This paper, "Democracy: A Critique", uses qualitative critical analysis to examine the ideal (the... more This paper, "Democracy: A Critique", uses qualitative critical analysis to examine the ideal (theory) and practices of democracy. It observes that the concept, arguably the best form of government, is full of glitches. Its major vulnerability is that it accommodates many unrelated, unnamed or unidentified political concepts. This makes democracy fictitious. Many democratic institutions today are fictitious and a threat to humanity. To forswear fictitious democratic institutions and save humanity from the dangers of contemporary democracies and their cronies, the paper submits that political theorists must rescue democracy by strengthening the concept with sturdy physiognomies or postulating a better political concept that is ideal, realistic and viable. Based on the former part of this submission, which this paper sees as the best option, it argues for a healthy democracy that reduces inequality and empowers all citizens with qualitative education and skill acquisition to guarantee their participation in government.
This paper examines the concepts of the afterlife and immortality –two similar terms y... more This paper examines the concepts of the afterlife and immortality –two similar terms yet with differences and often used interchangeably. They are crucial in the discourse on death and virtually all scholars centre their discourse on their existence or otherwise. Religion is the proponent of immortality; its arguments were rejected by science for lack of empirical verifiability. Recent scientific research focuses on how humans live immortally and possibly revive the dead. This aligns with religious immortality and contradicts science’s understanding of human biology. The debates about life after death are on two polarities: religious and scientific and each has internal inconsistencies. This paper uses the qualitative research method of conceptual clarifications and critical analysis to interrogate the arguments of the two polarities. It realises their inconsistencies are because death is unknowable with humans’ present cognitive apparatus, so postulations about life after death are confusing. Therefore, it submits that humans should live within their lifespans for the betterment of humanity. Life after death could be a privilege but should not be the major driving force for doing good. Life is meaningful when well lived, and death is just a natural phenomenon. Keywords: Afterlife, Death, Immortality, Religion, Science and Technology.
Abstract
Consciousness is the major, perhaps the only, issue that makes the perennial mind-body p... more Abstract Consciousness is the major, perhaps the only, issue that makes the perennial mind-body problem unsolvable. To solve the problem, it is necessary to identify what produces consciousness. Every attempt to explain what produces consciousness has failed, and this failure is venom in discoursing the mind-body problem. Without consciousness in the real sense: the materialists within their framework would have succeeded in explaining how the body responds to impulses from the brain, now, their explanation is redundant; the immaterialists would have had nothing to say, but now, their explanations on the nature of mind, and its relationship with the body, is confusing. This paper critically evaluates the concept, consciousness, it observes that materialism and immaterialism have created more problems than what they set out to solve. Their mutual exclusive positions on the source of humans' consciousness and explanations of the relationship between the mind and body have closed the door to remove the venom in the mind-body problem. Also, that has hampered human yarning to know the true nature of reality. Based on the foregoing, this paper argues that consciousness is the product of both the body and mind. The mind is seen as a quasi-material – an extension of the main-brain. The source is likening to the signal received by the digital television set. The decoder receives information from the satellite dish and presents it to human beings in understandable ways. Without the satellite dish, there would be no such information, and without the television set, such information would be meaningless.
Sapientia Journal of Philosophy. A Publication of the Department of Philosophy, University of Uyo, Nigeria, 2025
This paper examines the crisis of human existence. It examines the nature of existence and the ce... more This paper examines the crisis of human existence. It examines the nature of existence and the central place of humans in existence. It critically discusses the myriad of problems humans encounter in existence that prompted some thinkers to believe that: (1) coming into existence is not worth it: 'it would have been better not to have been born,' and that coming into 'existence is always bad for those who come into existence'; 'although we may not be able to say of the neverexistent, that never existing is good for them', 'we can say of the existent that existence is bad for them', (2) death, in principle, removes all meaning from life; if we must die, then, life is meaningless. It agrees that the crisis of human existence is brutal and elusive, and rages from natural to artificial. However, it sees the position that says that owing to the fact we shall die, life is meaningless as erroneous, malicious, and capable of devastating human social well-being. Contrarily, it argues that death is a natural regulatory order of the universe. It justifies its position and concludes that 'life would have been worse if we have not been dying.
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Papers by Moses A Jawo
Keywords: Afterlife, Death, Immortality, Religion, Science and Technology.
Consciousness is the major, perhaps the only, issue that makes the perennial mind-body problem unsolvable. To solve the problem, it is necessary to identify what produces consciousness. Every attempt to explain what produces consciousness has failed, and this failure is venom in discoursing the mind-body problem. Without consciousness in the real sense: the materialists within their framework would have succeeded in explaining how the body responds to impulses from the brain, now, their explanation is redundant; the immaterialists would have had nothing to say, but now, their explanations on the nature of mind, and its relationship with the body, is confusing. This paper critically evaluates the concept, consciousness, it observes that materialism and immaterialism have created more problems than what they set out to solve. Their mutual exclusive positions on the source of humans' consciousness and explanations of the relationship between the mind and body have closed the door to remove the venom in the mind-body problem. Also, that has hampered human yarning to know the true nature of reality. Based on the foregoing, this paper argues that consciousness is the product of both the body and mind. The mind is seen as a quasi-material – an extension of the main-brain. The source is likening to the signal received by the digital television set. The decoder receives information from the satellite dish and presents it to human beings in understandable ways. Without the satellite dish, there would be no such information, and without the television set, such information would be meaningless.
Paper by Moses A Jawo