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philosophylatest news & developments
Graduates in disciplines such as sociology, development, philosophy, gender and politics have the analytical tools to unpack social nuances, historical context and ethical boundaries. Photo: File

Podcast regulation: Consider humanities graduates in the process 

Graduates in disciplines such as sociology, development, philosophy, gender and politics have the analytical tools to unpack social nuances, historical context and ethical…

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, regarded as the pioneer of postcolonial studies in Africa, never ceased to be a voice of the continent. Photo: Michael Runkel/Robert Harding Heritage/AFP

The contrapuntal voice of Africa, Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, has died

The Congolese philosopher, poet, novelist and bold advocate of African knowledge has died in the US where he lived and taught at Sandford and Duke universities since 1979

One way to counteract the effects of misinformation and foster a more open-minded approach to others is by making a conscious effort to spend time in nature. (Photo by Des Erasmus)

Turn to nature to nurture better social interactions in the digital age

Survival of the fittest misunderstood and misused fuels unchecked competitiveness, which is exacerbated by social media

To maximise AI’s potential in peace, justice and governance, governments, NGOs, multilateral institutions and the private sector must invest in ethical AI research, data-sharing initiatives and regulatory frameworks.  Photo: File

Effective methods of teaching students in the age of AI

Students need to learn creative and critical thinking, so they can work with AI, while they are at university and in the world of work

African societies are organised around the requirements of duty, while Western societies are organised around individual rights

African philosophy: The inclusiveness and limitations of the continent’s political thought

African societies are organised around the requirements of duty, while Western societies are organised around individual rights

Scathing critique: Academic and author Mahmood Mamdani’s new book, Neither Settler nor Native, is a haunting meditation on the deadly political rituals and fires of the ‘politicisation’ of cultural and ethnic identity. (Photo: Chloe Aftel)

Review: Mahmood Mamdani on the ‘non-national’ state

Mahmood Mamdani’s latest book, ‘Neither Settler nor Native’ asks a political question: Rights for whom?

Joseph Ndandarika, who was once described as one of the three greatest living stone sculptors. (Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe)

In praise of African art: How Shona sculpting emerged

How Shona stone art came into its own after independence

Institutes and research centres that insist on happiness as a goal lure one into accepting the status quo on the basis of the fraudulent notion that happiness is possible. It is not

The fraud of happiness

Institutes and research centres that insist on happiness as a goal lure one into accepting the status quo on the basis of the fraudulent notion that happiness is possible. It is…

Black woman’s ecstasy (Kimberly Marie Ashby)

Black futures in the age of apocalypse

Curating the End of the World deploys Afrofuturism to respond to Covid-19, anti-black violence and capitalism

Study (Sepia Scallop), one of the works from Pamela Phatsimo Suntrum’s collaborative book ‘There are Mechanisms in Place’

‘There are Mechanisms in Place’: Collaboration births sacred text

‘There are Mechanisms in Place’, comprising text, poetry and visual analysis of Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum’s practice, reveals how working together is a powerful philosophy

(John McCann/M&G)

Eusebius McKaiser: A way to find meaning in a strange world

How we live has changed – we cannot avoid the threat of death brought by the coronavirus

‘The authors exhort us to celebrate not only the conferral of Mpho Tshivhase’s PhD in philosophy but also the fact that she is the first black woman to be the president of the Philosophical Society of South Africa,’ says the writer (John McCann)

Yes, identity by race does matter, but at what other costs?

Black women must not compromise their commitment to ending white supremacy

‘We think that there is a fruitful conversation that needs to be held

Identity by race does matter

Celebrating the first ‘black’ or ‘African’ woman to get a doctorate in philosophy raises critical issues

(John McCann/M&G)

‘Don’t objectify black people through white guilt’

White people should take responsibility for what they’ve done to black people and feel remorse

(John McCann/M&G)

Isn’t identity informed by experience?

To question someone’s authority to speak on their own identity and inwardness is truly questionable.

Statues of ancient Greek philosophers Plato

​Demise of philosophical society not black and white

The Philosophical Society of Southern Africa appears to be falling apart over Africanising a Eurocentric viewpoint.

Hours after falling into a pit latrine, Michael Komape’s mother still desperately hoping he could be rescued alive, had to sit, looking at the little hand, waiting for social services to come. (Elijar Mushiana/Gallo Images/Sowetan)

​The age of humanism is ending

The divergence of democracy and capital will defy reason and politics will become brutal survivalism.

‘The vilest of men rise to the greatest credit’

French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s writings from 1755 could have well been written today, about South Africa.

Violence: What Fanon really said

The revolutionary philosopher fought racism and colonialism, but he was not a violent man.

Magobo More says there are 300 philosophy lecturers in SA

No country for brilliant thinkers

Why is Mabogo More, probably the "most frequently cited philosopher living in South Africa today", almost unknown in the country?