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Item Open Access From the ‘History of Western Philosophy’ to entangled histories of philosophy: the Contribution of Ben Kies(Routledge, 2023) Miller ,Josh PlatzkyThe idea of ‘Western Philosophy’ is the product of a legitimation project for European colonialism, through to post-second world war Pan-European identity formation and white supremacist projects. Thus argues Ben Kies (1917-1979), a South African public intellectual, schoolteacher, trade unionist, and activist-theorist. In his 1953 address to the Teachers’ League of South Africa, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯-𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, Kies became one of the first people to argue explicitly that there is no such thing as ‘Western philosophy’. In this paper, I introduce Kies as a new figure in the historiography of philosophy with important insights, relevant today. I outline his three key arguments: that ‘Western Philosophy’ is the product of political mythmaking, that it is a recent, largely mid-twentieth century fabrication, and that there is an alternative to ‘Histories of Western Philosophy’, namely ‘mixed’ or entangled histories. I show that Kies’ claims are supported both by contemporary scholarship and bibliometric analysis. I thus argue that Kies is right to claim that the idea of a distinctive, hermetically sealed ‘Western Philosophy’ is a recent, political fabrication and should be abandoned. We should instead develop global, entangled historiography to make sense of philosophy and its history today.Item Open Access Die dagboek van'n Boeremeisie in diens van die vyand-siekte en sorg in die Bethulie-kamp(Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, 2011-09) Pretorius, Engela; Krige, DaleenThe many published diaries kept by women in the concentration camps constitute an extraordinary aspect of the Anglo-Boer War. Undoubtedly, some diaries have only survived within families – like the one kept by Susara Johanna (Sarie) Roos. Armed conflict can be considered to be the antithesis of public health and, as such, it constitutes a health issue. Central to every war one finds the health care staff, and specifically the nurse, who has to deal with the physical, emotional and social consequences of the conflict. Sarie Roos, a young Boer woman, was employed by the British as a nurse in the Bethulie camp. In the main, her narrative deals with this role. This article aims to describe and analyse her experiences in this camp – one of the most devastating of its kind. During the course of her narrative, documented history comes to light, which serves to verify the reliability and authenticity of her diary. It does, however, also provide a somewhat different view of the events – from the perspective of a Boer woman employed by the enemy to serve her own people.