ movement on South African university campuses, this paper takes stock of the apparent disrepute into which truth, facts and also rationality have fallen in recent times. In the post-truth world, the blurring of borders between truth and deception, truthfulness and dishonesty, and non-fiction and fiction has become a habit – and also an educational challenge. I argue that truth matters, in education as elsewhere, and in ways not o…Read more
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40Epistemic empathy in childrearing and educationEthics and Education 10 (1): 61-72. 2015.The question, what is it like to be a child?, is one that most of us, in our capacity as parents and/or educators, have probably asked ourselves already at some point. Perhaps one might go further and suggest that it is a question we ought to ask ourselves, insofar as the attempt to provide a meaningful response has a significant bearing on childrearing and education. It is a question that presumably frames the processes of cognitive and moral education – i.e. showing respect for the child's poi…Read more
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26Biocentrism, Ecocentrism, and African Modal Relationalism: Etieyibo, Metz, and Galgut on Animals and African EthicsJournal of Animal Ethics 7 (2): 183-189. 2017.In this brief reply to the essays by Edwin Etieyibo, Thad Metz, and Elisa Galgut, I argue that African morality is neither biocentric nor ecocentric in the sense of accepting that “there is no significant moral difference between animal and human slaughter and rituals,” and that African modal relationalism is problematic in both its empirical assumptions and its normative counsel. I concede that anthropocentrism, whether this involves the view that only human beings merit moral treatment or the …Read more
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92African Philosophy of Education: The Price of UnchallengeabilityStudies in Philosophy and Education 28 (3): 209-222. 2008.In South Africa, the notion of an African Philosophy of Education emerged with the advent of post-apartheid education and the call for an educational philosophy that would reflect this renewal, a focus on Africa and its cultures, identities and values, and the new imperatives for education in a postcolonial and post-apartheid era. The idea of an African Philosophy of Education has been much debated in South Africa. Not only its content and purpose but also its very possibility have been, and con…Read more
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11African and Afrikaner 'ways of knowing': Truth and the problems of superstition and 'blood knowledge'Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory 57 (125): 27-51. 2010.The approbation, in the last few decades, of 'African ways of knowing' and, more recently, the critical emphasis on 'knowledge in the blood'—which refers to 'deeply entrenched' and 'received knowledge', notably of Afrikaners—give rise to all kinds of questions and concerns. What makes certain ways of knowing and kinds of knowledge 'African' and 'Afrikaner', respectively? What do these ideas cover and include, and what falls outside their respective ambits? What functions are served by appealing …Read more
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9Animals and African ethicsPalgrave-Macmillan. 2015.African ethics is primarily concerned with community and harmonious communal relationships. The claim is frequently made on behalf of African moral beliefs and customs that African society does not objectify and exploit nature and natural existents, unlike Western moral attitudes and practices. This book investigates whether this claim is correct by examining religious and philosophical thought, as well as traditional cultural practices in Africa. Through exploration of what kind of status is re…Read more
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14Knowledge, Truth, and Education in Post-Normal TimesEthics and Education 17 (4): 373-387. 2022.ABSTRACT The advent of Covid-19, a new and highly contagious form of Corona virus, in late 2019 cast a harsh light on human vulnerabilities and on the provocations (and opportunities) facing humanity. Although many of the more drastic measures applied within educational settings have since ceased to apply, at least for the time being, we are not yet ‘past Covid’: many of the challenges that are discussed here still exist. As we faced unprecedented disruption to economies, societies and education…Read more
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7Some Doubts about “Indigenous Knowledge”, and the Argument from Epistemic InjusticeQuest - and African Journal of Philosophy 25 (1-2): 49-76. 2011.
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18Animal advocacy, fear and loathing in academia: a response to Helena PedersenEthics and Education 16 (2): 178-181. 2021.ABSTRACT Helena Pedersen’s powerful keynote address poses the question: What prevents education from becoming a transformative force in times of ‘omnicide’, that is, ‘the annihilation of everything’? She locates at least part of the response in ‘institutional anxiety’, which constitutes a psychological barrier to radical change. In particular, she discusses anxiety related to the moral standing of non-human animals as a threat to human exceptionalism in educational practice and research. Institu…Read more
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17Introduction: education, the environment and sustainabilityEthics and Education 16 (2): 137-142. 2021.ABSTRACT The 17th Biennial INPE Meeting was scheduled to take place from 28 to 31 July 2020 at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Of course, there is something ironic about convening a conference on the environment and sustainability that would require presenters to utilize unsustainable modes of transport in order to participate. As it turned out, because of the outbreak and rapid global spread of a new Corona virus, the conference was cancelled and replaced by an online event held on…Read more
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23Diversity and Epistemic Marginalisation: The Case of Inclusive EducationStudies in Philosophy and Education 40 (6): 549-565. 2021.In the literature on inclusion and inclusive education there is a frequent conflation of inclusion of diverse people, or people in all their diversity, inclusion of diverse worldviews, and inclusion of diverse epistemologies. Only the first of these is plausible—and perhaps even morally and politically mandatory. Of course, more needs to be said about inclusion and its possible difference from integration, conditions of access, etc. Regarding the second type of inclusion, not all worldviews meri…Read more
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34Indigenous Knowledge: Philosophical and Educational ConsiderationsLexington Books. 2021.Indigenous Knowledge provides all educators, especially indigenous educators, with theoretical tools for critical reflection and interrogation of their own and others’ preconceptions. The book challenges our conception of knowledge as a tool in anti-discrimination and anti-repression discourse with profound educational consequences.
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Oxford Centre for Animal EthicsOther (Part-time)
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa