Thought experiments and personal identity in Africa
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
African perspectives on personhood and personal identity and their
relation to those of the West have become far more central in mainstream
Western discussion than they once were. Not only are African traditional views
with their emphasis on the importance of community and social relations more
widely discussed, but that emphasis has also received much wider acceptance
and gained more influence among Western philosophers. Despite this
convergence, there is at least one striking way in which the discussions remain
apart and that is on a point of method. The Western discussion makes
widespread use of thought experiments. In the African discussion, they are almost
entirely absent. In this article, we put forward a possible explanation for the method
of thought experiment being avoided that is based on considerations stemming from
John Mbiti�s account of the traditional African view of time. These considerations
find an echo in criticism offered of the method in the Western debate. We consider
whether a response to both trains of thought can be found that can further bring
the Western and African philosophical traditions into fruitful dialogue.
Description
Keywords
Personal identity, Time, Thought experiments, African philosophy, Personhood
Citation
Beck, S., & Oyowe, O. A. (2020). Thought experiments and personal identity in Africa. Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 7(4), 439-452. https://doi.org/10.1017/apa.2020.25