Philosophy 101        Inroduction to Philosophy   Group Writing Projects               Topic 4:  Religion and Metaphysics

Introduction

Many of the world's peoples, especially those who have experienced abrupt modernization and industrialization in the last twenty or thirty years, are caught in a dramatic clash between what may be called mythic existence on the one hand and modern, linear, historic existence on the other (this distinction is from Mircea Eliade). Many contemporary African authors write from and about this conflict. Chinua Achebe ( Things Fall Apart ) and Buchi Emecheta  (The Joys of Motherhood ) -- both Nigerian writers -- speak directly from this tension albeit in varying ways.


Topic: Is there an unbridgeable gap between the world- view (basic assumptions about the way the world is) of the Tiv and the modern, scientific worldview of Bohannan? Chapter 2.2 (pp. 80-90) of our text presents two traditional western views of human nature ( the rationalist view and the religious view ) which are able to coexist because they share some of the same basic assumptions about individuality, consciousness, and identity. In Chapter 2.3 under "Scientific Views," we are presented with a scientific worldview that challenges the two traditional western worldviews just mentioned.
In what ways does the modern, scientific worldview challenge the basic religious and metaphysical assumptions of the Tiv worldview? Use Bohannan's essay to show where these challenges occur.
                                                    

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Last revision:  August 21, 1998
Please send any comments to Frank Edler fedler@mccneb.edu