Theses and Dissertations

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Theses and Dissertations (Philosophy)

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    A Critique of the Challenge of Skepticism to Empirical Knowledge
    (2015-05-11) Omotosho, Ibrahim Fatai; Oke, Moses
    The study examined the various responses in epistemology to the skeptical challenge to the possibility of knowledge with a view to articulating a viable theory of knowledge. The study employed the methods of historical exposition, textual interpretation, philosophical argumentation, and critical conceptual analysis of epistemology from the Socratic era through the period of classical empiricism in Western Europe and America. The results showed that the skeptical challenge to empirical knowledge was a demand for ty which could only be met by a priori knowledge and deductive reasoning. It was also that, since scepticism about empirical knowledge was based on the methodological le of non-contradiction, a posterior or empirical knowledge claims could not logically the skeptic's ideal of knowledge. The study posited that the right approach in epistemology would be to recognize that both a priori and a posteriori (empirical) knowledge were legitimate forms of knowledge, just as deduction and induction were legitimate, though different, forms of reasoning. Therefore, for any definition of knowledge to be universally satisfactory it must harmonize the two kinds of knowledge and the two kinds of reasoning. Hilary Kornblith's version of reliablism was considered a viable definition of knowledge in line with the findings of the study. The study concluded that the skeptic's demand that empirical knowledge should satisfy requirements of a pirori knowledge was naturally and logically impossible. Based on Kornblith’s version of reliabilism, both a priori and empirical claims that were produced by methodologically reliable means were acceptable kinds of knowledge.
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    A Critique of the Separability Thesis in the Context of an African Jurisprudence
    (2015-04-23) Idowu, William Oluwunmi Oladunni; Oke, Moses; Popoola, Ademola
    The study examined the positivists' view that law and morality were conceptually separable in the light of the nature and substance of an African jurisprudence. This was with a view to understanding the controversy in jurisprudence over the relation between law and morality. The methodology involved a critical analysis of such concepts on the nature of the relation between law and morality in African jurisprudence as complementarism, epiphenomenalism, assimilationism and accommodationism. Theories in Yoruba social and political thoughts such as the ebi theory, iwa theory, imperial theory, Roman Empire theory and the original ancestor theory were reviewed. The results showed that legal positivist's separability thesis was open to some semantic confusion, such as the confusion over conceptual dissimilarity and conceptual separability, and endless emendations which rendered the thesis difficult to understand. The study also observed that many positivists did not even agree on the exact meaning of the thesis, which explained the division between inclusive and exclusive positivism. Exclusive positivism contended that laws did not necessarily satisfy the demands of morality, while inclusive positivism asserted that laws reproduced certain demands of morality. While inclusive positivists were divided over whether morality was a necessary or sufficient ground for legal validity, exclusive positivists were antagonists of inclusive positivists. It was also discovered that the separability thesis was not generally entertained in the canons of African jurisprudence, which posited the complementariness rather than separation between law and morality. Finally, the study ascertained that dissimilarity between two or more concepts did not entail separation especially if the concepts in question were complementary. The study concluded that law and morality, in the light of African jurisprudence, were held to be complementary concepts in any legal system and to that extent inseparable.
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    Political Decline and Varieties of Intellectual Reaction in Post-Aristotelian Philosophy
    (Obafemi Awolowo University, 1986) Alumona, Victor Sunday; Bedu-Addo, J. T.
    The philosophers considered in this essay were in search of the way to achieve happiness and mental serenity in an unsteady socio-political situation brought about by the conquests of Alexander the Great. The philosophers in different ways maintained a deterministic metaphysics. In spite of this, they prescribed ways to happiness which assume that man is free in the exercise of his will and hence can be held responsible for his actions, as he relates with either nature or neighbours in society. When considered against the background of their various deterministic metaphysics, this ethical position raises questions about theoretical consistency on one hand, and the possibility of morality (especially with regard to the Epicureans) on the other. This essay therefore considers an ethical problem in two different schools of thought which had the same view of the aim of life, and suggests that metaphysical presuppositions can be used to illuminate our understanding of problems in other areas of philosophy. It further suggests that our gains are immense when historical and societal factors are taken into consideration in tackling a philosophical problem.
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    Rationality and Knowledge in Religious Discourse: A Critique of Philosophical Relativism
    (Obafemi Awolowo University, 1985) Akaruese, Lucky Oritsetojumi; Hunt, Geoffery
    The central focus of this thesis is to make a case for the unity of all discourses irrespective of the said peculiar nature of each discourse. Religious discourse which involves concepts of supernatural or transcendental agencies, has presented special problems in the history of philosophical enquiry and it has often seemed to be a unique area of unquestioned or unfounded beliefs, dogma, superstitions, arbitrary assumptions, etc. An apparent failure to make religion stand up to certain norms of rationality has led to the neo-Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion, as epitomized in the central concepts of the works of Dewi Zephaniah Phillips in which an attempt is made to claim special kind of criteria of meaningfulness for religion. This thesis subjects the neo-Wittgensteinian conception of religious discourse to criticisms This idea that religious discourse has its own internal criteria of meaning which alone provides a basis for any meaningful discussion of religion is rejected. In particular, the idea that religious discourse is self-sufficient, that is, requires no reference to non-religious discourses to sustain its meaning is criticized; and the idea that religious discourse is immune to meaningful criticism from non-religious arguments is also criticized. The discussion is concluded with a consideration of the relevance of the distinction between 'reality' and interpretation of reality and the important question of the meaning of asserting the existence of God.