Herder’s Ideas for a Philosophy of Human History (1784-1791), or: the Anthropological De-struction of “Africa”

In his work Ideas for a Philosophy of Human History (1784-1791), the preacher and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder deals critically with the philosophy of Enlightenment, in which he sees the seed of a racial and cultural classification that considers peoples outside Europe as inferior. This centrally included Africa and its inhabitants as represented by German philosophers. Such a way of imagining Africa, widely shared amongst thinkers of the Enlightenment, echoes still today in various representations in the Western media, and could even serve as an explanation of the current migration drama in the Mediterranean. Herder, who was well informed of these representations in his own day, attempted, in Ideas, to deconstruct the then prevalent image of Africa and its peoples, and thereby entered into an intellectual dispute with his philosophical contemporaries, whose position was to reaffirm the supremacy of European culture and soe justify slavery and colonialism. This paper first focuses on Herder’s context, then explains his positions and his work, and shows how his attempt ended in a de-construction of the «Africa» of the Enlightenment

Effect Of Dietary Lipid Level On Growth, Feed Utilization And Body Composition By Nile Perch Juveniles (Lates Niloticus)

The present study was designed to determine the optimum dietary lipid of juveniles Nile perch for better growth performances. Four isonitrogenous (45 %) experimental diets were formulated to contain 9; 11; 13 and 15 g crude lipid 100 g-1 feed, and fed in triplicate groups of Nile perch (mean weight : 3.28 ± 0.04 g) reared in twelve 50 L tank for 8 weeks. At the end of the experimental period the group of fish fed 11 % and 9 % lipid, had a significantly higher SGR and body weight gain than the rest of experimental groups. The lowest body weight (13.28 g) was achieved by group of fish fed 15 % lipid. The FCR were significantly lower for fingerling Lates fed diet containing 11 % and 9 % lipid than the rest. The increase of the dietary lipid level in the diet affected significantly the Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER). Body moisture content decreased significantly with the increase of dietary lipid. Body lipid increased significantly with the increase of dietary lipid. Under the experimental conditions applied, the optimum dietary lipid requirement for juvenile Lates niloticus is estimated to be 9.79 %