Philosophy

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Open Access
Grondbeginsels van die normatiewe estetika
(University of the Free State, 1972-06) Cloete, Petrus Cornelius; Kock, P. de B.
Abstract not available
Open Access
Stratigraphy, petrochemistry and genesis of the Makwassie formation, Ventersburg supergroup
(University of the Free State, 1988-10) Meintjes, Petrus Gerhardus; Van der Westhuizen, W. A.; De Bruiyn, H.
Abstract not available
Open Access
Carl Borckenhagen se rol as redakteur van De Express tydens die bewind van Presidente F.W. Reitz en M.T. Steyn
(University of the Free State, 1991) Strauss, Anna Catharina Petronella; Marais, A. H.
Afrikaans: Carl Borckenhagen wat in 1873 uit Duitsland na die Vrystaat geëmigreer en daar 'n ware Afrikaner en republikein geword het, het tot met sy oorlye aan die begin van 1898 'n besondere bydrae tot die opbou van die modelrepubliek en die verstewiging van republikanisme gelewer. Hy is deur sy tydgenote as 'n voorste kampvegter vir republikanisme en teen imperialisme bestempel. As eienaar en redakteur het hy De Express en Vrystaatsche Advertentieblad omskep i ndie invloedrykste republikeinse mondstuk in Suid-Afrika en die koerant met die grootste oplaag in die Vrystaat. Sy joernalistieke vermoëns is uit all oorde aangepry. Hy het die gevoelens van die meerderheid Vrystaters met fyn aanvoeling vertolk en in sy koerant weergegee. Aan die anderkant was hy dié toonaangewende meningsvormer in die Republiek en het hy groot invloed op die volk, hulle leiers en veral presidente Reitz en Steyn uitgeoefen. Talle van sy voorstelle het neerslag in wetgewing gevind. Sy mening het ook gewig gedra by die Transvaalse regering en Kaapse leiers soos J. H. Hofmeyr en sir Henry de Villiers. Op elke terrein vna die lewe in die Vrystaat het hy sy stempel afgedruk. Op politieke gebied het hy sy volksgenote opgevoed en aangemoedig om 'n aandeel te hê in die besluitnemingsproses. Hy het 'n duidelike visie gehad van die ideale binne- en buitelandse beleid vir die Republiek, naamlik die opbou van die land op elke vlak, vriendskaplike samewerking, boweal met die susterrepubliek maar ook met die kolonies en 'n duidelike boodskap aan Groot Brittanje dat die republieke hulle onafhanklikheid as ononderhandelbaar beskou het, maar ook bestaande Britse regte in Suid-Afrika erken het. Onderwys was vir hom 'n prioriteit; daarom het hy deurgaans gepleit dat die Volksraad aan Vrystaatste kinders die geleentheid moes gee om die beste moontlike opvoeding te bekom. Hy was 'n voorstaander van gedifferensieerde onderwys, byvoorbeeld praktiese onderwys vir kinders wat nie die visier op 'n professionele loopbaan gerig het nie. Verder was hy gekant teen privaatskole waardeur vreemde invloede die Republiek binnegedring het. Hy het 'n aandeel gehad in die totstandkoming van 'n aantal skole en het as kurator 'n groot diens aan Greykollege gelewer. Op ekonomiese gebied het hy hom beywer vir die verbetering van boerderytoestande en die totstandkoming van 'n tolunie, spoorweë en 'n nasionale bank. Hy het op talle rade, kommissies en direksies gedien en 'n voorbeeld as boer en sakeman gestel. Hy was 'n kultuurleier en omdta hy aan 'n gebalanseerde lewenswyse geglo het, het hy ook sy deel bygedra tot die bevordering van sport. Hy was trots op sy stad en het alles in sy vermoë gedoen om dit te help uitbou tot die waardige hoofstad van 'n modelrepubliek. Tydgenote, of hulle sy ideale onderskryf het of nie, was dit eens dat Borckenhagen 'n onberekenbare invloed in die Vrystaat en elders in Suid-Afrika uitgeoefen het.
Open Access
Modale universaliteit
(University of the Free State, 1995-06) Alt, Heinrich; Strauss, D. F. M.
English: Universality and individuality are two irreducible traits of entities. In this regard Armstrong is correct in his assumption that individuals and universals exist in states of affairs. Through the relation of instantiation it is possible to see universals as identical elements present in states of affairs. The types (kind) of things are made possible through universals. Universals are modes of being. Propositions are the way things are and relations is the way things stand in relation to other things. Universals cannot be unified with individuals. The phenomenological viewpoint states that the instantiation of universals can be seen as a quality which is not universal. This is unacceptable. The trope-theory is also in this regard wrong, because a trope is viewed as an individual, an instance of its universal. In following Strauss, qualities and relations as instantiated universals cannot be individual. It is only possible to t21 k about the specification of the universal. Hence it is impossible to talk about modal individuality, but only about modal specificity. Nominalism, platonism and conceptualism are associated with finity, denumerable infinity and non-denumerable infinity. It is not possible to count the totality of all sets of positive integers. Hence the platonist conclude that non-denumerable sets exist. Constructivism believes that it is not the existence of non-denumerable sets that makes counting impossible, but rather the mental incapacity to construct a precise idea of the totality of all sets which defines counting. Wang did not recognize the modal dimension of reality, neither did he recognize the antecipatory and retrocipatory direction of the modal aspects of reality. This is the reason why he did not recognize that the non-denumerable infinity is a regulative numerical anticipation in space. We could divide Hale's discussion of the singular term in three themes. The first deals with a syntactical criterium of the singular term. This means that the identification of a singular term occurs on grounds of patterns of conclusions with (first level) existential generalization as basis. The second theme deals with the singular term and the functional term where the functional term could be associated with a proper noun. The understanding of the functional term depends on the recognition of a functional relation which includes the chosen object of the singular term. Modal universality was implicitly recognized in the division of objects in different categories. Explicitly modal universality was never recognized. The third theme deals with the distinction between abstract proper nouns and the predicate. This distinction reflects the distinction between law and law-likeness. The distinction between abstract and concrete involves the tension between olatonism and the nominalistic causal epistemology. The problem is that a omnipresent causal theory of truth is checked by the numerical and spatial aspects of reality. Godell presupposed this when he made a distinction between mathematical knowledge and perceptual knowledge. The causal theory of knowledge doesn't have a total reference to mathematical truth. In the reformational philosophy Stafleu tries to impute individuality structure on spatial figures. This argument ls untenable, because numerical and spatial figures are modal subjects and contains modal universality in its orderliness. Modal subjects cannot be reduced to typical structures. It is prominent how Stafleu did not succeed to denote structure-typicity of the modal subjects. One of the most important points in Hale's view of a sortal concept, is that this concept is grounded in the relation of similarity. Equivalent classes and equivalent relations play an important role in the identification of abstract objects of the same sort. The sorta! concept can be associated with modal universality with similarity as the ground-relation. Van Fraassen's identity and conclusion problem could be solved when the modal dimension of reality could be accepted and the association of law with second-order universals could be denounced. The distinction between law and events and the necessity-relation are presupposed when dealing with the identity and conclusion problem. Modal laws can be obtained through abstraction and not through induction. Perception of a modal aspect does not occur through an empirical-inductive process, because every generalization already implies the meaning of the relevant modal aspect. Fowler and Van der Walt's point of view, namely that God's creation order is unrecognisable, does not reckon modal universality. Together with this, the coherent problem of concept and idea is ignored. Modal terms can be used conceptual or in an idea context. The meaning kernels of the modal aspects exceed conception and is therefore regulative for the use of concepts. In this regard, there is already a rational link between God's creation order and our knowledge thereof. This knowledge is however of a regulative foundational kind (i.e. idea-knowledge). In the history of philosophy modal universality has come to the fore as all-embracing denominators. But sadly the boundaries of the different modal aspects were not recognized. This is called reductionism and it caused the problem that phenomena could not be explained properly. The Pythagoreans for example believed that numericals were the all-embracing denominator of reality. The heaven (ouranos) was viewed as harmony and number. The invention of the irrational number showed the shortcoming of this viewpoint. The hypotenuse of a rectangular triangle cannot be presented with a finite whole number. The mechanistic viewpoint believed that mechanism was the only route to the understanding of nature. Helmholtz was the first to use the energy concept as central mode of explanation of nature as a whole. The important consequence thereof is that the sensual phenomenon of factual conclusions was not good enough for the explanation of principles. The a priorical modal dimension of reality embraces every facet of our experience which means that our experience cannot be reduced to the psychical aspect of reality. The numerical aspect is for example the condition for us to experience numerical relations, etc. In biology we find the one-sidedness of the nominalistic theory of descent and the realistic structural idea (morphology). The first-mentioned induces a chaotical blend which makes the taxonomical classification of living entities impossible or completely arbitrary. The idealistic morphology is platonistic. A person do not have to be an idealistic morphologist to be convinced that the systematics of the natural system must form the foundation of the theory of descent. The significance of Stegmuller's concept of a theory is that the mathematical core of a theory refers implicitly to modal universality. This core-structure cannot be falsified and is denoted by Stegmuller as an abstract 'gegenstande'. That which is abstract, contains similarly the property of universality. There also exists an implicit discontinuity in Stegmuller's concept of a theory. It has to do with the nominalistic association of the empirical with concrete individuality. Stegmuller does not make a distinction between the boundaries of the kinematical and physical aspects of reality. Furthermore, the distinction between theoretical and non-theoretical terms implicitly denotes the boundaries between the spatial aspect and the physical aspect (e.g. in the classical partical-mechanics spatial terms are denoted as non-theoretical).
Open Access
Family ethics for Africa
(University of the Free State, 1998) Mapitse, Andrew Zachariah; Smit, J. H.
Abstract not available
Open Access
Conceptual deep structures and the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer
(University of the Free State, 2000-08) Vásquez, Victor Manuel Morales; Visagie, P. J.
The purpose of this study is to explain the notion of conceptual deep structures as a philosophical construct and to investigate such structures in the hermeneutics of Hans- Georg Gadamer. Conceptual deep structures involve: key-conceptualizations of a philosophical nature (such as the belief that all knowledge is wholly culturally determined); root metaphors determining the content of a specific philosophical discourse (such as viewing culture as a kind of organism); and determining ideological paradigms (such as positivism or post-modernism). The research will attempt to investigate the role of these factors in the thought of Gadamer - something which has never been attempted in this form before. It is also important to note that a specific analytical methodology is at stake here, which may eventually be implemented to determine the ground structure of other philosophical discourses. Although many studies of Gadarrier's thought (Gadamer is a major hermeneutic theorist of the previous century) have been undertaken, this particular analysis will achieve a unique philosophical perspective on the determining factor of his thought. In the process, important modifications to two other philosophical theories of conceptual deep structures, namely those of Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven, will be motivated. These latter theories are influential in the circles of Christian philosophy across the world. The central hypothesis of the research is that it will be possible to explain the hermeneuties of Gadamer as deriving from certain determining factors which one can assume to be of an a priori nature (e.g. the guiding role that metaphors have been shown to play in concepts and theories). The methodology implemented here has been used successfully to analyse the thought of other philosophers, and it seemed that fruitful results in the case of Gadamer were also possible. The findings of this research may affirm some interpretations of Gadamer's thought, while others may become suspect. More importantly, a new analytical tool in philosophical interpretation (the elucidation of conceptual deep structures) will be tested and in the process further refined.
Open Access
Attitudes of the elderly towards euthanasia: a cross-cultural study
(University of the Free State, 2004-12) Ramabele, T.; Le Roux, A.
The purpose of this study was to determine attitudes of the elderly towards euthanasia. The aims of this research study were achieved by gathering data from a number of elderly respondents aged 65 and older at several old age homes in the Bloemfontein area. Six old age homes were involved in this study with a slightly greater concentration coming from Bloemfontein N=89 (44.5%), while the distribution was relatively even across the other two broader residential areas N=55 (27.5%) in Heidedal, and N=56 (28%) in Mangaung. A biographical questionnaire as well as the Euthanasia Attitude Scale was used. The influence of three variables such as, race, religious beliefs and gender, on the attitudes of the elderly people towards euthanasia was investigated. One-way ANOVA analysis was used. After statistical analysis, the variable found to have the greatest influence on the attitudes of the elderly towards euthanasia was race. Other variables, religious beliefs and gender were not found to have a significant correlation to euthanasia
Open Access
Discursive deep structure and philosophy of mind: a critique of Patricia Churchland's neurophilosophy
(University of the Free State, 2006) Repko, Pieter; Visagie, P. J.
Patricia Churchland is a professor at the University of California and is a philosopher and cognitive scientist with special knowledge of the neurosciences. Neuroscience in her opinion is relevant to solving the problems posed by philosophy in the field of the mind/body problem. This has given rise to the creation of neurophilosophy, a new sub-discipline in philosophy. Patricia Churchland has a fixed direction in her agenda that is directed at proving that the mind is nothing but neurological activity. Neuroscience in her opinion will in the long run solve the mind/body problem and at the same time eliminate folk psychology. The basic theme in her thought is that there is no non-physical mind but that mind must be explained on the basis of physical activity. She employs the notion of neural activity as foundational to the mental activity of the brain that is then responsible for the mind. The problem of how neurological activity can give rise to the non-physical mind (thought, reason, and so forth) remains however unanswered. Although her work has caused widespread commentary, critical evaluation on deeper levels has not received the attention it warrants. The following study is an attempt in this regard. For this purpose I have used the following philosophical tools: ideology analysis, metaphor analysis and analysis of “key formulas” (logosemantic analysis). The result of this analysis points to a one-sidedness in Patricia Churchland’s approach to the mind/body problem, while neuroscience and eliminative materialism is pushed to its limits. In this study the abovementioned tool-analysed results have also been compared to the views of other well-known thinkers in the field. Lastly I have included some of my own ideas on future prospects for research on mind and consciousness.
Open Access
The raised fourth in Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story
(University of the Free State, 2010) Viljoen, Nicol; Visagie, Johann
English:This article traces the functions and applications of the raised fourth-scale degree in Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story against the background of the work’s precarious positioning between a Broadway musical and a modern opera. It attempts to demonstrate how the raised fourth operates in a variety of ways as a coherent tonal motive with distinctive tragic undertones. While it relates the main songs and musical sequences to one another, it also effects a poignant relationship between the lyrics, music and dramatic action. In this regard it represents a powerful instance of musical symbolism, its tragic quality being closely intertwined with the story’s disturbing theme of gangsterism.
Open Access
The reformational legacy within political theory
(Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010-09) Strauss, Danie
Political theory in the West continued to suffer from the disturbing one-sidedness of atomistic (individualistic) and holistic (universalistic) orientations precluding a proper understanding of the nature of a differentiated society and the place of the state as a public legal institution within it. In this contribution attention is asked for the theoretical legacy within which Prof. Daan Wessels pursued his teaching, research and public performances. Traditional theories of the state never succeeded in delimiting the competency of the state because they did not proceed from an understanding of the sphere-sovereignty of the jural aspect of reality that serves as the guiding or qualifying function of the state as a public legal institution, having its foundation within the cultural-historical aspect of reality.
Open Access
The meeting of film and philosophy: a 'deep-structure' perspective
(University of the Free State, 2011) Rossouw, Martin Paul; Visagie, P. J.
Over the past two decades the field of ‘philosophy of film’ has become increasingly concerned with the self-reflective question of what constitutes the relationship between film and philosophy itself. This study proposes and explores a unique ‘deep-structure’ perspective on their relationship. It engages particularly with the question of ‘philosophy in film’ – that is, the ability of film to embody philosophical thought – from within the theoretical framework of Discourse Archaeology (DA), a theoretical system researched and taught at the Department of Philosophy, UFS. Certain assumptions that are at work within DA are explored in order to present an original and illuminating ground-perspective on how film and philosophy meet. Detailed analyses will illustrate how grounding concepts, identified by different sub-theories of DA, represent constitutive deep-structure ‘spaces’ within which film and philosophy interact in a variety of ways. While current approaches to this question tend to lack the meta-philosophical leverage which this question requires, DA’s systematic theories of philosophical discourse (and by implication philosophical ‘moments’ in any other discourse, like film) are illuminating ‘tools’ which allow the film-philosopher to deal with these two kinds of discourse in the same unifying terms. The study is conducted through five extensive case studies of how different DA sub-theories could be applied in probing the deep-structures that allow philosophy to be ‘in’ a film. The main analyses are of The Man who shot Liberty Valance (John Ford 1962), Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee 2005), Modern Times (Charles Chaplin 1936), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry 2004) and The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski 1999). The DA sub-theories that are employed in analysis are Macro-motive theory, a theory of logosemantics (‘Key theory’), a figurative semiotics (or ‘Metaphor theory’), a theory of ethical ‘postures’ and a theory of ideology. In an attempt to investigate different theoretical avenues and possibilities, each chapter of analysis examines a particular sub-theory and has its own unique exploratory aims and procedures. Yet, to anchor this study in an active and ongoing debate, each of the analyses (apart from that of Brokeback Mountain) also seeks to establish some form of dialogue with Thomas Wartenberg’s analyses in Thinking on screen: Film as philosophy (2007). Apart from offering new perspectives on ‘philosophy in film’, four of the case-studies could therefore also be seen as ‘DA-replies’ to aspects of Wartenberg’s work on exactly the same films.
Open Access
Defining mathematics
(University of the Free State, 2011) Strauss, Danie
English: Any definition of mathematics falls outside its field of investigation. When mathematics is set theory, the history of mathematics prior to the investing of set theory is eliminated. Arguing that the aspects of number and space delimit mathematics makes it possible to avoid both Platonism and constructivism in mathematics. Every philosophy of mathematics should be able to account for the nature and status of the infinite. That set theory is a spatially deepened theory of numbers cannot be accounted for by what Lakoff and Núñez call the Basic Metaphor of Infinity. Gödel’s 1931 results point to an immediate, evident, intuitive insight.
Open Access
Interfacing metaphors and postures for understanding deep communicative dvisions at a tertiary institution
(Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Van Reenen, Dionne
While South Africans have made some significant social and political progress since the first democratic elections in 1994, there are still divisions1 in this recovering society, and the aftermath of apartheid has not subsided as quickly as we may have hoped. This conflicted socio-political history has created a confusing web in which the people of South Africa find themselves entangled as they attempt to reconcile themselves with this history, while striving for authenticity in their lived experience. In becoming more aware of how various groups of South Africans might have come to conceptualise their position in society, it may prove useful to consider a metaphorical model of morality proposed by American cognitive linguist George Lakoff2 (1990; 2002; 2008), who attempted to resolve some major difficulties in American politics by making the unconscious conscious, as the problems begin in the minds of citizens. This article interfaces a version of this metaphorical model with Johann Visagie’s postural model3 of humanity in an attempt at moving beyond personal and political narratives towards opening a constructive, licensed discourse. The article was originally written in response to the 2009 and 2010 colloquia4 at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein. The colloquia served to address issues of racial conflict in society and on campus. Since then, the UFS has made huge inroads in social reconciliation. However, issues such as these remain pertinent in all levels of South African society, and this article, although presented here as a case study of the UFS, could be applied to similar situations elsewhere where problems still persist.
Open Access
World view, philosophy, and the teaching of arithmetic
(University of the Free State, 2013) Strauss, Danie
English: Dilthey’s emphasis on the relativity of world and life views inspired Spengler to speak of different worlds of number. Yet, within Greek culture, Greek mathematics switched from arithmeticism to a geometrisation of mathematics. Since the Renaissance the ideal of sovereign human reason, which viewed human understanding as the (a priori formal) law-giver of nature, gave rise to the notion of construction. Avoiding the stance of both Platonism and constructivism, an acknowledgement of the ontic status of numbers (in their distinctness and succession), accounted for in terms of the distinction between law and subject, illustrates the influence of an underlying world view.
Open Access
Key structures in philosophical discourse: a universal semantics of kernel phrases
(University of the Free State, 2013-02) Van Reenen, Dionne; Visagie, P. J.
English: Key theory, or Logosemantics, was formulated by Johann Visagie as part of a larger project known as Discourse Archaeology (DA) which is an interlocking set of sub-theories designed to investigate the structures, systems, patterns and relationships that occur in philosophical discourse. The present study gives a brief overview of the whole of DA so that Key theory can be placed in the context of Visagie’s expansive venture. The historical background from which Key theory emerged is sketched showing where the theory finds points of contact with thinkers in the field of philosophy who previously considered such occurrences in discourse. The systematic context looks to formulate a detailed explanation of Key theory components and their functions, as well as demonstrate its critical, pedagogical and descriptive import in the field of philosophy. A number of different philosophers’ work from varying fields, epochs and traditions is used to illustrate the diverse applications of the theory. In contrast, similarities between key elements are further used to diagnose typologies and trends across different time frames and conventions of thought. Seeing that all of the DA sub-theories operate within a systematic approach, the links to the sub-theories of Figurative Semiotic theory and Epistemic theory will also be explored as they are housed in the same faculty of the broader theory. In order to reach a fully generative analysis, it has proven fruitful to interface various departments with one another in order to form complexes which show the protological diversity required to begin asking the kinds of questions that initiate a detailed analysis. The target area for forming this line of inquiry is chosen as ethics and morality as it is an area which has proven notoriously complicated and often difficult for philosophy to deal with effectively either in explanation or evaluation. The link to Anthropology theory gives a brief outline of the possibility that the hierarchical structure contained in keys is universally representative of human theory-forming capacities. We seem to be constrained in some way to think like this and, consequently, we do not propose a rejection of all keys. We do suggest a deconstruction of keys so that the careful unpacking of concepts contained in, and implied by, key formulations can be evaluated and reconstructed with as much legitimacy as possible. The anticipation is to investigate the validity of acceptable key formulations and look for new conceptual links to replace or rework unacceptable formulations. This is a multi-disciplinary move away from absolutizations of thought and pure theory which we no longer consider plausible in philosophy.
Open Access
Key structures in philosophical discourse : a universal semantics of kernel phrases
(University of the Free State, 2013-02-01) Van Reenen, Dionne; Visagie, P. J.
English: Key theory, or Logosemantics, was formulated by Johann Visagie as part of a larger project known as Discourse Archaeology (DA) which is an interlocking set of sub-theories designed to investigate the structures, systems, patterns and relationships that occur in philosophical discourse. The present study gives a brief overview of the whole of DA so that Key theory can be placed in the context of Visagie’s expansive venture. The historical background from which Key theory emerged is sketched showing where the theory finds points of contact with thinkers in the field of philosophy who previously considered such occurrences in discourse. The systematic context looks to formulate a detailed explanation of Key theory components and their functions, as well as demonstrate its critical, pedagogical and descriptive import in the field of philosophy. A number of different philosophers’ work from varying fields, epochs and traditions is used to illustrate the diverse applications of the theory. In contrast, similarities between key elements are further used to diagnose typologies and trends across different time frames and conventions of thought. Seeing that all of the DA sub-theories operate within a systematic approach, the links to the sub-theories of Figurative Semiotic theory and Epistemic theory will also be explored as they are housed in the same faculty of the broader theory. In order to reach a fully generative analysis, it has proven fruitful to interface various departments with one another in order to form complexes which show the protological diversity required to begin asking the kinds of questions that initiate a detailed analysis. The target area for forming this line of inquiry is chosen as ethics and morality as it is an area which has proven notoriously complicated and often difficult for philosophy to deal with effectively either in explanation or evaluation. The link to Anthropology theory gives a brief outline of the possibility that the hierarchical structure contained in keys is universally representative of human theory-forming capacities. We seem to be constrained in some way to think like this and, consequently, we do not propose a rejection of all keys. We do suggest a deconstruction of keys so that the careful unpacking of concepts contained in, and implied by, key formulations can be evaluated and reconstructed with as much legitimacy as possible. The anticipation is to investigate the validity of acceptable key formulations and look for new conceptual links to replace or rework unacceptable formulations. This is a multi-disciplinary move away from absolutizations of thought and pure theory which we no longer consider plausible in philosophy.
Open Access
Education for sustainable development: exposing social sustainable policy imperatives for South African education
(University of the Free State, 2013-06) Teise, Kevin Lance Gustave; Le Roux, A.; Jacobs, L.
Although South Africa embraces sustainable development (SD), sound SD cannot be realised amidst unsustainable social conditions. Whilst I acknowledge the interconnectedness of the various spheres of SD, in this study I only focused on social sustainable development (SSD). SSD calls for the transformation of society in accordance with common social values. Since the construction of a social sustainable South African society is imperative, it is accepted that the values which should guide societal transformation are articulated in the vision of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996). As such, education ought to be transformed towards realising this vision for a social sustainable South African society. However, persistent social injustices suggest that South African education might not yet be transformed to fully realise the vision of a social sustainable society, but it rather sustains unsustainable social conditions. In order to realise a social sustainable society, education policy and practice have to be transformed towards education for social development (ESD). As an educational approach, ESD purposively pursues the aims and objectives of SD. The lack of research on ESD and the vision of a social sustainable South African society prompted me to explore the responsiveness of South African education policy and practice towards ESD. Based on this research aim, I conducted a critical policy analysis of the White Paper on Education and Training (1995) and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, Life Orientation Grades 10–12 (2011). This analysis was undertaken against the backdrop of a conceptual analysis of the concept ESD and the identification of various constitutive elements thereof. I used the identified constitutive elements to construct a working definition of ESD and to explore the implications of ESD for South African education policy and practice. Due to my belief in praxis as the intersection of practice and theory, I conducted a survey to explore the views of educators on the extent to which elements of ESD have filtered, via policy, to education practice. Finally I made recommendations to enhance ESD in order to contribute to a social sustainable South African society. Concerning the value and relevance of ESD for South Africa, I found the former to be potentially valuable in enhancing the orientation of education towards SD and SSD. The critical policy analysis revealed positive aspects about South African education policy documents which suggest their responsiveness to ESD. Also, the findings of the empirical research revealed the extent to which education practice is responsive to ESD. Whilst South African education appears to be infused with elements of ESD, the findings indicated that education policy and practice exhibit only partial responsiveness to some elements of ESD. I subsequently exposed particular contradictions and tensions which relate to the focus of South African education on empowerment, democracy and democratic citizenship; the exclusion of the oppressed and the marginalised; integration and holism; diverse teaching and learning strategies; lifelong learning as instrumental in societal change; quality education; deep transformative learning; and the global- and local relevance of education. Although it appears at face value that South African education is responsive towards ESD, these contradictions and tensions suggest that the education of the country is only partially responsive to ESD and as such, might not effectively contribute to the realisation of a social sustainable South African society. Informed by this conclusion, I made certain recommendations which could, on the one hand advance the orientation of South African education towards ESD, and on the other hand, redirect education to contribute to the realisation of a social sustainable South African society.
Open Access
Cartesianism and reformed scholastic theology: a comparative study of the controversy between Christoph Wittich and Petrus van Mastricht
(University of the Free State, 2013-07) Schlebusch, Jan Adriaan; Rossouw, J. H.; Zietsman, J. C.; Goudriaan, A.
English: The significance of the dispute between the two 17th century Dutch Reformed Scholastics, Christoph Wittich and Petrus van Mastricht, within the theological and philosophical context of Post-Reformation Protestant Scholastic Theology can scarcely be overestimated. The issue of the authority of Scripture, itself the epistemological standard upon which the Reformation was built, is at the very core of the dispute. From the historical context of their dispute as well as the philosophical presuppositions with which they approach the issue at hand, one can glean the differing philosophical lines of thought present in the exegetical approaches of the two respective authors. An epistemological battle regarding the foundation and nature of true knowledge is at the heart of this dispute. Cartesianism gained increasing popularity in 17th century Dutch academic circles, and René Descartes’s Accommodation Theory, i.e. his attempt to reconcile his epistemological methodology of liberation from deception via hyperbolic doubt with Divine Revelation, plays a central role in Wittich’s dealings with Scripture. Wittich’s acceptance of this element of Cartesian epistemology should be seen in light of his desire to reconcile Copernican physics with the revelation of the Holy Scripture. Van Mastricht on the other hand, responds with an attempt to prove that the application of the Accommodation Theory in the field of Biblical exegesis, particularly with regard to passages where moral and practical matters are adressed, is heresy, since he regards Wittich’s approach is fundamentally rooted in the presupposition that human reason is not fallen and enslaved to sin as Reformed Theology has historically taught, and that this forms the premises from which Wittich understands its ability to function perfectly well without the need of being redeemed and sanctified first. The net effect of these differing philosophical and theological presuppositions is that the authors’ respective interpretations of the same Biblical texts radically differ, as what Wittich constantly sees as the Holy Spirit’s accommodation of absolute truths to the beliefs of the original audience to whom the books of the canon were adressed, is viewed by Van Mastricht as the mere rendering of absolute truths by the Holy Spirit within the particular historical and social context in which they were written. Therefore Van Mastricht views Wittich’s application of Cartesianism to the exegesis of Scripture via the Accommodation Theory to be at odds with the historic Calvinist doctrine of Divine Accommodation in special revelation. Van Mastricht defends Scripture’s absolute authority in the midst of potential skepticism caused by an incorporation of Cartesianism into Reformed Theology.
Open Access
Ubuntu between tradition and modernity: on A report on Ubuntu by Leonard Praeg
(University of the Free State, 2014) Rossouw, Johann
In Part 1, I overview Praeg’s points of departure, namely critical humanism, the openness of the norms of justice, the importance of potential, his conception of modernity, a violent ontology, and the state as locus of politics. The remainder of Part 1 concerns the main arguments of his five chapters. These are the shifting meaning of Ubuntu in precolonial, colonial and postcolonial Africa; Nyerere’s ujamaa experiment in Tanzania as a case study of the dangers inherent in ignoring the colonial disruption Ubuntu; the myth of the complete break with the past allegedly represented by post-apartheid South Africa, and how the latter is haunted by Ubuntu, and Praeg’s concluding link between text worker or construction worker and Ubuntu. In part 2, I critically discuss Praeg’s account of modernity and his dualistic distinction between South African Africans and Afrikaners that need to be set aside to decolonise South Africa.
Open Access
Nie-eensgesindheid in eensgesindheid? Die verkiesing van Hendrik Verwoerd as eerste minister in 1958
(Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, 2014) Duvenhage, Pieter
This contribution focuses on the inner-party discord of the National Party leading to the election of Dr Hendrik Verwoerd as Prime Minister of South Africa in 1958. The National Party of 1958 was a complex party characterized by a federal party structure, regional differences, different personalities and even ideological undercurrents. In the first section of the contribution the focus falls on the intense political discord within the NP of 1958 until the death of Strijdom on 24 August. In this section the differences and election strategies of the different candidates come to the fore. In the second section the election of Verwoerd as party leader, and more specifically Prime Minister, is reconstructed. The third section focuses on the period from Verwoerd’s election as Prime Minister on 2 September until the appointment of his first cabinet on 21 Oktober 1958. It is in this cabinet that he had to unite regional differences, personalities, and even ideological undercurrents. This contribution ends (section 5) with the first cabinet meeting of the Verwoerd era (November 1958) which offered an interesting ideological twist – a twist that even found echoes in the later National Party leading up to 1994.