A SYNTHESIS OF THE RATIONALIST IDEAS OF PLATO, DESCARTES, SPINOZA, AND LEIBNIZ AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR 21ST CENTURY PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE

In synthesizing the rationalist postulates of Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, this study seeks to make evident those features that are common to these rationalist philosophers as well as their peculiarities and diversities as independent thinkers. The paper also tries to show the implications of these rationalist ideas for 21st century philosophical discourse. Rationalist epistemology, which came into prominence with the arrival of Rene Descartes to the epistemological rostrum, has been there right from the classical era. Though Plato is not a continental rationalist, he is construed in this research as a ‘charter member’ of the rationalist school of thought. Some of the fundamental features of the rationalists which include the preeminence of reason over and above sense experience, the idea of innatism, intuition, and the indispensable role of the human mind in acquisition of knowledge are all identified in Plato’s epistemic exploits. It is striking that though the rationalists have some features common to them, there also exist areas of epistemic divergence and peculiarities in the manner they conducted their independent debates. This has been construed as a problem by some scholars; however, this work conceives it as epistemic advancement and consolidation. Critical analysis is chiefly the research method employed in this study

AN EVALUATION OF JOHN LOCKE’S CONCEPT OF TABULA RASA IN THE LIGHT OF PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMS AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR POST-CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY

The study aims at evaluating John Locke’s concept of tabula rasa in the light of Plato’s theory of Forms and find out how it contributes to post-contemporary philosophy.  Plato’s theory of Forms is the fulcrum upon which his entire epistemological theory revolves. Locke’s concept of tabula rasa is the launch pad of his epistemic exploits. It is Plato’s position that the Forms of the good, beauty, justice, are eternal essences or immutable patterns from where the particular visible instances derive their limited measures of these essences. These Forms, in Plato’s understanding, can be known through the abstractive process of the mind. Locke did not subscribe to the idea of the Forms. He argues that knowledge is derived through sensation and reflection. For Locke, there is nothing in the intellect that was not originally in the senses. Rejecting the idea of innatism with his concept of tabula rasa, Locke argues against Plato’s view that the human mind knows. It is Locke’s position that all ideas derive from sense experience. For him, there are no innate ideas and ideal world is simply a figment of imagination worth casting into flames. At birth, there is no idea in the human mind, and only experience writes ideas on the mind, argues Locke. Plato holds that the human mind knows and only recollects which he technically describes as reminiscence. The counter positions of scholars to the positions of their predecessors just as Locke did to the Forms and innate ideas espoused by Plato is what this paper construes as epistemic resourcefulness and epistemic creativity, which is for the advancement of post-contemporary philosophy. Research methods adopted in this work include: analytic, conceptual, contextual, textual and historical

The Place of Skepticism in the 21st Century Gnoseological Debate: Selecting Logical Positivism and Postmodernism

This study is centered on The Place of Skepticism in the 21st Century Gnoseological Debate: Selecting Logical Positivism and Postmodernism. Within the context of Western philosophy, skepticism, which arguably began in the ancient times with the likes of Gorgias neither ends with the Contra Academicos of St. Augustine nor with Kant’s noumena as some scholars argued. Skepticism is an indispensable part of epistemic discourse that cuts across diverse ages of philosophical discipline ranging from the ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary; and also permeates all the branches of philosophy. The philosophical postulates of the logical positivists who unequivocally argued that any proposition that cannot be subjected to their verification principle is meaningless, was occasioned by skepticism. The postmodernist philosophers’ argument against objective knowledge, grand totalizing, and their downplaying of foundationalism, was orchestrated by skepticism. It is the position of this study that skepticism is not only a continuum, but most importantly, the episteme-vitae (the life-wire of epistemology). As a necessary evil in the philosophical discipline skepticism is an inevitable driving force in the 21st century gnoseological debate, and instrumentum laboris (instrument of labour) in the hands of philosophers. The research methods employed in this work include: analytic, contextual, historical, and textual

THE INDISPENSABILITY OF CRITICAL THINKING AND MORAL-LEADERSHIP IN MANAGEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Among the disheartening experiences in management of higher education in Nigeria are lack of critical thinking and moral-leadership. Higher education in Nigeria has been characterissed by gross neglect on the part of government and their educational agencies. This has often triggered incessant strikes by various academic and non-teaching unions thereby leading to untold hardship on the part of lecturers, non-teaching staff and students, and often result in graduation of some of the students ‘half-baked’. It is no longer news that some of the graduates from various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria can hardly make a correct statement devoid of error literally or colloquially. This paper, which employs the method of critical analysis, suggests that, in order to achieve the desired transformation in the education sector, all the stakeholders in education and various agencies of government, management and leadership of higher institutions, and students themselves must acquaint themselves with critical thinking skills and good moral conduct. Some scholars have added their voices for the enhancement of educational management and leadership in Nigeria, but this study goes much further to show that without moral-leadership that is symbolically embedded in critical thinking, the Nigerian higher education will remain in ‘limbo’ in perpetuity. It is on that basis that this research suggests critireligiously-moral-leadership among the criteria that must be met by those that are appointed as administrators and stakeholders in education sector in Nigeria either as minister of education or heads of various higher institutions of learning and their collaborators