The social and philosophical function of language
- by Gerald Ogbuja
- 15 years ago
- 0 comments
Hermeneutics as mediator between language, culture and philosophy
Our reflection will center on culture, language and the understanding of the philosophy of communication and people’s way of life. It is within the context of hermeneutics that African and Western philosophies are reflected and communicated linguistically. In this sense, Africans look at hermeneutics as an epistemological tool/ method of mediation, and of making the passage between culture as lived, culture as reflected and culture linguistically expressed. The role of hermeneutics in the manifestation, interpretation and linguistic expression of being (man) forms the ontological roots and anthropological implication of language. This role of hermeneutics compels African culture to give birth to African philosophy and language. Ricoeur called African linguistic approach the ontology of comprehension. In this case, Africans comprehend within the ambient of their culture. For Mbiti, Africans comprehends within the urgency of time. The eschatology of African faith is expressed linguistically in time. Mbiti affirmed that Africans comprehend within their nature capacity. If hermeneutics is a study of human characteristic and meaning to human life then the linguistic of human characteristic becomes very symbolic in African culture? What would happen to African culture to bring forth a philosophy that is linguistically communicable? To ask these philosophical questions is to arrive at the fundamental problem of hermeneutics. The ultimate burden of hermeneutics however rests in a radical investigation of what roles language plays in philosophy and culture. This ultimate burden explores how African languages compliment philosophy and culture. The linguistic philosophy of Africa is always reflected within African culture. The product of this reflection is called African interpretations. This relation provokes series of questions. What is culture? And what is African philosophy? What aspect of culture and philosophy is linguistically tied?
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