Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions.

Please click the link to download FT-VOL-1-NO-1-2011-Complete CONTRIBUTORS 1. Innocent I. Asouzu Professor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Calabar Nigeria Email: frasouzu@gmx.net 2. Adekunle A. Ibrahim Doctoral Candidate and Lecturer Cross River University of Science and Technology Calabar Nigeria Email:talk2ibrahimadekunle@gmail.com 3. Jonathan C. Okeke Doctoral Candidate Department of Philosophy University of Calabar Nigeria Email: jonathansphilosophy@gmail.com 4. Agu N. Sunday Lecturer and Doctoral Candidate, Cross River State University of Science and Technology Calabar, Nigeria. Email: snamassociate@ymail.com 5. Chris O. Ijiomah Professor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Calabar Nigeria Email: christolyn2003@yahoo.com 6. Ejikeme D. Igwe Lecturer and Doctoral Candidate, University of Uyo, Nigeria Email: denco_igwe@yahoo.com 7. Godfrey O. Ozumba Professor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Calabar Nigeria Email: goddyozumba@yahoo.com 8. Mamadu T. Titus Doctoral Candidate Department of Philosophy University of Calabar, Nigeria. E-mail: titusmamadu@yahoo.com 9. Udobata Onunwa Professor of Religious Studies University of Birmingham UK Email: uonunwa@yahoo.co.uk EDITORIAL BOARD Prof. Godfrey O. Ozumba - Editor-in- Chief Jonathan C. Okeke - Managing Editor Prof. Chris Ijiomah - Assoc. Editor Dr. Leo Ochulor - Assoc. Editor II Maduka Enyimba - Secretary Oduora O. Asuo - Member Adekunle A. Ibrahim - Member Editorial Consultants Prof. Edward Nelson - Princeton University USA Prof. Innocent Asouzu - University of Calabar Prof. Udo Etuk - University of Uyo Prof. Emmanuel Ezedinachi - University of Calabar Prof. Stephen Egarievwe - University of Alabama USA Assoc. Prof. Dorathy Olujacob - University of Calabar Assoc. Prof. Kyrian A. Ojong - University of Calabar Dr. Uduma Oji Uduma - Ebonyi State University Dr. Asira E. Asira - University of Calabar EDITORIAL NOTE TO THE MAIDEN EDITION In the late 1940's African elites announced the birth of African renaissance in Manchester, England. They had assumed that the new Africa would be the one that is politically independent of the western colonialists or one which makes its cultures a high point of tourism. But this was a mock renaissance. An authentic African renaissance is just beginning. It is a renaissance which sees a new Africa as one that is mentally liberated from the stranglehold of western thought system. The mock renaissance extrapolated a great march for the post-independent Africa, but the authentic renaissance anticipates a great return. An abandonment of western thought system and a return to the native African thought system. This offers two invaluable benefits namely: it will eliminate the unhealthy demarcation between tutored Africans and their non-tutored brothers and provide equal platform for intellectual excellence; second, as the natural reasoning pattern of Africans, the African thinking within this structure would excel as a scientist, an inventor and would be able to make meaningful contributions to human and African development in other areas. For the champions of authentic African renaissance, an African intellectual is not the tutored but the one who uses the construction of his mind to put forward a new African history and advance Africa's contribution to World's civilization literate or not. Put in one word, he is one who looks at reality from African perspective. For the loss of this native African reasoning pattern, many tutored Africans could not theorize neither could they invent for the western thought system which they adopted was not genial to them. This is because even though they have chosen to think like westerners, they could not stop themselves from seeing like Africans. A conflict of thought and extension therefore characterizes the intellectual life of the tutored African. This gives him a terrible critical mind but robs him off of any productive ability. Filosofia Theoretica is a research journal founded to provide a platform for the authentic African intellectual to help in the writing of a new African history and to make an African contribution to world civilization. He thinks with action and acts with thought. Studying reality from African perspectives, he invents, develops and produces. Hence, even as he is tutored, being tutored or is tutoring others in a Western structured school system, he retains the African thought system as his mirror of reality. In this maiden edition, we have a repertoire of theories. Innocent Asouzu projects his theory of Ibuanyidanda philosophy which studies being as each consisting a missing link of reality. Nature and everything there is become a network ensemble. This offers a veritable insight to the scientists and technology developers from the perspective of how Africans view reality. Godfrey Ozumba develops an integrativist theory of reality. Beyond the traditional demarcation of what is and what is not, truth and falsehood, physical and spiritual etc., reality would be better understood with the removal of the rule of straight-jackettedness. He also draws a line between his integrativism and Asouzu's philosophy of missing links. Again, this insight would translate to valuable use in humanitarian researches as well as science and technology. Also, Terver Mamadu in his non-senseless world theory comes from African background to offer a sensible explanation for the plausibility of the non-physical world, i.e. the Kantian noumenal world. If researches are advanced in this area, science would one day study the so-called non-existing noumenal world and find it of great use to human development. Jonathan Okeke comes from an African understanding of the function-value assessment of things to develop a functionalist theory of the foundation of mathematics. Insights from this could be harnessed in electronics and technology in general. In his second paper in this volume, Jonathan Okeke also explores in his theory of personal identity, a new conception of identity. Insights provided in this theory could help advance researches in cognitive science, psychology and physiology. Ibrahim Adekunle rising from the integrativist philosophy of Godfrey Ozumba projects a theory for the fourth condition of knowledge. The search for this fourth condition has obviously eluded epistemologists for some time now. The viability of Ibrahim's theory would impact directly on virtually all spheres of learning. Further, Denis Igwe Investigated some sections of Igbo jurisprudence and came up with a theory of punishment. A theory of such pedigree when modernized is good enough to form the legal blueprints of other nations and even the International Court of Justice as the case may be. Chris Ijiomah continues his project of humanizing epistemology in his own paper. Knowledge for him is qualified to be called knowledge at all if it has moral value. Whether in the sciences, humanities or technology, no great discovery or invention is knowledge unless it can be moralized. Thus coming from the background of African thought system, Ijiomah's theory seeks to treat knowledge as having worth only if it is moral. A scientific society based on this insight would be rid off all the dangers which western science imposes on humanity and the world at large. And finally, Udobata Onunwa in his classical way investigates the humanistic basis of religious theology for Africans. The primacy of man ( homo sapiens) in African traditional cosmology and religion is the basic factor in understanding and interpreting moral behavior and ethics in traditional African society. Whether it is seen as Guilt Culture or Shame-Culture, the centrality of man in African traditional thought makes him place his welfare far above any other thing. His security, fecundity, longevity, success and bliss are more important to him than any other factor. He worships God or any other deity primarily to preserve self rather than for the glory of the deity. A critical look at the prayers, life style, theological discourse and interpretation of some Biblical texts in some Churches in Africa in contemporary times seem to have been invariably influenced by the traditional thought pattern of the votary of African traditional religion. Onunwa contends that it is a practice that is gaining ground in many African Churches that seem to be against the orthodox historical practice in established historic Mission Churches. The Graduate Research Unit (GRU) formerly Graduate Research Forum (GRF) of the Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar, (an institutional base for the journal) is founded to promote African oriented researches and African researchers in all spheres of learning. Sincerely, it is my dream that this institute would eventually become a research base for African scholars, award postgraduate degrees in these areas and direct the future of research and development in Africa. A great appreciation is due to the managing editor Okeke Jonathan who cultivated the idea of this journal and those of the Graduate Research Unit and the Calabar School Scientific Philosophy, Africa needs more minds like yours. Funding is however needed for the circulation of this journal to universities within and beyond Nigeria as well as for sustained funding of the programs of GRU. I would not fail to mention some others who readily identified with the Graduate Research Forum at its inception, they include Prof. Udobata Onunwa, Prof. Chris Ijiomah, Prof. Emmanuel Ezedinachi of the directorate of research University of Calabar, Prof. James Epoke the University Vice Chancellor who has provided the enabling environment, Prof. Andrew Uduigwomen the faculty dean, Assoc. Prof. K.A Ojong, Dr. Asira E. Asira, Dr. Leo Ochulor the Graduate program coordinator and Dr. John Inyang to mention just a few. And also to all those graduate students of the Department of Philosophy who were present at the GRF's session of Monday, July 11, 2011. If all we do now and if all the dreams behind it were to come through tomorrow, history will remark the roles you played. Also, a high percentage of the contributions to this first edition come from the members of Calabar School of Scientific Philosophy (CSSP). The CSSP is an intellectual forum committed not to turning philosophy into Science as the logical positivists attempted in the twentieth century, but in building and institutionalizing African Science as an academic discipline and as a basis for scientific research. Above all, the Calabar School of Scientific Philosophy sees philosophy as the mother of all sciences and as such sees philosophy as a form of science in accordance with ancient orientation, a philosopher for them therefore can be a scientist. All that is important to them is to transform Africa into a technology-wise continent. Membership of this group is also open to both academics and non academics of any orientation in so far as one shares the goals of the forum. To this group I owe enormous gratitude for their support. Also, I commend God almighty, the bringer of 'the' rain! Finally, I take exception that this work might fall short of perfection and as such, all technical errors are due to the Editor but the views expressed in the articles are entirely those of the authors.