Magister Artium - MA (Philosophy)

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Julian M�ller�s narrative approach to pastoral counselling in the South African landscape
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Joseph, Patrick; Klaasen, John
The goal of this study is to examine and analyse Julian M�ller's narrative approach to pastoral counselling within the South African context. The objectives include exploring both primary and secondary scholarly resources authored by Julian M�ller, specifically addressing the use and importance of narrative counselling in guiding individuals toward the appropriate sources of human worth and dignity. The research project seeks to contextualise M�ller's work within the global landscape of narrative counselling, with a particular focus on the contributions of Ruard Ganzevoort. The aim is to assess whether South African techniques present a viable alternative to prevailing mainstream counselling approaches and practices. According to M�ller, the significance of individuals and their experiences lies in collaborative meaning-building with "co-researchers". Julian M�ller's approach to narrative counselling considers the perspectives of "co-researchers", emphasising collaborative research with individuals rather than on them. His "seven movements" encourage the remembering and repeating of untold experiences, especially those of vulnerable and marginalised individuals. The strength of this approach lies in its palpable, contextualised, and localised focus, yet it extends beyond the local through cross-disciplinary discussions, resulting in findings that have broader implications. Beyond delving into pastoral counselling as an academic field, this study endeavours to investigate narrative counselling approaches within the South African landscape, specifically focusing on impoverished communities affected by marginalisation.
Anti-natalism and internalism
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Collison, Miles; Lerm, Jessica
Is it morally permissible to bring children into existence? We often go our whole lives never asking ourselves this question, since procreation and parenthood are societal norms. However, a local (and controversial) philosopher, David Benatar, thinks there are strong philosophical reasons to abstain from procreation. In his book, Better Never to Have Been, he presents the argument that bringing children into existence is morally impermissible on account that coming into existence is always a harm. This argument has been met with much criticism and scrutiny, thus producing a great deal of contemporary literature. One more recent critic is Nicholas Smyth. His claim, as opposed to the many others who have focused on the small details of Benatar�s work, is more deeply fundamental; Smyth claims that Benatar, as well as the procreation ethicists who have gone on to discuss his work, are not doing ethics at all.
How Do Certain South African Women Construct Masculinity for Their Sons? An Analysis of Motherly Discourse Regarding Gendered Expectations
(University of the Western Cape, 2001) Dixon, Rosemary; Shefer, Tamara
The study consists of a discourse analysis of ten conversations with a group of mothers whose sons attend a private primary school in Observatory, Cape Town. The purpose was to ascertain what sorts of discourses these particular women would utilise when discussing the notion of masculinity for their boys. I carried out in-depth conversations with each of the study participants, with the intention of elucidating themes and patterns surrounding the participants' constructions of gender. While the interviewees' discourses cannot be said to be representative of South African women in general, they do provide an insight into 'ordinary women's' personal ideologies of gender and masculinity. Based upon theories of social constructionism and feminism, the research hopes to contribute to the ongoing process of transforming gendered power relations in South Africa.
Epistemicide: A conceptual analysis in African epistemology
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Kapatika, Harry Wilson; Oyowe, Oritsegbubemi
Many social scientists, philosophers and theorists have applied Boaventura de Sousa Santos�s conceptual neologism, �Epistemicide�, in various fields, in singular reference to a set of mutually distinct phenomena. This raises an immediate philosophical and epistemic question of conceptual plausibility and the validity of the inferences drawn. In this case, a single philosophical term is applied as an explanation for a set of diverse phenomena that have been claimed to occur, not only in the history of ideas but also in the contemporary moment, which is also the context of current debates on African epistemology.
A Critical Study of Doubt (Shakk) and Certainty (Yaq?n) in Ghaz?l?�s Epistemology
(University of the Western Cape, 2021) Mohamed, Nabil Yasien; Beck, Simon
Our secular age is a period of scepticism and ubiquitous doubt. The epistemology of a paradigmatic figure like Ab? ??mid al-Ghaz?l? (1058-1111) is central to Islamic intellectual thought, but also speaks to our modern world. In this research dissertation we embark on a critical study of doubt (shakk) and certainty (yaq?n) in Ghaz?l?�s epistemology. We ask, what is the nature and function of doubt, and how do we best acquire truth and certainty according to Ghaz?l?? In our evaluation of scepticism in Ghaz?l?�s epistemology, we analyse the notion of existential doubt and his methodological doubt. In the latter, we look at his scepticism of the methods of knowing as a means to establish the foundations of knowledge. Also, we look at his scepticism as an instrument to cast doubt upon heterodox doctrines and show the limitations of philosophical logic. In this study we assess Ghaz?l?�s attitude to philosophical demonstration and Sufism as a means to certainty. In early scholarship surrounding Ghaz?l?, it was assumed that he was a vehement adversary to philosophy. On the other hand, in much of contemporary scholarship, Ghaz?l? has been understood to give preference to philosophy as the ultimate means to certainty, undermining the place of Sufism. In this study we evaluate these claims; we argue that he was not antagonistic to philosophy and regarded it as a legitimate approach to certainty, but recognised Sufism as a superior approach. Much of previous scholarship has either focused on Ghaz?l? as a Sufi or a philosopher; we attempt to embark on a parallel approach in which we acknowledge each discipline in its right place within Ghaz?l?�s epistemology. Thus, in analysing Ghaz?l?�s approach to acquiring certainty, we evaluate his foundationalism, his attitude to authoritative instruction (ta?lim), and the place of philosophical demonstration and Sufism.
A critical exploration of the ideas of person and community in traditional Zulu thought.
(University of the Western Cape, 2021) Ndlovu, Sanelisiwe Primrose; Oyowe, Oritsegbubemi
The issue of personhood has long been of concern to many philosophers. The primary concern has been about determining the necessary and sufficient conditions for an entity to be a person at a particular point in time. The most common answer in Western terms is that to be a person at a time is to have certain special mental properties such as psychological connectedness. On the other hand, others argue that we can only ever understand the ascription of mental characteristics as part of a necessarily joint set of physically instantiated properties. Most recent contributions to the topic have however cast doubt on these earlier attempts to understand personhood solely in terms of bodily and psychological features. Not only do they suggest a model of personhood that is individualistic, they also fail to make reference to communal and social elements. In particular, many non-Western, specifically African, cultures foreground these communal and social aspects. This is true of the Akan, Yoruba and Igbo cultures. As Kwasi Wiredu and Kwame Gyekye; Dismas Masolo; Segun Gbadegesin; and Ifeanyi Menkiti have shown respectively. However, there is a lack of comparable philosophical inquiry in the Southern African context. The primary aim of this study is to critically explore the metaphysical, cultural, linguistic and normative resources of the Zulu people in understanding what it means to be a person. The approach is predominantly conceptual and analytic, but it also draws on some empirical data with a view to extending the results of the literature-based study. Not only does this extend the field of cultural inquiry to personhood, it also opens up new opportunities to tackle old problems in the debate, including the question of what should be the proper relationship between the individual and the community. Specifically, I argue that rather than focus attention on the priority of the individual or community in relation to each other, consideration of the notion of personhood in Zulu culture reveals that notwithstanding significant communal constraints forms of agency are available to individuals. http://
Die wond s� dit aan my: die morele w�reldbeskouing van die |xam as eko-morele fenomenologie
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Staphorst, Luan; Samuel, A. E.
Despite the loss of speakers of |xam, one of the 28 Khoisan languages once spoken across Southern Africa, a part of the heritage of these speakers can be found in predominantly two archives: that of Wilhelm H. I. Bleek and Lucy Lloyd (1911) and Gideon R. von Wielligh (1919-1921). The archives form the heart of Bushman* Studies, and has long since received attention in, amongst others, anthropology, literature, and linguistics. This study presents an investigation into the ethical views of the |xam, an investigation which, with the single exception of the studies of Antjie Krog (2004-), has not been undertaken in a philosophical tradition. Through a comparative study of texts across archival boundaries, I engage critically with the ethical views of the |xam, specifically the phenomenological nature of these views. To this end, I use the hermeneutical approach in African philosophy, an approach which focuses on identifying and analysing concepts in texts. The approach to �reading� |xam texts remains, however, a burning issue, and the limit to which disciplinary boundaries are appropriate, is debatable (Wessels 2010). Consequently, and as a result of the relative density of the available texts, insights from anthropology, literature, linguistics and rock art are incorporated within the comparative study. I secondly bring the ethical views which are identified through the comparative analysis into conversation with the dominant ethical framework in African philosophy, namely Ubuntu. Where Ubuntu as been �read� through various lenses (Van Niekerk 2013), a phenomenological approach is absent. Further, where Ubuntu, African ethics broadly, is generally regarded as humanist, a salient ecological consciousness is present in the |xam views. A comparison between Ubuntu and the |xam views therefore deepens the discourse around African ethics in general, and further provides insights into the unique nature of the ethical views of the |xam in particular. Through this I attempt to add value both to Bushman Studies and African philosophy, whilst highlighting an important voice unique to Africa which could be added to the burning discussion around ecological decay in the time of the Anthropocene.
National Health Insurance (NHI) � towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all in South Africa: a philosophical analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Nkosi, Mbhekeni Sabelo; Oyowe, O.
This study is a philosophical analysis of the National Health Insurance (NHI) policy and legislation, including the related NHI Fund, with a view to assessing its prospects in realising Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The NHI system is about ensuring universal access to quality healthcare for all. The rationale is to provide free healthcare for all at the point of care/service. This legislation has the potential to transform, on the one hand, the relationship between the public and private healthcare sectors and, on the other, the nature of public funding for healthcare. Part of the challenge with the NHI system is that it seeks to provide healthcare for all, but by seeking to integrate the private sector it runs the risk of commercializing healthcare. The study is philosophical in that it holds that ideas have consequences (and conversely actions have presuppositions with certain meanings). In part, it aims to show that an implementing mechanism of the NHI system as presently envisaged has socio-political and economic implications with fundamental contradictions within it; for it seeks to incorporate the private healthcare sector in offering free public healthcare services. This introduces a tension for private healthcare services operate with a neoliberal outlook and methodology which is at odds with a public approach that is based on a socialist outlook. The analysis may make explicit conceptual and ideological tensions that will have practical consequences for healthcare. Much of the commentary on the NHI system have focused on the practical consequences for healthcare; my intervention is to explore and critically assess the various philosophical assumptions that lie behind these practical concerns. Some of these practical consequences are related to the possibility that healthcare is likely to become commercialized and the public healthcare sector will remain in a crisis. This study argues for the provision of access to high quality healthcare facilities for all members of the South African population. Healthcare must be provided free at the point of care through UHC legislation or by the setting up of the NHI Fund as financing mechanism. The study provides reason for the decommercialization of healthcare services completely � that is for eliminating private healthcare from contracting with the NHI Fund. Essentially, it argues for the claim that healthcare should not be traded in the market system as a commodity and that the NHI system in its current incarnation seeks to do precisely that. I further argue that in theory and in practice the neoliberal and socialist assumptions underlying the NHI system in its present formulation do not fit together. On the contrary, rather than a two-tiered system incorporating the private and public healthcare sectors, the dissertation argues for a different way of conceptualizing the NHI system that privileges the latter.
Exploring the philosophical mind: An empirical investigation of the process of philosophizing using the protocol analysis methodology
(University of Western Cape, 2019) Seakgwa, Kyle Vuyani Tiiso; Beck, Simon
Many empirically supported versions of stage and componential models of the cognitive processing underlying the completion of various tasks spanning a wide range of domains have been developed by cognitive scientists of various kinds. These include models of scientific (e.g. Dunbar 1999), mathematical (e.g. Schoenfeld 1985), artistic (e.g. Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi 1976), engineering (e.g. Purzer et al 2018), legal (e.g. Ronkainen 2011), medical (e.g. Vimla et al 2012) and even culinary cognition (e.g. Stierand and D�rfler 2015) (and this list is nowhere near exhaustive). Yet, despite the existence of fields such as experimental and metaphilosophy which take philosophy as their object, often by using methods from the cognitive sciences, a stage or componential model of philosophizing is conspicuously missing from even an exhaustive list of the kind just produced.
An analysis of black consciousness/in/South Africa i according to'the theoretical'criteria of a revolutionary philosophy
(University of Western Cape, 1986) Vagens, Constandinos; Cilliers, J.
This study was initiated, in the first place, by the dearth of analyses available on black consciousness in South Africa. The studies that do exist are usually to be found i~ the form of a chapter or two in a work on general black protest politics. This leaves virtually no room for a detailed analysis of the philosophy, and consequently, a few quotes by Biko, followed by general comment constitutes the most frequent form of "analysis". No theoretical framework is given and neither are the logical sequences in Biko's work analysed. This dissertation sets out to make a contribution to the existing academic analyses of black consciousness. In attempting to do this, various obstacles have had to be overcome.The most important obstacle has been the assertion that the black consciousness philosophy ostensibly precludes itself from objective analysis by whites. Consequently, the author has endeavoured to evaluate the philosophy from a theoretical framework which has been compiled from elements which characterise black consciousness ideal approach of black consciousness to society.as. This implies that any subjective inclinations which the author may have, are largely blocked from detracting from the essence of the. The theoretical framework according to which black consciousness is analysed is a IImode'" of a revolutionary philosophy.
'n Ondersoek na die betekenis van die konsep "gemeenskap" en die implikasies daarvan vir "demokratiese opvoeding" in Suid-afrika
(University of Western Cape, 1991) Davis, Edward Maurice; Morrow, Wally
In hierdie mini-tesis probeer ek om die aard van die verband tussen, "gemeenskap", "demokrasie" en "opvoeding" in Suid- Afrika te bepaal. Die motivering vir die keuse van hierdie onderwerp spruit uit die algemene gebruik van die term "gemeenskap" deur beide die regering sowel as die polities uitgeslotenes, en feitlik altyd in 'n gunstige sin. Sodanige gebruik maak die konsep problematies en is daar dus die behoefte om dit meer deursigtig te maak ten einde groter helderheid omtrent die gebruik daarvan te verkry. Die belangrikheid van so 'n onderneming blyk veral wanneer die aard van die verband tussen gemeenskap, demokrasie en opvoeding bepaal word. In suid-Afrika met sy gefragmenteerde bevolking, hoofsaaklik as gevolg van die Apartheidsbeleid van die suid-Afrikaanse regering, het die pOlities-uitgeslotenes die regering die stryd aanges� ten einde fn aandeel te verkry in politieke besluitneming. fn Deel van hierdie stryd speel in fn betekenisvolle mate af op die opvoedingsterrein.
Contrasting Constructions of Students' Literacy-Related Experiences at a Historically Black South African University
(University of Western Cape, 2002) Boughey, Christine Mary; Gough, David
In recent years, many long held assumptions about language and literacy have come to be questioned by so-called "critical" discourses. The result of this questioning at a theoretical level has resulted in a concomitant interrogation of the practices and methodologies intended to develop both phenomena. Situated against the background of this critical questioning, this thesis examines the appropriacy of interventions designed to develop students' academic literacy at the University of Zululand, a historically black South African University. It does this by asking two questions about students' literacy-related experiences. The first question, "How does the University of Zululand construct students' literacy-related experiences?", is answered using an analysis of Senate and Faculty documents, extant study and course guides and archived examination papers. In answering the question, the focus is on the identification and exploration of the ideologies which underpin dominant understandings of students' literacy-related experiences. The answer to the second question, "Is there a way to construct students' literacy-related experiences which is different to dominant understandings at the University of Zululand?", uses ethnographic research to support an analysis of students' written texts produced in a first year Systematic Philosophy class to "talk back" to the dominant understanding of students' literacy-related experiences identified as a response to the first research question. The analysis of students' writing is conducted using a systemic functional linguistic framework (Halliday, 1973, 1978, 1994). A systemic framework relates three different kinds of meanings evident in texts (experiential, interpersonal and textual meanings) to the contexts in which those texts are produced. The framework was used because of its potential to account for the form of students' texts by referring to a mismatch between the expectations of the dominant contexts of culture and situation (the university and the Systematic Philosophy class in which the research was conducted respectively) and the contexts which students themselves use as a reference point.
Called and Queer Exploring the lived experiences of queer clergy in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa
(university of western cape, 2020) Robertson, Megan; Sarojini, Nadar
In South Africa anti-queer attitudes are propped up by religious moral claims and by strong assertions that queer sexualities are un-African and a secular Western import. This study contributes to the growing body of literature which challenge these claims, and at the same time interrupts scholarly trends in the field of religion and sexuality which either characterises institutional religion as singularly oppressive or homogenises queer Christians as inherently subversive. In this thesis, I explored the lived experiences of six queer clergy (one of whom was discontinued) in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), in order to understand the complex relationship between institutional power and the ordinary lived realities of clergy. The study focuses particularly on the MCSA as it is statistically the largest mainline Protestant denomination in South Africa and holds significant positions of power and influence on national, interdenominational and political platforms, not least of all because it has fostered an institutional identity as the �church of Mandela.� Further, situated within a continental and national context where anti-queer attitudes are politicised through cultural and religious discourses, I have argued that the MCSA also serves as a case study which represents the ways in which institutionalised religion continues to be co-constitutive of social systems and hierarchies.
Can Armstrong cope with Libet�s challenge?
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Hattas, Nihahl; Beck, Simon
According to our ordinary conception of voluntary action, our actions are the causal result of conscious intentions. To take a very basic example: I wish to take a sip of coffee, and I therefore reach out and take hold of the mug. However, studies performed by Libet challenge this ordinary conception. What Libet found in his experiments was that the brain initiates voluntary actions and the person becomes consciously aware of an intention to act only some 400 msec after the brain�s initiation; for instance, my brain has already initiated the process of causing my arm to reach out and take hold of the mug some 400 msec before I am aware that I wish to take a sip of coffee. That is, conscious intention doesn�t appear to precede voluntary action at all � it actually follows it (or follows its initiation, at least), and thus Libet�s studies present a serious challenge to our ordinary conception of voluntary action. This project will investigate whether a particular theory of mind � namely, Armstrong�s Central State Materialism � can cope with the challenge posed by Libet�s studies and salvage our ordinary conception of voluntary action. Armstrong�s theory appears promising in this regard because his account of consciousness and introspection as higher-order states seems to allow room that we will become aware of our willings only after those willings are already initiated.
Child sex tourism in South Africa: A children's rights perspective
(University of the Western Cape, 2016) Mapapu, Ntombizodidi Jenniffer; Mezmur, Benyam
In the words of Najat Maall M'jid, former United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography: 'As the world reflects on the universal development goals for the post- 2015 era, bearing in mind the strong connections between economic, social, and political development and child protection issues, childsensitive protection must be included in the Post-2015 Development Agenda..' Three World Congresses against the Sexual Exploitation of Children between 1996 and 2008 convened to specifically address the rapidly advancing Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (herein referred to as CSEC). In these conferences global commitments were undertaken by countries partaking, to provide measures to prevent prohibit and protect children from sexual exploitation.
Rawls, the severely cognitively disabled and the person life view
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Seale, Wade; Beck, Simon
A political arrangement is an arrangement for persons. Political arrangements are assessed in terms of the extent to which they manage the affairs of persons, which includes protecting their interests and entitlements. Political arrangements which are unable to protect the interests of its citizens, or a group of citizens, are deemed unacceptable, and where appropriate, alternative arrangements which do protect the interests and entitlements of its citizens are sought. In this thesis I argue that the political arrangement of John Rawls is unable to protect the interests and entitlements of the severely cognitively disabled who are regarded as full citizens by advanced political arrangements in the world today. I argue that it is the contract nature and conception of the person in Rawls�s system which excludes the severely cognitively disabled. This exclusion goes against our widely-held intuitions about the rights and entitlements of the severely cognitively disabled. I look to the Person Life View of Marya Schechtman, a conception of the person that includes the severely cognitively disabled, to see if a conception of the person that includes the severely cognitively disabled is able to solve the gap in Rawls�s system. I argue that it is not able to do so. I then propose a new way of approaching questions of personhood and appeal to the Aristotelian conception of the soul as the basis, arguing that membership of a type of organism typically considered a person is enough to be a complete member of that type and therefore a person.

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