Master of Artshttp://hdl.handle.net/11394/50152024-03-29T15:52:00Z2024-03-29T15:52:00ZAnti-natalism and internalismCollison, Mileshttp://hdl.handle.net/11394/95682023-02-17T00:01:21Z2023-01-01T00:00:00ZAnti-natalism and internalism
Collison, Miles
Is it morally permissible to bring children into existence? We often go our whole lives never
asking ourselves this question, since procreation and parenthood are societal norms. However, a
local (and controversial) philosopher, David Benatar, thinks there are strong philosophical
reasons to abstain from procreation. In his book, Better Never to Have Been, he presents the
argument that bringing children into existence is morally impermissible on account that coming
into existence is always a harm. This argument has been met with much criticism and scrutiny,
thus producing a great deal of contemporary literature. One more recent critic is Nicholas
Smyth. His claim, as opposed to the many others who have focused on the small details of
Benatar’s work, is more deeply fundamental; Smyth claims that Benatar, as well as the
procreation ethicists who have gone on to discuss his work, are not doing ethics at all.
Masters of Art
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZHow Do Certain South African Women Construct Masculinity for Their Sons? An Analysis of Motherly Discourse Regarding Gendered ExpectationsDixon, Rosemaryhttp://hdl.handle.net/11394/95352023-02-03T00:01:37Z2001-01-01T00:00:00ZHow Do Certain South African Women Construct Masculinity for Their Sons? An Analysis of Motherly Discourse Regarding Gendered Expectations
Dixon, Rosemary
The study consists of a discourse analysis of ten conversations with a group of mothers whose sons attend a private primary school in Observatory, Cape Town. The purpose was to ascertain what sorts of discourses these particular women would utilise when discussing the notion of masculinity for their boys. I carried out in-depth conversations with each of the study participants, with the intention of elucidating themes and patterns surrounding the participants' constructions of gender. While the interviewees' discourses cannot be said to be representative of South African women in general, they do provide an insight into 'ordinary women's' personal ideologies of gender and masculinity. Based upon theories of social constructionism and feminism, the research hopes to contribute to the ongoing process of transforming gendered power relations in South Africa.
Magister Philosophiae - MPhil
2001-01-01T00:00:00ZEpistemicide: A conceptual analysis in African epistemologyKapatika, Harry Wilsonhttp://hdl.handle.net/11394/91912022-08-03T00:01:45Z2022-01-01T00:00:00ZEpistemicide: A conceptual analysis in African epistemology
Kapatika, Harry Wilson
Many social scientists, philosophers and theorists have applied Boaventura de Sousa
Santos’s conceptual neologism, ‘Epistemicide’, in various fields, in singular reference
to a set of mutually distinct phenomena. This raises an immediate philosophical and
epistemic question of conceptual plausibility and the validity of the inferences drawn.
In this case, a single philosophical term is applied as an explanation for a set of diverse
phenomena that have been claimed to occur, not only in the history of ideas but also in
the contemporary moment, which is also the context of current debates on African
epistemology.
Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZA Critical Study of Doubt (Shakk) and Certainty (Yaqīn) in Ghazālī’s EpistemologyMohamed, Nabil Yasienhttp://hdl.handle.net/11394/90012022-03-31T00:01:36Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZA Critical Study of Doubt (Shakk) and Certainty (Yaqīn) in Ghazālī’s Epistemology
Mohamed, Nabil Yasien
Our secular age is a period of scepticism and ubiquitous doubt. The epistemology of a paradigmatic figure like Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (1058-1111) is central to Islamic intellectual thought, but also speaks to our modern world. In this research dissertation we embark on a critical study of doubt (shakk) and certainty (yaqīn) in Ghazālī’s epistemology. We ask, what is the nature and function of doubt, and how do we best acquire truth and certainty according to Ghazālī? In our evaluation of scepticism in Ghazālī’s epistemology, we analyse the notion of existential doubt and his methodological doubt. In the latter, we look at his scepticism of the methods of knowing as a means to establish the foundations of knowledge. Also, we look at his scepticism as an instrument to cast doubt upon heterodox doctrines and show the limitations of philosophical logic. In this study we assess Ghazālī’s attitude to philosophical demonstration and Sufism as a means to certainty. In early scholarship surrounding Ghazālī, it was assumed that he was a vehement adversary to philosophy. On the other hand, in much of contemporary scholarship, Ghazālī has been understood to give preference to philosophy as the ultimate means to certainty, undermining the place of Sufism. In this study we evaluate these claims; we argue that he was not antagonistic to philosophy and regarded it as a legitimate approach to certainty, but recognised Sufism as a superior approach. Much of previous scholarship has either focused on Ghazālī as a Sufi or a philosopher; we attempt to embark on a parallel approach in which we acknowledge each discipline in its right place within Ghazālī’s epistemology. Thus, in analysing Ghazālī’s approach to acquiring certainty, we evaluate his foundationalism, his attitude to authoritative instruction (taʿlim), and the place of philosophical demonstration and Sufism.
Magister Artium - MA
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z