| ISBN | 9782869781818 |
| Pages | 476 |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Published | 2007 |
| Publisher | CODESRIA, Senegal |
| Format | Paperback |
La rationalite, une ou plurielle?
edited by Paulin Hountondji
Reason is not the monopoly of any particular group or culture. It is a universal human quality. Nevertheless, it should be recognised that reason manifests itself differently from one culture to another. Do we therefore admit that these forms are distinctly plural or should we, on the contrary, recognise the possibility of a meeting and, if need be, of an ordered confrontation that would guarantee, beyond this obvious diversity, a unity of human reason?
This book with contributions in both English and French is the result of a debate on this question, during a conference co-organised by UNESCO and the 'Centre Africain des Hautes Etudes de Porto-Novo' on the theme 'The Meeting of Rationalities' held in Porto-Novo in Benin in September 2002, during the 26th General Assembly of the International Board of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPH). Several well-known researchers participated in that debate, amongst whom Richard Rorty (United States), Meinrad Hebga (Cameroon), Harris Memel-Fotê (Côte d'Ivoire), and more than seventy philosophers, historians, anthropologists, literary critics, and psychoanalysts from various countries.
La raison n’est le monopole d’aucun groupe humain, ni d’aucune culture. Elle est un attribut universel de l’humanité. Force est de reconnaître cependant qu’elle s’exprime de différentes façons d’une culture à l’autre, voire d’un individu à l’autre et d’une époque à l’autre au sein d’une même culture. Doit-on pour autant admettre que ces formes d’expression sont irréductiblement plurielles, ou faut-il reconnaître au contraire la possibilité d’une rencontre et, au besoin, d’une confrontation réglée qui garantirait, par-delà cette apparente diversité, l’unité de la raison humaine ?
Le présent ouvrage fait suite à un débat sur cette question, au cours d’un colloque co-organisé par l’Unesco et le Centre africain des hautes études de Porto-Novo sur « La rencontre des rationalités » tenu à Porto-Novo, au Bénin, en septembre 2002, à l’occasion de la 26ème assemblée générale du Conseil international de la philosophie et des sciences humaines (CIPSH). Ont participé à ce débat plusieurs célébrités dont Richard Rorty des États-Unis, Meinrad Hebga du Cameroun, Harris Memel-Fotê de Côte d’Ivoire, et plus de soixante-dix philosophes, historiens, anthropologues, critiques littéraires, psychanalystes provenant de plusieurs pays.
About the Editor
Paulin J. Hountondji is a Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Benin Republic, joint-laureate of Mohamed El Fasi 2004 prize. He is the Director of the African Centre of Higher Education in Porto-Novo.
The American version of his book philosophie africaine: critique de l'ethnophilosophie (Paris, Maspero 1976) (African philosophy, Myth and Reality, Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1983) was awarded the Herskovits Prize in 1984. The book is part of the 100 best African books of the 20th century selected in Accra in the year 2000.
Hountondji has recently published The Struggle for Meaning: Reflections on Philosophy, Culture and Democracy in Africa (Ohio University Press, 2002) and edited several publications, including Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, (Dakar: CODESRIA, 1997). Paulin J. Hountondji has served as the Vice-President of the International Board of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPH) and also of CODESRIA.