All posts tagged: Philosophy

The Human Being is not an Object

This essay examines how an object-based gaze shapes our understanding of work through force as imposition. By internalizing this gaze, we objectify ourselves and others. Reframing force as expression reveals work as inherent movement—an expressive unfolding of being—transforming how we relate to ourselves, one another, and the world.

Transdisciplinarity as the Ahistorical State of Being

This meditative poetry-essay introduces, for the first time, the concept of the ahistorical figure and argues that transdisciplinarity is the disposition through which this figure moves—unbound by identification, narrative, or borders. It offers a poetic, philosophical critique of history and a vision of the bird that learns to fly without perching.

Difference as Essence: Where One Thing Stands, Something Else Stands Beside It

We stand at a crossroad in the evolution of being—between the self inscribed in symbols of chronological time and the vast, pathless flow of relation. Difference is not a distortion or speration from essence of being, but the unfolding of the singular into plural, one into many. Igbo wisdom reminds us: ‘Where one thing stands, another stands beside it.’ Existence is not opposition, but encounter, movement-as-relation–the air, breath, and wind of all formations.

What Are We Learning? A Brief Thought on Space, Time and Borders

There is so much knowledge and wisdom embedded in the unknown. Thus, when one says, “I do not know” it does not always mean one is not wise. Quite the contrary. The unknown is a headroom. The ever sprawling horizon. It is an ordered hierarchy that discreetly and patiently hold the missing pieces of our logic, waiting for us to weave our way to it.

On The Imaginative Power of Delineation

The 21st century is witnessing unprecedented technological advancements, giving rise to interconnectedness and reshaping our understanding of knowledge and truth. Amid this progress, anxieties about the future loom large. As we grapple with the deconstruction of institutionalized knowledge and the emergence of new forms of subjectivity, the power of delineation becomes pivotal. It allows us to recognise and honour differences, paving the way for a more inclusive and harmonious future, transcending historical biases and pointing to the way towards genuine progress.

A Double Entendre in Difference: Educating Children for a Planetary Future. 

The essay discusses the importance of language and terminology used when addressing children with learning difficulties in an international bilingual school. The author argues that terms like “learning differently” can still be stigmatising and suggests using expressions like “children requiring further assistance in learning” instead. They propose a shift in focus from the child’s inadequacies to the teacher’s methodology and the need for tailored educational strategies. The author emphasises the need to embrace diversity and prioritise critical thinking, adaptability, and creativity in education. The article calls for a reevaluation of the education system to prepare children for a diverse and interconnected world.

Is Amoeba Shapeless, or is Shapelessness a Shape?

I want to begin this reflection by taking some memory-steps back to my high school days when I was a science student. In our biology class, we were introduced to Amoeba, the shapeless, single-cell organism. As with most students of my age, the only character of this organism I really retained was its shapelessness. How can something be shapeless? I often wondered. The whole premise of materiality, or physicality is form. If something can be seen as much as touched, then it is bound to have a shape. Even as I write, I recall how “shapeless amoeba” became a derogatory expression often employed, as a joke or mean insult, to describe someone’s head whose contours are abnormally disproportionate. But I never got over this contradiction of something being shapeless. Many years after, and with the benefit of hindsight, I would come to understand that my life, almost in its entirety, plays out within the perimeters of this paradox. I will explain. Not too long ago, I was asked to give an artist talk on the …