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PHILOSOPHY AGAINST
EMPIRE
An
Ancient
Egyptian
Renaissance
CHARLESC.
VERHAREN
Howard
University
What should be the
politics
of
Afrocentricity?
How should
Afrocentrists
fight globalization'sempire,
the continuationof
slavery by
other means?
This article
groundspolitical
resistance o
empire
in
an ancient
Egyptian
philosophy
of holism. The article's heme is thatfour
powerful
movements
are
converging
on a
new
philosophy.Paradoxically,
his
"new"
philosophy
is
prefigured
n
the oldest
recorded
philosophy,
hat
of
ancient
Egypt.
The
four
converging
philosophies
are
Afrocentricity,
cofeminism,
deep
ecol-
ogy
or
radical
environmentalism,
nd Marxism.These movementsare con-
temporary
xpressions
of
resistance o centuries
f
not millenniaof violent
oppression.The article'saim is to createa synergyamong hese movements
to
build a coalition
thatcan
challengeempire.
The article
briefly
examines
the
historicalcareerof
holism
in
the area of
ontology
before
considering
expressions
of
holism in the
areasof ethics and
politics.
Keywords:
ancient
Egypt;
Afrocentricity; eep ecology;
ethics;
ecofemi-
nism;
empire;
holism;
Ma
at;Marxism;
ntology;philosophy;
politics
What
should be the
politics
of
Afrocentricity?
How should
Afrocentristsfight globalization's empire, the continuation of
slaveryby
other
means?This
article
groundspolitical
resistance o
empire
in
an
ancient
Egyptian
philosophy
of holism.1
Abstractly
considered,
holism
is a
philosophy
that addresses
ontology's pri-
mary question:
What
exists?
However,
a
philosophy's
answer to
that
question
dictates ts
ethical
ground:
What s valuable?
Together
these
two
studiesdictatea holistic
philosophy's
answer
o
the
most
practical
question:
What
actions shouldI
take to
stop empire?
The
article's
theme is that four
powerful
movementsare con-
vergingon a newphilosophy.Paradoxically,his "new"philosophy
JOURNAL
OF BLACK
STUDIES,
Vol. 36 No.
6,
July
2006 958-973
DOI:
10.1177/0021934705286128
© 2006
Sage
Publications
958
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Verharen ANCIENTEGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 959
is
prefigured
n
the oldestrecorded
hilosophy,
hatof ancient
Egypt.
The four
convergingphilosophies
are
Afrocentricity,
cofeminism,
deep ecology
or radical
nvironmentalism,
ndMarxism.
They
con-
verge
in their
foundation
n holistic
ontology
and
in
their
passion
for social
justice.
These
movements are
contemporary xpressions
of resistance
to
centuries
if
not millennia of violent
oppression.
The article's
aim is to create a
synergy
among
these movements to
build a
coalition that
can
challenge empire.
The
article
briefly
examines
the historicalcareer
of holism in the
area
of
ontology
before
con-
sideringexpressions
of holism in the areas of
ethics and
politics.
HOLISM IN
THE
HISTORY OF
THOUGHT
As the
history
of the universe moves in the
directionof
com-
plexity,
the
history
of
thought
moves in
the directionof
simplicity.
By complexity
mean variation
n
the
range
of
experience.
The
universe
tarts
with
a
"big
bang"
of the
simplest
element,
hydrogen,
which contains
only
one
electron,
one
proton,
and
one neutron.
After he
big bang,
the
universebecomes
frightfully omplex.
More
than 100 more elements
join hydrogen,
ife
follows the
origin
of
the
solar
system,
and humanscome on the scene to
transform ur
planet's
ife
in
complex ways.
In contrast o
complexity,
simplicity
means a reduction
n
the
number
of
symbols required
or an
adequatedescription
of
ever
more
complicated
human
experience.
Human
thinkingappears
o
follow the "KISS"
principle.
The usual
formulation
of
that
princi-
ple
is
expressed
as,
"Keep
t
simple, stupid "
However,
he
history
of
thought
has shown
that someone who can
trulykeep
it
simple
is
the wisest of
human
beings
a Solomon rather han a
simpleton.
Unlike
the
history
of
the
universe,
the
history
of
thought
has moved
in the direction
of
simplicity,
defined as the smallest
number
of
symbols capable
of
describing
the
greatest range
of
experience.
The most
stunning
moves
in
that
history
eliminate
multiple
categories
of
symbols.
The manifold of our
sensory
experience
collapses
into the
single-mindedness
of
thought.
Some
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960 JOURNALOFBLACK STUDIES JULY2006
ancient
Egyptian
and
pre-Socratic philosophers,
for
example,
reducedthe
origins
of the world to
a
single
cause
water.
The ultimatereductionof
complexity
to
simplicity
is
found
in
a
philosophy
of
holism. Holism can be understood
n
at least three
different
ways
(Marietta,
1995).
First,
it can be the claim
that
a
single
principle
binds all existence
together. Virtually
all the
ancientEgyptiancosmologies attribute heoriginsof the universe
to a
single principle
such as Nun. As we saw
above,
contemporary
science
argues
for the
origins
of
the universe
n
the
big bang
of a
single
element,
hydrogen.
A
second version of
holism makes the claim that all
reality
constitutes a
single
being.
A
contemporary xample
of this
phi-
losophy
is
the
hypothesis
that the whole earth
comprises
a
single
organism
called
Gaia. Just as our bodies are
composed
of
primi-
tive cells
that once had
an
independent
existence,
so the earth
as
an
organism
s
composed
of
billions of
organisms
hat sustain
their
lives
only
as
parts
of the
organic
whole we call the earth
(Schwartzman,
1999).
The third
version of
holism is
perhaps
the least
controversial
because it does
not
require
a commitment o beliefs
thatcannot
be
verified.
This holism
is
simply
a
commitment o
join together
what
has been
split apart.
n
their
infancy,
humanshave
radicallysepa-
ratedwhole
categories
of
beings
from
one another:heavens from
the
earth,
humans rom
animals,
men
from
women,
Africans rom
non-Africans,
and
spirit
from matter.The
most heraldedhumans
have been
precisely
those who have
unitedwhat their
predecessors
have
split
apart.
Christunited
the "chosen"
people
with
all
other
humans.
Newton
oined
the
heavenswith the earthwith his univer-
sal
laws of
gravitation.
Darwin
notoriously
and
reluctantly oined
humans
together
with
animals.
Feminists
joined
men
together
with
women,
and
abolitionists
oined
Africans
together
with non-
Africans.
The
ancient
Egyptians oined
spirit ogether
with matter.
Unlike
many
of their
successors,however,
he
ancient
Egyptians
did
not
separate
matter
and
spirit
n
the first
place.
In
the
Egyptian
cosmology
described
by
Cheikh
Anta
Diop
(1981/1991),
the
spiri-
tual
reality
of Ra
evolves
throughKhepera
rom
Nun,
the
primordial
chaotic
water.
Neither
did the
Egyptians
separate
humans from
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Verharen ANCIENT EGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 961
animals or
gods
Unaware
f
the
sophistication
f
Egyptian hought,
Hegel
(1892/1956,
p.
208)
criticized he
animalistic
Egyptian epre-
sentations f
gods.
Ancient
Egyptians
used
together
all of human-
ity,
whether
Nubian,
Hyksos,
or
Egyptian,
under the
authority
of
Ma'at And an
Egyptianqueen
ruled he united
kingdom
of
Egypt.
Holistic
philosophies
have
exerted
a
powerful
hold on
human
imagination.
Part of the reason
may
be
found
in
the
origins
of
these
patterns
of
thought.
Holistic
philosophies
are
expressions
of
the mind at work.We think
by
means of
concepts,
literally "grab-
bings together."
A
concept performs
he
miracle of
conjoining
even to
the
point
of
perfect identity objects
that are
physically
distinct.
What
cannot
be
synthesized
n
the world of
sensoryexpe-
rience is
perfectly
fused
in
the field of
mental
experience.
Binding together arge
areas of
experience
under
simple
con-
cepts
enablesus to
predict
he
future,
hereby
enhancing
our
ability
to surviveand thrive.From
somewherearound
200,000
yearsago
to the
present,
we Homo
sapiens sapiens
have
grown
from
a
small handful o more than six billion
strong.
We are
small,
slow,
weak,
dimly
sensing, tasty
morsels to the other
top predators
with
whom
we
compete,
but we have
engineered
he near
extinction
or
perhaps
wholesale
extinction of
most
of
ourrival
op predators.
What'snext?
We
are
engineering
our own
destruction To
prove
this
bold
statement,
we need not cite contentious laims
about
global
warming
and its
possible
effects on hurricanes uch as
Katrina.We
need
only
recall
the readinessof the
United States and the former
Soviet Union
to use nuclear
weapons
in
the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
Neither
President
Kennedy
nor PremierKhrushchevknew that a
major
nuclear
weapon exchange
would mean the end of life
on
earth
as we know it. That was
not found out until
the 1980s. And
when the
whole worldknew that
using
nuclear
weapons
meantsui-
cide for
humanity,
till
we
did not
abolishnuclear
weapons.
We have
not abolished
nuclear
weapons.
And we cannot abolish
nuclear
weapons
unless
we return o
Africa.
What can
we do to
fight
the
empire
bent on the destructionof
life on
the
planet?
Return o our roots The roots of all
humans,
as
the
whole
world is
finally beginning
to
discover,
are
in
Africa.
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962 JOURNALOFBLACK STUDIES / JULY 2006
HOLISM IN
ACTION:
THE
ANCIENT
EGYPTIANS
Ancient
Egyptian
holism
foreshadows
the
history
of science
that
may
be seen as the
story
of the mind
recreating
he
world
n
its
own
image.
The ancient
Egyptians
race the
origins
of
the cosmos
to
Nun,
the
primeval
chaotic water.Ancient
Egyptian
cosmology
claims
that a
powerful, ntelligentbeing
evolves
through
a
process
of
becoming
out of an
original
chaotic matter.
Through
hat same
creative
process,
Khepera,
he basic
physical
elements
come into
being,
and from
those elements evolve the
gods,
humans,
and the
world as we know
it. Ancient
Egyptianontology
makes no
radical
distinction
between
spirit
and matter.Hierarchies hat flow
from
such
distinctionshave no
place
in
the
Egyptian
canon
of
being
(Diop,
1981/1991;
Hornung,
1971/1982).
The
analogy
between ancient
Egyptiancosmology
and
contem-
porary
osmology
llustrates olism's
history.
The
ancient
Egyptians
tracethe
origins
of the
cosmos to a
single principle,
Nun. Contem-
porary
osmologists
tracethe
origin
of the universe o the
simplest
element,
hydrogen.
The role of
Khepera
or
becoming
is
analogous
to
the role of
evolution
n
contemporary
cience. Forboth cosmolo-
gies,
intense
usions of
energy
andmatter
pin
off the elementsnec-
essary
for the
creation of
life.
In
the
Egyptian system,
Ra the
luminous and
powerful
intelligence
that
organizes
the visible
sun
creates
out
of
itself
elements that
in
turn
produce
other ele-
ments
thatmake
ife on earth
possible.
In
the
contemporaryystem,
the sun radiates
energy
to the earth to set
up
the
cycle
of life
(Verharen,
002).
ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN
ETHICS
Parallelsbetween
Egyptian
and modern
physics
might
seem to
be fine
points
that have
little
bearing
on the
fight against
empire.
However,ontology
furnishesa
foundation or
ethics. The
guiding
ethical
principle
of
the
ancient
Egyptians
s the
goddess
Ma'
at,
or
the
principle
of
order,
harmony,
and
justice.
To be
ethical,
we
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Verharen ANCIENT EGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 963
must follow the
precepts
of Ma'at. These
prescriptions
bear
a
remarkable esemblance
o the commandments f
the
religions
of
the Book
give
drink
to the
thirsty,
food to the
hungry,
and the
like
yet they may
be
2,000
years
older thanthe first
books of the
Bible
(Assman,
1998).
To sin
against
Ma'at is to
bring
chaos into life
-
before its time.
Chaos
is not
intrinsically
evil
because the universe
begins
in a
chaotic state
that is reveredas the
protean
creatorof the
universe,
Nun.
Disorder s evil
only
when a well-orderedstate of
affairs s
reduced to chaos
in
advance
of its natural
cycle.
In
a holistic
ontology, good
and
evil are intrinsicto all
existence,
not
separate
forms
of existence.
The
Egyptian
osmology
finds
good
in
the midst of evil andvice
versa: Seth
is not
only
the murderer f Osiris but a force
against
the
disintegration
f the cosmos
into
chaos. Seth
fights
the forces
of chaos
nightly
to restorethe sun at dawn. The classical icon of
Egyptian
cosmology
is the
ouroboros,
he
figure
of a snake
con-
suming
tself
by
eating
ts tail. The snake s the dread
god
Apophis,
the embodiment
f chaos. The whole universemust return o
chaos
in
the
end,
but it will
be
reborn
out of that chaos. For the
ancient
Egyptians,
evil does not have an
independent
xistence,
like Satan
in
the
religions
of the
Book. Evil is
simply
chaos at a time when
Ma'at
should rule
rather han
Apophis.
Even
Apophis
is not irre-
deemably
evil
because it is natural
for the cosmos to returnto
chaos,
in its infinite
cycle
between Nun and Ma'at. The ancient
Egyptians
recognize
that
good
and evil are
inseparable.
One can
never
riumph
ver the other
or all
eternity Hornung,
1971/1982).
To
contrast
Egyptian
and
nonholistic
thics,
consider he ethics
of
three
major eligions:
They
are
iterally
ut of this world The version
of
Christianity
n
which
I
was raised
proclaimed
hat this life is
only
a
test;
real
life
begins
only
after
death,
f
heavenshould
be our
reward.
So much
for
this life Buddhism
laims thatwe must over-
come
one of
the two
features hatmake
us
human,
ur
desires,
hould
we
wish to achieve
nirvana.
Hinduismholds
this life is not real but
only
a
dream
romwhich
we mustbe liberated
hrough
moksha.
Egyptian
ethics,
by
contrast,
is
utterly
down to earth At the
same
time,
Egyptian
ethics
is
heavenly
because it advocates no
separation
of the
physical
and
spiritual.
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964 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES / JULY 2006
HOLISTIC ETHICS
In
contrast to these three out-of-this-world
ethics,
the first
principle
of a holistic ethics takes life as its foundation.
Life is
an ordered set of
connections that
replicate
themselves.
Living
beings
are
completely dependent
or their survivaland
flourishing
on
nonlivingbeings.No fundamental,ntrinsicprincipleseparates
the
two,
inasmuchas both
constitutean indissoluble
whole.
The
meaning
or
purpose
of life is
not to
be found outside of
life. The universe
as we
know
it
brought
ife into existence.
If
a
force outside the
universe
brought
the universe itself into
being,
then a
holistic
philosophy
demands hat we
change
our definition
of the
universe to include
that force.
If
there is an afterlife that
gives
continuity
o the
day-to-day
ives thatwe
lead,
then we must
change
our
definitionof life
to include the afterlife.No existential
principle
can
separate
the
universe from its
origins,
or this life
from
all
possible
forms of
life,
because a holistic
philosophy
can-
not
brook the
separation
of
any being
from
any
other
being.
In
a
holistic
ethics,
evil
is
precisely
what the
ancient
Egyptians
defined it to be:
the absence of
harmony
or order where both
should be.
Death is
not an evil
in
itself or a
blessing
in
disguise
as
the
portal
to
a beatific
afterlife. Death in
fact makes life
possible.
Death
only
becomes
evil when
it comes before its
time. Our
eth-
ical
duty
is to
resist
death with all our
power,
unless the
appropri-
ate
moment for death
has
come.
The
first
commandmentof
a holistic
ethics, then,
is that
we
must
cherish
ife and
pass
it on
to our
successors.
A
holistic ethics
does
not
discriminate
between human
and otherforms of life. The
universal
law that
follows from this
principle
is that we cannot
break he
connective
issue of life
except
to makenew connections.
We
have the
right
to
destroy
the lives
of nonhumans
only
in
cases
where we
cannot sustain
our own
connectivity
without
destroying
theirs.
Current
hinking
about
capitalpunishment
an
illustrateevolu-
tion
towarda
holistic
ethics. The ethics
of
capitalpunishment
has
become a
matter of
wide-spread
debate
only recently
in
history.
The
reason is
in
part
a
matterof economics. If
an individual
pre-
sents a clear
and
present
danger
o a
community
hatdoes not
have
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Verharen ANCIENTEGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 965
the resources o restrain he
individual,
hen
capitalpunishment
s
its first ine of defense.
If
a
community
has
abundant esources or
humane and reliable restraint
systems,
then the
ethics of
capital
punishment
s at risk.
Under
the ethical
principle
of not
breaking
a
connection
except
to make a better
connection,
the
community
would be best off
if it
had the
power
to reverse he
conditionsthat
made
the
person dangerous
and
reintegrate
he
person
into the
community.
The folk wisdom that
capitalpunishment
s a
deterrent
lacks
empirical
evidence. And
using capital punishment
o
take
vengeance
on a criminal s
beginning
o be
regarded
as
barbaric
at least
in some circles.
A
holistic ethics
proscribes
demonizing
human
beings
or
nations.
Using capitalpunishment
as a
form
of
vengeance
s tanta-
mount o
claiming
thata human
being
is evil
incarnate nd
beyond
any hope
of
restoration
in
even the most
limitedform to
a com-
munity.
A
community
that must terminate he
life of one of
its
members
o
protect
tself
is
simply confessing
its
powerlessness
n
the face of that individual.
A
powerful
community
would
restore
an errantmember to full
membershipby
curing
the
disease
that
warranted xile. We do not have that kind of
power
now
because
we do not have an effective
psychology
of
criminalbehavior.
And
we cannothave thatkind of
power
until we live
Ma'at.
HOLISTICPOLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
The first
responsibility
of a
community guided by
a holistic
ethics is
to seize the
power
thatwill enable
it
to
surviveand thrive.
This
principle
follows the universal law of holistic
ethics: We
should
care
enough
about ife to
pass
it on. What
separates
a holis-
tic
community
rom all other communities hat
imagine they
have
a
primary
obligation
to sustain and cultivatetheir existence?
The
holistic
community
annot
magine
hat
any
fundamental
rinciples
separate
t from
any
other
community
whether
human, animal,
organic,
or
inorganic.
What
I
have said
to this
point
may
seem self-evidentas the
objec-
tive of
any political
body:
survivaland
thriving.
What s distinctive
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966 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES / JULY2006
abouta holistic
political
philosophy
s thatall the earth's
populations
constitutea
single
body politic including
both its
living
and its
nonliving,
nonhuman
members.
A
holistic
politicalphilosophy
s a
whole earth
philosophy.Any
action hat he
body politic
of the earth
might
wish
to take
must
consult the
wishes
of
its
every
member,
using
human
rationality
s
a
surrogate
where
necessary.
Just as an individualbody any one of us intent on pursuing
survivaland
thrivingdevelops
her or his
capacities
to her or his
peak
performance,
o the
body politic
must
guarantee
universal
health
care and
universaleducation dare
I
say
it to the
college
level
for all its
humanmembers
Du
Bois, 1973,
p.
79).
All the non-
human
membersof
the
body politic
also
have
rights
o
develop
heir
capacities
o their
fullest. It is a truism
o
say
thatthe healthof the
body
is
a function
of the health of all
its
parts.
No
healthyperson
would
permit any
aspect
of her or his
body
to lose its
powers
unless it
were
completelybeyond
her
or his
power
to
prevent
hat.
Only
a
political
body
with less
than
full
control of its circum-
stances
would
permit any
of its
constituentmembers humanor
not to
be less than
they
can
be.
A
healthybody politic
also
demandsan
equitable
distribution
f
economic
resources
to
promote
its
well-being.
The whole
group
must
contribute o the
project
of
surviving
and
thriving.
can best
accomplish
my
tasks if I
have
expert
helpers.
Their
expertise,
n
a
holistic
political
economy,
s not a
threat o
my well-being
but the
means of
its
realization.
A
holistic
philosophy
seeks to
cherish not
simply
the life of
the
individual citizen
or a
particularbody
politic
such as
the
United States. A
holistic
philosophy
cultivates
all life
human
and
nonhuman and
the
inorganic
eaturesof the
planet
that sus-
tain
ife,
where
that
s
possible,
not for
their
utility
but for
their ndi-
visibility
fromthe
whole.
A
holistic
philosophy
aims at the freedom
of
life
and the
planet
to the
degree
that
s
possible.
No form of life
has
the
right
to
destroy
another ife in
pursuit
of its freedom
unless
thatform
of life is
so
powerless
hat t must
destroy
he free-
dom of
another
o
cultivate ts own.
Finally,
a
holistic
philosophy
pursues
happiness
only
under he
conditionsof social
justice
for
all
the
membersof
this vast
body politic
we
call
planet
earth.
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Verharen ANCIENT EGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 967
HOLISM IN ACTION:
AFROCENTRICITY,
ECOFEMINISM,
DEEP
ECOLOGY,
AND MARXISM
The article's final
task
is
to examine
contemporary
holistic
philosophies.
What is most
important
o bear
in
mind is that all
four
of
these
revolutionaryphilosophies
are revisions and
rever-
sions of
ancient
Egyptian
holism. With the
exception
of
the
founders
of
Afrocentricity,
Cheikh
Anta
Diop
and
Molefi
Asante,
none of
the
originators
of these
philosophies
has
paid explicit
attention
o the ancientAfrican model.
A
robust,
contemporary
AfricanAmerican
philosophy
exhibits
an
historical
inkage
with the holism of ancient
Egypt.
The African
American
hinker,
Asante
(1990),
who has
given
Afrocentricity
ts
name
quotes
a
Zulu
aphorism
o
affirmhis holism:
"I
am
river,
am
mountain,
am
tree,
I
am
love,
I
am
emotion,
am
beauty,
am
lake,
I
am
cloud,
I
am
sun,
I am
sky,
I am
mind,
I
am one with one"
(p.
83).
Modern African holism can be traced back
to ancient
Egyptians
who "understoodhat we were
literally
childrenof the
earth,
products
of the
organic system" (p.
109).
Because humans
could
not be "of a different
rder rom
othermaterials f the
earth,"
we
must be
intimately
"connected o
everyone
and
everything"
(p.
109).
Asanteclaimsthatourfirst
ethical ask s
to know oneself n
the
contextof one's own
historical radition. he second
ethical ask
is to
expand
one's
self-knowledge
utward o
encompass
he
world's
complex
diverseselves.
Like the Ancient
Egyptians,
Asante claims
the ethical
principle
of Ma'at as his
guiding ight.
He
enjoins
us
to
preserve
rder,
harmony,
nd
ustice
to the
degreepossible.
Asante
(1987,
p.
8)
explicitly points
out
a
strong
resemblance
between
Afrocentric
and feminist
epistemologies.
Ecofeminist
KarenWarren
1993)
argues
hatall
knowledge
s
perspectival,
with
a
strong
oundation
n
cultural
and
genderedexperience.
Warren's
holism
is
epistemological
rather han
ontological,
and her
primary
concentration
s on ethics.
She advocatesa set
of
"boundary
ondi-
tions"
or ethics
thatwould resist
tendenciesof
racism,sexism,
and
classism
to set boundaries
between one
group
and another.Her
ethics
emphasizes
the
claims
issuing
from the "felt
experiences
and
perspectives
f
oppressedpersons";
he stressesvalues such as
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968 JOURNALOF BLACKSTUDIES / JULY2006
"care,
love,
friendship,
and
appropriate
rust"over the
objective
measuresof value
stressed
by
utilitarians nd
deontologists
Warren
1993,
p.
333).
Warren s
reluctant o
pursue
a full-blown holism
in the field
of
ontology
because
of
her conviction that
exaggerated
claims
of
unity may
lead to the
depreciation
of
difference.
Hegel's
holism,
for
example,dismissesnon-Europeanormsof rationality,specially
those of
Africans
whom
he
thinks have no claim on
rationality.
Europeans,
Hegel
(1892/1956)
ays,
find"the
peculiarly
African
har-
acter
. . difficult
o
comprehend,
or the
very
reason
hat
n
reference
to
it,
we must
quitegive
up
the
principle
which
naturally ccompanies
all
of our
[italics
added]
deas the
category
f
Universality"p.
93).
Perhaps
the most
fully developed example
of
contemporary
holism is
to be
found
in
deep ecology. Relying
on holistic
metaphors
rom Hinduism
and
Taoism,
Arne
Naess
(1993),
one of
the first
proponents
of
deep ecology,
stresses the
importance
of
converting
abstract
philosophical thought
into
practical
action.
Environmental
hilosophers
such as Naess
hope
to
turn
"egoism
into
environmentalism"with
the
metaphor
of the
world as "one's
extended
body"
(Callicott,
cited in
Des
Jardins,
1997,
p.
193).
The
Gaia
hypothesis
that
the world is
a
single living organism
s the
best
illustrationof
Naess'
radicalenvironmentalism.
In
concluding
his
final
section,
I
want o
pass
for a briefmoment
from
philosophical
o more
practical
political
reflections. s therea
bodypoliticexisting
in
the
world
today
that models a holistic
phi-
losophy
in
action?
I
would
argue
that Cuba has done
more to
put
holism
into
practice
hanhas
any
other
contemporary
ation.
Cuba
has a
universal
health care
system
that
achieves
many
results
comparable
o
those of
the United
States
in
spite
of an
economy
shattered
by
the
U.S.
embargo
on Cuba.
Cuba's
iteracy
rates
match
those of
the
United
States,
and Castro now
contem-
plates
raising
Cuba's
universal
education
system
to the
university
level.
Castro
speaks
of
his dream
of a "nation
becoming
a univer-
sity"(Castro,
cited
in
de
la
Osa,2004).
A
common
saying
in
Cuba
is
that
"the
revolution
s
education."
The
most
concrete
evidence of
Cuba's
embrace of a holistic
ethics is to
be
found
n
Cuba's
efforts o educate
oreigners
rom
the
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Verharen ANCIENT EGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 969
most
impoverished
nations
n
the
world,
both at
home and abroad.
Cubaoffers 6
years
of medical education
with all
expenses paid
to
10,000
qualified
students rom
the world's
poorest
countries or
districts.
Among
the latest recruits
o the medical
school for for-
eigners
just
outside Havanaare
some
80 AfricanAmericans
rom
the
Mississippi
Delta who
could neverafford he
expense
of a U.S.
medical
school. Cubancitizens make
great
economic sacrifices
to
support
his medical school for
impoverished
oreign
students.
I
visited the school
in the summer
of
2005,
and its
physical
facilities
are far
superior
o those of the
University
of
Havana,
Fidel
Castro's
own alma mater.
Why
does this
extraordinary assion
for
social
justice
exist
in
Cuba?
Why
does Cubaexhibit his vision of a holistic
political
ife?
Perhaps
he reason ies
in
part
because of the
African nfluence
on
Cuban ife. The briefest
acquaintance
with Cuban
music shows how
strong
an influenceAfricahas on Cubanculture.
Africansand their
descendantshave constituteda
majority
of the Cuban
population
for
nearly
500
years
(Gott, 2004).
Cuba
may very
well
be the New
World'sbest
contemporaryxample
of anAfrocentric
ife.
Unfortu-
nately,
we cannot
pursue
hat
topic
further
n
this brief
article.
HOLISM VERSUS
EMPIRE
Imminent hreats
o life
impel
us to take drastic
action. But the
action
mustuniterather han
divide,
without
compromising
he
prin-
ciples
of a holistic
ethics.
September
11,
2001
may
be a
watershed
in
the
history
of ethics.
Before
9/11
only large, technologically
advanced
nations
could threaten life on earth
by deploying
weapons
of
mass destruction.
And the
only weapons
that had this
potential
were
nuclear.After 9/1
1 we
realize
that a small
group
of
well-educated,
determined
eople
can have the
potential
o
destroy
huge
numbers.
Using jetliners
as
primitive
cruise missiles is a
minuscule
irst
step
on the
path
to
biological weapons
thathave the
potential
to cause incalculable
damage
to life. Never before in
history
have
largepolitical
bodies had reasonto fear their destruc-
tion
through
he efforts
of a small
group.
Small
groups
do
not
yet
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970 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES JULY2006
have the
potential
o
threaten ife
itself,
but
nothingprevents
hem
from
trying
to
acquire
he
knowledge
to do that.
After
9/11
empires
are at
risk in
ways
that
they
have neverbeen
before. In
part
because of the actions of a few
persons
on that
day,
the
United States is
engaged
in wars in two countries at a
daily
cost of
millions of dollars.Externalcreditors o the United States
now
have the means
to ensure the collapse of the U.S. currency
because of the size
of its debt. Personal freedom
in the
United
States
diminishes underthe
aegis
of homeland
protection.
Empires
are
political
bodies that secure
ife,
liberty,
and
pursuit
of
happiness
or a select
few at the
expense
of vast
populations.
Statistics about
the
disproportionate
.S.
consumption
of
global
resources
need
not
be cited
here.
In
fact,
the UnitedStates
s
simply
one
facetof the
real
empire
abroadn
the world
oday
globalization.
Can we
find a
philosophy
that
will
unite the world's
peoples
whose
lives do not fall
under he
protection
of
empire
and those
who
despise
the
security
of
empire
because of its social
injustice?
The
demandfor
such a
philosophy
is critical now because of the
threats
posed
by
the
widespreadavailability
of
weapons
of mass
destruction.
Our current
crisis is
not the end of
history,
as conservative
thinkerssuch
as
Francis
Fukuyama
1993)
would have it.
Rather,
it's
the
threatof the
end of life on
earth,
he end of the
possibility
of
history.
The nuclear
confrontation
between the United States
and the
former
Soviet
Union
demonstrates he
speciescidal
char-
acter of
contemporary
mpire.
The need
for a
philosophy raging
against
empire
is
more
urgent
than ever
before. Humansof
good
will
aroundthe
globe
must strive
not
simply
to
end
just
another
empire,
the
latest in
a
long
line.
Rather,
hey
must
struggle
to end
the
very
concept
of
empire
(Hart
&
Negri,
2000).
That
end,
let us
hope,
will
be the
beginning
of a
global
community grounded
n
cultural
diversity
and
social
justice.
Ancient
Egyptian
thinkers
ashioned the
groundwork
or
such
a
community
some
5,000 years ago.
Afrocentric hinkerssuch
as
Cheikh
Anta
Diop
and
Molefi
Asante have
helped
resuscitate he
Egyptian
vision,
so
tragically
lost to the
world for
nearly
2,000
years
under
the
Greek,
Roman,
and
Arabic
conquests
of ancient
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Verharen ANCIENT EGYPTIANRENAISSANCE 971
Egypt.
Is there
any
hope
thatAfrocentricholistic vision can
help
shape
the world's
future?
The ethical
revolutionsof the
past
8 millennia furnish
reasons
for
optimism.2
JaredDiamond
(1997)
announced he first ethical
revolution:
"With he rise of chiefdoms around
7,500
years ago,
people
had to
learn,
for the
first time in
history,
how to encounter
strangers egularly
without
attempting
o
kill
them"
(p.
143).
The second
ethical
leap
decrees that we have ethical
bonds to
every
other
human
being
as much as we have them to
ourselves.
The first intimations
of this radical sentiment are found in
the
ancient
Egyptian
injunctions
to
live Ma'
at. Later versions
origi-
nating
both
in the near and far East ask us to "love
one anotheras
I
have loved
you."
This love finds its essence
in
self-sacrifice or
altruism
even at the cost of one's own
good.
Howard
University's
Alain Locke
(1987)
expresses
the third
revolutionary
thical
insight
that humans must be
united
by
rea-
son of their differences rather
han
their commonalities.
Writing
in
the
period
between the two World
Wars
of
the
past
century,
Locke advocateda
global community
that
supported
he cultural
differences
of its
members,
thereby avoiding
one of the
gravest
mistakes
of
globalization.
The
fourth revolution
in
ethics stretches Locke's conviction
aboutdifference
as the
ground
of
unity
to its limits.
Afrocentricity
recognizes
all humans
as Africans
in
the first African
diaspora
some
50,000
to
100,000
years ago.
Ecofeminism shatters he
age-
old moral and
intellectualdistinctionsbetween
men
and women.
Deep
ecology
affirmsthe
unity
of all life forms with one another
and
the
inorganic
ground
of life.
Marxism,
n its
most robustver-
sions,
highlights
a vision
of social
justice
thatreinforcesa revolu-
tionary
ethics
(Verharen,
003).
What is
most
important
o note
in
closing
is that none of these
revolutionary
hilosophies
with the
exception
of
Afrocentricity
recognizes
that its roots
may
be found
in
ancient Africa.
Afrocentricity
elf-consciously grounds
itself
in its African her-
itage.
But
the other radical
philosophies
unite what the ancient
Egyptians
did not
divide.
Proclaiming
herself
pharaoh
nd
wearing
the
false beard
of a
pharaoh,
he
queen Hatshepsut eigned
over
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972 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2006
men and women 35 centuries
ago
in
Egypt.
The
Egyptian
portrayal
of their
gods
as both human
and animal
igures
showed
theirbelief
in
the
kinship
of life.
And the
pharaohs'
subservience
o
Ma'at
demonstrated he ancient
Egyptian
conviction
that
justice
is the
overarching
thical
principle.
To
summarize,
a holistic
ontology
is an
expression
of what
the
mind s all about:unificationhroughabstraction,
search
or
com-
monality,
a denialof difference.
Ancient
Egyptian
holism
prefigures
the
history
of
science,
or the
story
of the mind
recreating
he world
in
its own
image.
The ancient
Egyptian
kingdom
also foreshadows
holism as the
overarching
heme
of
history.
Families
give
way
to
tribesand tribes o nations.Nations
give way
to
empires.
However,
we should
now
recognize
hatthe dominion
of
empire
hreatens
he
extinction
of human ife. We must
give up
dominion or
a commu-
nion thatembracesall humansas
Africans
n
the
original
and
ancient
African
diaspora.
Thatcommunion
must nclude
he whole
earth hat
makes
our lives
possible.
AncientAfricanholism
now can
become
key
to humansurvival
n
the
contemporary
orld.
NOTES
1. CheikhAnta
Diop
(1981/1991)
expresses
his claim that
ancient
Egypt
should
serve
as the foundation or an
African renaissance
hroughout
his works but
most
forcefully
in
the introduction o
Civilization
or Barbarism.
In
his The Secret
Lore
of Egypt:
Its
Impact
on the
West,
ontemporary
wiss
Egyptologist
Erik
Hornungproposes
ancient
Egypt
as the
locus
for
a second
global
renaissance more
powerful
than the
European
renaissance
grounded
n
ancient Greece.
2.
Remarkably,
a recent
study suggests
that the
intergroup
aggression
death rates
of
early
human
communities
are much
higher
than are those of
20th-century
ommunities
in
spite
of the
latter's
global
wars and
genocide (Wrangham,
004).
REFERENCES
Asante,
M. K.
(1987).
The
Afrocentric
dea.
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Charles
C. Verharen
s a
graduate
professorof philosophy
and director
of graduate
studies n
the
philosophy
department
t Howard
University.
His
primary
research s
in the
field
of philosophy
and culture.His
published
works include
Rationality
n
Philosophy
and Science
and articles
in
journals
such as WesternJournalof Black
Studies,
Journal
f
Negro
Education,
Presence
Africaine,
Socialism
and
Democracy,
Radical
Philosophy
Review,
Philosophical
Forum,
and
TeachingPhilosophy.