The paper I presented at the Theological Society of South Africa.
Monday, June 25, 2007 at 6:55PM There are few things quite as boring as sitting through some strange man telling you all about neurons, dendrites, objective and subjective reality, quadrants, hierarchies and a host of things that would normally put the average person to sleep...
However, whilst there are few things as boring as being PRESENT to hear a paper, the one SURE FIRE thing that IS MORE BORING is reading someone else's BORING paper.... Ha ha!
So, I just wanted to announce that there will be a test for all my friends (particularly for those of you on facebook that keep poking me!) So you had better start reading the paper (all 31 pages of it) or else you may not go to heaven! What do you think Wessel, is that a fair soteriology!?
So, click here to download the BORING paper!
Here's the Abstract (hint - study this and you should be able to pass the test ;-)
A generous ontology: Identity as a process of intersubjective discovery - An African theological contribution.
The answer to the question "who am I?" is of fundamental importance to being human. Answers to this question have traditionally been sought from various disciplines and sources, these include empirical sources such as biology and sociology, and phenomenological sources such as psychology and religion. Although the approaches are varied they have the notion of foundational truth, whether from an objective, or subjective, perspective in common. The question in the title of this paper comes from the title of a book by WITS academic, Ivor Chipkin, entitled, "Do South Africans Exist? Nationalism, Democracy and the Identity of 'the People'" (2007). This paper will not discuss Chipkin’s thoughts on nationalism and democracy in any detail, however it will consider the matter of human identity that is raised by his question. The approach that this papers takes on the notion of identity is significantly influenced by Brian McLaren’s postmodernist approach to Christian doctrine as outlined in his book "A generous orthodoxy" (2004) - a term coined by Yale Theologian Hans Frei. The inadequacies of traditional approaches to human identity and consciousness that are based upon 'foundational knowledge' will thus be considered. Both subjective and objective approaches will be touched upon, showing the weaknesses of these approaches in dealing with the complex nature of true human identity. The paper will then go on to present an integrative framework for individual consciousness that is not static or ultimately quantifiable, rather it is formulated in the process of mutual discover that arises from a shared journey. The approach presented here draws strongly upon the groundbreaking work of Ken Wilber and Eugene de Quincey and relates their ontlogical systems to the intersubjective approach to identity that can be found in the African philosophy of ubuntu. This paper will show how the ethics and theology of this indigenous knowledge system can contribute toward overcoming the impasse of validating individual identity and consciousness.
Reader Comments (2)
Hi Dion - I actually went and read it. What do I get for that? Partly because noone else seems to be blogging and partly because I'm currently reading 'The Human Condition, Christian Perspectives Through African Eyes' by Joe M Kapolyo which also deals with questions of identity in the African context.
I have to comment on some things - just to prove I read it, not because my thoughts are particularly erudite!
The idea of identity as patterns, not particles is really cool. We can see in ourselves the desire to maintain or at least control the change in patterns. So if we lose our hearing, we look for an implant, to preserve the pattern. Because if I am deaf I am changed. But an implant while changing the particles retains the pattern. If we are criticised we are challenged as we become unsure of the stability of the pattern and we react to preserve it.
This is going to take too long here! I'll post some more thoughts on my blog and maybe you can check them out.
I didn't see references to dendrites and I was looking forward to them! Did I read too fast?
Thanks for a great blog!
Hi Jenny,
That is such a wonderful insight! I have never made the connection between identity as a pattern rather than a particle (and I should have since I am a big 'holographic universe' Bohm et al fan!)
This is a wonderful idea! Thank you for allerting me to it. I need to give it some further thought and look forward to reading all about it on your blog.
Rich blessing,
Dion