David Hume＇s Notion of Personal Identity： Implications for Identity Construction and Affective Communal Living in Africana Societies

The notion of personal identity is a topic that is widely discussed in all philosophical traditions-western, African, Asian, and Caribbean. The thread that runs through the different conceptions of personal identity is that the notion is linked with self-consciousness, whether in the metaphysical, epistemological, religious, or social contexts. In this paper, I shall focus attention on Hume＇s conception of personal identity drawing from it, and certain implications for affective communal life in Africana societies. It is a common knowledge among philosophers that Hume denies the ontological and independent existence of the self. For Hume, the self is a bundle of perception. However, in another section of the Treatise of Human Nature, Hume examines the development of what could be considered as self, placing it in a broad social context in which mirroring fellow minds have a critical role. What is significant in Hume＇s conception of personal identity is that the self is the locus of multifarious experiences and the social context in which it is placed enables us to relate the self to affective and relational construction of identity. It is then argued that this conception of identity can be used to stress the need for affection, love, compassion, sympathy, and empathy among persons, which in turn can promote societal transformation in Africana societies.

The Tree of Death and Eternal Life

The ＂Tree of Death＂ is a metaphor I use to unlock my Christian assumptions on how the dead attain eternal existence in the afterlife state. The tree＇s unconcealedness, in this life and presumably the next, along with the moral habits an agent develops in this life explain the obstinacy of the dead, that is, how the agent＇s irrevocable decision to side with the God of Abraham, or not, is possible. For that to be the case, the existential relationships that generate personal identity in this life must accompany （individuate） the subject in the next life. In Christian philosophy, the person-making process mirrors the relationships of the Blessed Trinity. While Martin Heidegger is not a Christian philosopher, his view on truth and being＇s unconcealedness provides a useful piece of the argument to continue the Thomistic case for personal immortality. Heidegger is not a catholic philosopher, but the focus he places on being＇s unconcealedness is consonant with the focus Thomas Aquinas puts on the intelligibility of being. While Heidegger＇s discussion of being is rooted in Dasein＇s finitude, the Thomistic interpretation of being situates unconcealedness within the perspective of God＇s creative act. His vision resets the possibility of applying Heidegger＇s fundamental ontology beyond temporality. The paper develops through a discussion of the Tree＇s ＂branches, trunk, and roots＂ to conclude that the Christian perspective transforms Heidegger＇s view of death into ＂the ultimate possibility of possibility.＂

The Education of Students of Pedagogy With the Aim of Fostering Multiculturalism in a Community

The paper starts from the theoretical model of multiculturalism as a possibility for an individual to develop their own identity, to accept and respect the identity of other members of a community. The aim of this research is to determine how the students of pedagogy define the concept of multiculturalism and in how far they consider it to be current in contemporary social relationships. The survey was carried out using the descriptive method and the analysis of contents. It examined the attitudes of students who are preparing themselves for advisory work with children in elementary school and high school. The results of the research confirm that the pedagogy students define the concept of multiculturalism clearly. They recognize the need for upbringing that fosters multiculturalism in modern education, in order to gain extensive knowledge and use it in a particular situation.