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Books > Humanities > Philosophy
In Everything Ancient Was Once New, Emalani Case explores
Indigenous persistence through the concept of Kahiki, a term that
is at once both an ancestral homeland for Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiians)
and the knowledge that there is life to be found beyond Hawai'i's
shores. It is therefore both a symbol of ancestral connection and
the potential that comes with remembering and acting upon that
connection. Tracing physical, historical, intellectual, and
spiritual journeys to and from Kahiki, Emalani frames it as a place
of refuge and sanctuary, a place where ancient knowledge can
constantly be made anew. It is in Kahiki, she argues, and in the
sanctuary it creates, that today's Kanaka Maoli can find safety and
reprieve from the continued onslaught of settler colonial violence,
while also confronting some of the often uncomfortable and
challenging realities of being Indigenous in Hawai'i, in the
Pacific, and in the world. Each chapter of the book engages with
Kahiki as a shifting term, employed by Kanaka Maoli to explain
their lives and experiences to themselves at different points in
history. In doing so, Everything Ancient Was Once New proposes and
argues for reactivated and reinvigorated engagements with Kahiki,
each supporting ongoing work aimed at decolonizing physical and
ideological spaces, and reconnecting Kanaka Maoli to other peoples
and places in the Pacific region and beyond in ways that are both
purposeful and meaningful. In the book, Kahiki is therefore traced
through pivotal moments in history and critical moments in
contemporary times, explaining that while not always mentioned by
name, the idea of Kahiki was, and is, always full of potential. In
writing that is both personal and theoretical, Emalani weaves the
past and the present together, reflecting on ancient concepts and
their continued relevance in movements to protect lands, waters,
and oceans; to fight for social justice; to reexamine our
responsibilities and obligations to each other across the Pacific
region; and to open space for continued dialogue on what it means
to be Indigenous both when at home and when away. Combining
personal narrative and reflection with research and critical
analysis, Everything Ancient Was Once New journeys to and from
Kahiki, the sanctuary for reflection, deep learning, and continued
dreaming with the past, in the present, and far into the future.
Michael Moran is fascinated by the thinkers he discusses. But
unlike most of them, he has no illusion that philosophy can do the
work of science and be even a minor source of factual knowledge.
Moreover, being highly speculative, it is unlikely that most
philosophy will reveal more to us about the `nature of reality'
than, say, imaginative literature. Among other things, the author
considers both where the usefulness, and indeed the dangers, of
philosophy may lie and how, as an academic subject, it might be
practised. `I have written this volume not primarily for fellow
academics but for anyone who is really interested in modern
philosophy and who would like to know what another thoughtful
reader has made of it. In other words, I still cling to the hope
that there must somewhere exist an intelligent readership outside
the routines of academia itself, consisting of individuals who are
deeply concerned with ideas, are already reasonably informed, but
feel the need for more stimulus. This book is primarily meant for
them.' (Introduction, p. 9) Sir Isaiah Berlin, commenting on the
author's article on Coleridge: `It seems to me to be one of the
most perceptive pieces on Coleridge that I have ever read in
English.'
Traditional moral theory usually has either of two emphases:
virtuous moral character or principles for distributing duties and
goods. Zone Morality introduces a third focus: families and
businesses are systems created by the causal reciprocities of their
members. These relations embody the duties and permissions of a
system's moral code. Core systems satisfy basic interests and
needs; we move easily among them hardly noticing that moral demands
vary from system to system. Moral conflicts arise because of
discord within or among systems but also because morality has three
competing sites: self-assertive, self-regarding people; the moral
codes of systems; and regulative principles that enhance social
cohesion. Each wants authority to control the other two. Their
struggles make governance fragile. A strong church or authoritarian
government reduces conflict by imposing its rules, but democracy
resists that solution. Procedural democracy is a default position.
Its laws and equitable procedures defend people or systems having
diverse interests when society fails to create a public that would
govern for the common interest.
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