Knowledge, Spirit, Reason: An Essay in Comparative Philosophy

Abstract

ABSTRACT One of the ways in which a philosophy may exhibit its national character is to take up an acknowledged national theme or project and address it philosophically. This is the approach that I will take. This article establishes, through reference to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2008–2015) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), that the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and Western science-based knowledge has become a recognized public issue in Canada. It shows that a relationship, or translation, exists between Indigenous knowledge and Western science-based knowledge through a linchpin that can be called “ecology.” Finally, it explicates the relation of spirit to embodiment within this translation through a comparison of Indigenous knowledge with a contemporary current in cognitive science.