Orality in Philosophy

Prof. Souleymane Bachir Diagne (WoC Guest Professor), Prof. Anke Graneß (U Freiburg), Lindokuhle Shabane & Prof. Norman Sieroka (RTG Contradiction Studies)

06/06/2024 6:00 pm 8:00 pm

U Bremen CART 067 & online

The role of orality in philosophy is an old and intriguing topic. Some have claimed that philosophy cannot exist as an oral tradition because sophisticated thought presupposes a written form. Others (including Plato) have claimed that writing destroys memory. Still others have formulated central statements in catchy aphorisms and proverbs that are easy to memorise and immediately invite you to unfold their meaning: „You cannot enter the same river twice.“ Fortunately, however, we can enter into discussion with Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Anke Graneß & Lindokuhle Shabane, to unfold the role of orality in philosophy, especially in an African context where oral traditions have always played a crucial role.

Guests
Prof. Dr. Souleyman Bachir Diagne | WoC International Guest Professor
Prof. Anke Graneß | U Freiburg
Lindokuhle Shabane | RTG Contradiction Studies

Moderation
Prof. Norman Sieroka | RTG Contradiction Studies

Please register for digital participation.

Back to overview
city

“The city is a laboratory not only of modernity, but also of contradiction.”

Julia Lossau
Afterlife of colonialism

“Contradiction comes in many different forms. None is so debilitating than when the coloniser transitions, textually not politically, to decoloniality without taking the responsibility for the afterlife of colonialism, which they continue to benefit from. Self-examination and self-interrogation of the relations of coloniality, a necessity, seem nearly impossible for the coloniser who continues to act as beneficiary, masked in the new-found language of White fragility, devoid of an ethical responsibility of the very system of White domination they claim to be against.” (Black Consciousness and the Politics of the Flesh)

Rozena Maart
articulate

“Contradictions need to be articulated in order to exist.”

Martin Nonhoff
ideal of a contradiction-free world

“Science has long been animated by the ideal of a contradiction-free world in which logical orders could merge with society, politics, culture and language. In the GRC Contradiction Studies we are working on ways of describing the multiplicity and complexity, the danger and beauty of our worlds that clearly go beyond concepts of freedom from contradiction.”

Michi Knecht
idea of democratic critique

“If you think that acts of contradicting someone always need to point to better solutions, you haven’t really understood the idea of democratic critique.”

Martin Nonhoff