Bruce Janz
Biographic Data
| ID | 1401775 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bruce Janz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bruce |
| FAMILY NAME | Janz |
| SIGNATURE | JANZ B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Central Florida |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3122-1618 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1988 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Binaries and Tuan’s Humanism: The Challenge of Neo-Gnosticism
Spaces of Thought: A Response to Critiques
The author of African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought responds to four critiques of his book. After giving some context and history of the book, he addresses points raised by each of the readers
African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought
"Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is. By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new int…
What African Philosophy Can Learn from Jeanne-Marie Jackson’s The African Novel of Ideas
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Covid-19 Forced Social Distancing and Isolation: A Multi-Perspective Experience
The article is combined of six chapters authored by these who voiced their experiences with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemics in various contexts, but mostly centered on psychological, sociological, and ethical aspects. Authors, mostly psychologists and philosophers, were invited to describe their perspectives on the sense and practice of social distancing in times of pandemics. Their reflections seek to demonstrate various perspect…
Dialogue and listening
When we think about dialogue, we often implicitly assume that we are thinking about speaking. We are faced, though, with the breakdown of the ‘rules’ of dialogue, resulting in a situation that has more in common with war than with a marketplace of ideas. I raise the question of the other side of dialogue, listening, as having an active role in constructing the ecosystem of thought in which dialogue can happen. Listening is difficult to compel, ha…
Place, Space and Hermeneutics
This book analyzes the hermeneutics of place, raising questions about central issues such as textuality, dialogue, and play. It discusses the central figures in the development of hermeneutics and pla
Philosophy-in-Place and the provenance of dialogue
Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical understanding, especially across cultural divides. I wish to reposition dialogue from being a force for unity and transcendence, to being a force for distinction and immanence. This creative tension is possible only when one takes a place-based approach to philosophy, that is, when one recognises that concepts have their own provenance, a provenance whic…
The Location(s) of Philosophy: Generating and Questioning New Concepts in African Philosophy
The life-blood of African philosophy (as with any philosophy) is the generation of new concepts adequate to an intellectual milieu. That milieu includes historical, cultural, politi-cal, and pragmatic elements, among others, as well as the existing concepts that make the milieu philosophically viable. These concepts are both the result and the starting point of questions that can only be asked in a particular manner within African milieus. The ac…
Neurophenomenology: An integrated approach to exploring awe and wonder 1
Astronauts often report experiences of awe and wonder while traveling in space. This paper addresses the question of whether awe and wonder can be scientifically investigated in a simulated space travel scenario using a neurophenomenological method. To answer this question, we created a mixed-reality simulation similar to the environment of the International Space Station. Portals opened to display simulations of Earth or Deep Space. However, the…
Philosophical issues in ethnophysiography: Landform terms, disciplinarity, and the question of method
Ethnophysiography is a nascent discipline, one which draws on at least a half-dozen existing disciplines. These disciplines exist in productive tension, a tension which produces a range of possible answers to some central questions. These questions include: What is being analyzed? What issues arise when gathering data? How are questions framed to access data? What is the goal of ethnophysiography? How is human meaning connected to human expressio…
Watsuji Tetsuro, Fudo , and climate change
In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climate (fudo), and consider whether it contributes anything to the relationship between climate change and ethics. I will argue that superficially it seems that fudo tells us little about the ethics of climate change, but if considered more carefully, and through the lens of thinkers such as Deleuze and Heidegger, there is ethical insight in Watsuji's approach. Watsuji's …
Shame and Silence
Samantha Vice’s proposal on how to live in ‘this strange place’ of contemporary South Africa, includes an appeal to the concepts of shame and silence. In this paper, I use Emmanuel Levinas and Giorgio Agamben to move the discussion of shame from a moral to an existential question. The issue is not about how one should feel, but about the kind of self that whiteness in South Africa makes possible today. Shame desubjectifies. Vice’s recommendation …
The Terror of the Place: Anxieties of Place and the Cultural Narrative of Terrorism
Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissipating versions of modernism or postmodernism. However, that identity can also come with a variety of cultural neuroses and manias that are inscribed on place. I consider the ways in which terrorism has become a feature of place, and how we can expect to see the terror of the place in the future. First, we can expect a relative diminishment in ‘place-m…
Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, 1963-2007 A Personal Reflection
Reason and Rationality in Eze’s On Reason
The title of Emmanuel Eze’s fmal, posthumously published book uses the words “reason” and “rationality” in a maimer that might suggest they are interchangeable. I would like to suggest that we not Reat them as the same, but rather tease out a difference in emphasis and reference between the two. In African philosophy, the problem of reason is really two separate problems, the first of which I will call the “problem of reason” (that is, the questi…
Jacques Derrida, 1930–2004
Walls and Borders: The Range of Place
Apparently, the wall was something of an engineering miracle even prior to the events that exposed it to the light of day. People used to go down to the basement where part of it was visible, and marvel at its ability to resist 3,500 pounds per square inch of pressure over 3,300 feet. When it was called upon to bear even more it rose to the challenge, anthropomorphically speaking. Now it is being compared to the Liberty Bell,1 a physical object t…
The Territory is Not the Map: Place, Deleuze, Guattari, and African Philosophy
Response to Robert K. C. Forman
The hermeneutical and the epistemological paradigms for understanding mystical experience are not easily translated into each other. The hermeneutical model has the advantage in that it shifts the emphasis from explanation to understanding. Mystical experience, namely, the falling away of the factical conditions of human existence and the meeting with Infinite Being, cannot be reduced to epistemology, nor does it adhere to the categories of knowl…
Spirituality and Human NatureDonald Evans Albany, New York: Suny Press, 1993, x + 314 pp
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Mysticism and understanding: Steven Katz and his critics
L'intention de l'A. est d'eclairer le debat sur la relation entre l'experience mystique et l'interpretation. Il entend montrer que Steven Katz et ses critiques empruntent une metaphore particuliere pour parler du mysticisme qui alimente le debat. Il suggere alors une autre metaphore qui apaise en partie les differents en faisant du mysticisme une question hermeneutique plutot qu'une question epistemologique. Ce point de vue hermeneutique permet d…
Reason, Inductive Inference, and True Religion in Hume
Although it is acknowledged that Hume's matters of fact are established by inductive reasoning, it is not always clear which inferences may be called reasonable. In deductive reasoning, it is only reasonable to admit true conclusions of valid arguments. However, in an argument which uses probability as Hume's inductive arguments do, the criterion for reasonableness is not as clear
The Terror of the Place: Anxieties of Place and the Cultural Narrative of Terrorism
Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissipating versions of modernism or postmodernism. However, that identity can also come with a variety of cultural neuroses and manias that are inscribed on place. I consider the ways in which terrorism has become a feature of place, and how we can expect to see the terror of the place in the future. First, we can expect a relative diminishment in ‘place-m…
Walls and Borders: The Range of Place
Apparently, the wall was something of an engineering miracle even prior to the events that exposed it to the light of day. People used to go down to the basement where part of it was visible, and marvel at its ability to resist 3,500 pounds per square inch of pressure over 3,300 feet. When it was called upon to bear even more it rose to the challenge, anthropomorphically speaking. Now it is being compared to the Liberty Bell,1 a physical object t…
African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought
"Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is. By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new int…
Philosophy-in-Place and the provenance of dialogue
Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical understanding, especially across cultural divides. I wish to reposition dialogue from being a force for unity and transcendence, to being a force for distinction and immanence. This creative tension is possible only when one takes a place-based approach to philosophy, that is, when one recognises that concepts have their own provenance, a provenance whic…
Reason and Rationality in Eze’s On Reason
The title of Emmanuel Eze’s fmal, posthumously published book uses the words “reason” and “rationality” in a maimer that might suggest they are interchangeable. I would like to suggest that we not Reat them as the same, but rather tease out a difference in emphasis and reference between the two. In African philosophy, the problem of reason is really two separate problems, the first of which I will call the “problem of reason” (that is, the questi…
Dialogue and listening
When we think about dialogue, we often implicitly assume that we are thinking about speaking. We are faced, though, with the breakdown of the ‘rules’ of dialogue, resulting in a situation that has more in common with war than with a marketplace of ideas. I raise the question of the other side of dialogue, listening, as having an active role in constructing the ecosystem of thought in which dialogue can happen. Listening is difficult to compel, ha…
Neurophenomenology: An integrated approach to exploring awe and wonder 1
Astronauts often report experiences of awe and wonder while traveling in space. This paper addresses the question of whether awe and wonder can be scientifically investigated in a simulated space travel scenario using a neurophenomenological method. To answer this question, we created a mixed-reality simulation similar to the environment of the International Space Station. Portals opened to display simulations of Earth or Deep Space. However, the…
Watsuji Tetsuro, Fudo , and climate change
In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climate (fudo), and consider whether it contributes anything to the relationship between climate change and ethics. I will argue that superficially it seems that fudo tells us little about the ethics of climate change, but if considered more carefully, and through the lens of thinkers such as Deleuze and Heidegger, there is ethical insight in Watsuji's approach. Watsuji's …
Shame and Silence
Samantha Vice’s proposal on how to live in ‘this strange place’ of contemporary South Africa, includes an appeal to the concepts of shame and silence. In this paper, I use Emmanuel Levinas and Giorgio Agamben to move the discussion of shame from a moral to an existential question. The issue is not about how one should feel, but about the kind of self that whiteness in South Africa makes possible today. Shame desubjectifies. Vice’s recommendation …
Mysticism and understanding: Steven Katz and his critics
L'intention de l'A. est d'eclairer le debat sur la relation entre l'experience mystique et l'interpretation. Il entend montrer que Steven Katz et ses critiques empruntent une metaphore particuliere pour parler du mysticisme qui alimente le debat. Il suggere alors une autre metaphore qui apaise en partie les differents en faisant du mysticisme une question hermeneutique plutot qu'une question epistemologique. Ce point de vue hermeneutique permet d…
Reason, Inductive Inference, and True Religion in Hume
Although it is acknowledged that Hume's matters of fact are established by inductive reasoning, it is not always clear which inferences may be called reasonable. In deductive reasoning, it is only reasonable to admit true conclusions of valid arguments. However, in an argument which uses probability as Hume's inductive arguments do, the criterion for reasonableness is not as clear
Spirituality and Human NatureDonald Evans Albany, New York: Suny Press, 1993, x + 314 pp
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Mysticism and understanding: Steven Katz and his critics
L'intention de l'A. est d'eclairer le debat sur la relation entre l'experience mystique et l'interpretation. Il entend montrer que Steven Katz et ses critiques empruntent une metaphore particuliere pour parler du mysticisme qui alimente le debat. Il suggere alors une autre metaphore qui apaise en partie les differents en faisant du mysticisme une question hermeneutique plutot qu'une question epistemologique. Ce point de vue hermeneutique permet d…
Response to Robert K. C. Forman
The hermeneutical and the epistemological paradigms for understanding mystical experience are not easily translated into each other. The hermeneutical model has the advantage in that it shifts the emphasis from explanation to understanding. Mystical experience, namely, the falling away of the factical conditions of human existence and the meeting with Infinite Being, cannot be reduced to epistemology, nor does it adhere to the categories of knowl…
The Territory is Not the Map: Place, Deleuze, Guattari, and African Philosophy
Jacques Derrida, 1930–2004
Walls and Borders: The Range of Place
Apparently, the wall was something of an engineering miracle even prior to the events that exposed it to the light of day. People used to go down to the basement where part of it was visible, and marvel at its ability to resist 3,500 pounds per square inch of pressure over 3,300 feet. When it was called upon to bear even more it rose to the challenge, anthropomorphically speaking. Now it is being compared to the Liberty Bell,1 a physical object t…
The Terror of the Place: Anxieties of Place and the Cultural Narrative of Terrorism
Place is sometimes understood as reinforcing personal and cultural identity in the face of dissipating versions of modernism or postmodernism. However, that identity can also come with a variety of cultural neuroses and manias that are inscribed on place. I consider the ways in which terrorism has become a feature of place, and how we can expect to see the terror of the place in the future. First, we can expect a relative diminishment in ‘place-m…
Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, 1963-2007 A Personal Reflection
Reason and Rationality in Eze’s On Reason
The title of Emmanuel Eze’s fmal, posthumously published book uses the words “reason” and “rationality” in a maimer that might suggest they are interchangeable. I would like to suggest that we not Reat them as the same, but rather tease out a difference in emphasis and reference between the two. In African philosophy, the problem of reason is really two separate problems, the first of which I will call the “problem of reason” (that is, the questi…
Philosophical issues in ethnophysiography: Landform terms, disciplinarity, and the question of method
Ethnophysiography is a nascent discipline, one which draws on at least a half-dozen existing disciplines. These disciplines exist in productive tension, a tension which produces a range of possible answers to some central questions. These questions include: What is being analyzed? What issues arise when gathering data? How are questions framed to access data? What is the goal of ethnophysiography? How is human meaning connected to human expressio…
Watsuji Tetsuro, Fudo , and climate change
In this paper, I wish to consider Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889–1960) concept of climate (fudo), and consider whether it contributes anything to the relationship between climate change and ethics. I will argue that superficially it seems that fudo tells us little about the ethics of climate change, but if considered more carefully, and through the lens of thinkers such as Deleuze and Heidegger, there is ethical insight in Watsuji's approach. Watsuji's …
Shame and Silence
Samantha Vice’s proposal on how to live in ‘this strange place’ of contemporary South Africa, includes an appeal to the concepts of shame and silence. In this paper, I use Emmanuel Levinas and Giorgio Agamben to move the discussion of shame from a moral to an existential question. The issue is not about how one should feel, but about the kind of self that whiteness in South Africa makes possible today. Shame desubjectifies. Vice’s recommendation …
Neurophenomenology: An integrated approach to exploring awe and wonder 1
Astronauts often report experiences of awe and wonder while traveling in space. This paper addresses the question of whether awe and wonder can be scientifically investigated in a simulated space travel scenario using a neurophenomenological method. To answer this question, we created a mixed-reality simulation similar to the environment of the International Space Station. Portals opened to display simulations of Earth or Deep Space. However, the…
The Location(s) of Philosophy: Generating and Questioning New Concepts in African Philosophy
The life-blood of African philosophy (as with any philosophy) is the generation of new concepts adequate to an intellectual milieu. That milieu includes historical, cultural, politi-cal, and pragmatic elements, among others, as well as the existing concepts that make the milieu philosophically viable. These concepts are both the result and the starting point of questions that can only be asked in a particular manner within African milieus. The ac…
Philosophy-in-Place and the provenance of dialogue
Dialogue, as a concept, is often seen as both central to and a prerequisite for philosophical understanding, especially across cultural divides. I wish to reposition dialogue from being a force for unity and transcendence, to being a force for distinction and immanence. This creative tension is possible only when one takes a place-based approach to philosophy, that is, when one recognises that concepts have their own provenance, a provenance whic…
Place, Space and Hermeneutics
This book analyzes the hermeneutics of place, raising questions about central issues such as textuality, dialogue, and play. It discusses the central figures in the development of hermeneutics and pla
Dialogue and listening
When we think about dialogue, we often implicitly assume that we are thinking about speaking. We are faced, though, with the breakdown of the ‘rules’ of dialogue, resulting in a situation that has more in common with war than with a marketplace of ideas. I raise the question of the other side of dialogue, listening, as having an active role in constructing the ecosystem of thought in which dialogue can happen. Listening is difficult to compel, ha…
Covid-19 Forced Social Distancing and Isolation: A Multi-Perspective Experience
The article is combined of six chapters authored by these who voiced their experiences with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemics in various contexts, but mostly centered on psychological, sociological, and ethical aspects. Authors, mostly psychologists and philosophers, were invited to describe their perspectives on the sense and practice of social distancing in times of pandemics. Their reflections seek to demonstrate various perspect…
What African Philosophy Can Learn from Jeanne-Marie Jackson’s The African Novel of Ideas
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Spaces of Thought: A Response to Critiques
The author of African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought responds to four critiques of his book. After giving some context and history of the book, he addresses points raised by each of the readers
African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought
"Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is. By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new int…
Binaries and Tuan’s Humanism: The Challenge of Neo-Gnosticism
Philosophy (20 works) · Epistemology (17 works) · Sociology (16 works) · African cultural and philosophical studies (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Linguistics (4 works) · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism (4 works)