The Dance of Person and Place: One Interpretation of American Indian Philosophy (SUNY series in Living Indigenous Philosophies)

Ever since first contact with Europeans, American Indian stories about how the world is have been regarded as interesting objects of study, but also as childish and savage, philosophically curious and ethically monstrous. Using the writings of early ethnographers and cultural anthropologists, early narratives told or written by Indians, and scholarly work by contemporary Native writers and philosophers, Shawnee philosopher Thomas M. Norton-Smith develops a rational reconstruction of American Indian philosophy as a dance of person and place. He views Native philosophy through the lens of a culturally sophisticated constructivism grounded in the work of contemporary American analytic philosopher Nelson Goodman, in which descriptions of the world (or “world versions”) satisfying certain criteria construct actual worlds—words make worlds. Ultimately, Norton-Smith argues that the Native ways of organizing experiences with spoken words and other performances construct real worlds as robustly as their Western counterparts, and, in so doing, he helps to bridge the chasm between Western and American Indian philosophical traditions. Common Themes In American Indian Philosophy -- First Introductions -- Four Common Themes : A First Look -- Constructing An Actual American Indian World -- Nelson Goodman's Constructivism -- Setting The Stage -- Fact, Fiction, And Feeders -- Ontological Pluralism -- True Versions And Well-made Worlds -- Nonlinguistic Versions And The Advancement Of Understanding -- True Versions And Cultural Bias -- Constructive Realism : Variations On A Theme By Goodman -- True Versions And Cultural Bias -- An American Indian Well-made Actual World -- Relatedness, Native Knowledge, And Ultimate Acceptability -- Native Knowledge And Relatedness As A World-ordering Principle -- Native Knowledge And Truth -- Native Knowledge And Verification -- Native Knowledge And Ultimate Acceptability -- An Expansive Conception Of Persons -- A Western Conception Of Persons -- Native Conceptions Of Animate Beings And Persons -- An American Indian Expansive Conception Of Persons -- The Semantic Potency Of Performance -- Opening Reflections And Reminders About Performances -- Symbols And Their Performance -- The Shawnee Naming Ceremony -- Gifting As A World-constructing Performance -- Closing Remarks About The Semantic Potency Of Performances -- Circularity As A World-ordering Principle -- Goodman Briefly Revisited -- Time, Events, And History Or Space, Place, And Nature? -- Circularity As A World-ordering Principle -- Circularity And Sacred Places -- Closing Remarks About Circularity As A World-ordering Principle -- The Dance Of Person And Place -- American Indian Philosophy As A Dance Of Person And Place -- Consequences, Speculations, And Closing Reflections. Thomas M. Norton-smith. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Common themes in American Indian philosophy First introductions Common themes : a first look Constructing an actual American Indian world NelsonGoodman's constructivism Setting the stage Fact, fiction, and feeders Ontological pluralism True versions and well-made worlds Nonlinguistic versions and the advancement of understanding True versions and cultural bias Constructive realism : variations on a theme by Goodman True versions and cultural bias An American Indian well-made actual world Relatedness, native knowledge, and ultimate acceptability Native knowledge and relatedness as a world ordering principle Native knowledge and truth Native knowledge and verification Native knowledge and ultimate acceptability An expansive conception of persons A western conception of persons Native conceptions of animate beings and persons An American Indian expansive conception of persons The semantic potency of performance Opening reflections and reminders about performances Symbols and their performance The Shawnee naming ceremony Gifting as a world constructing performance Closing remarks about the semantic potency of performances Circularity as a world ordering principle Goodman briefly revisited Time, events, and history or space, place, and nature? Circularity as a world ordering principle Circularity and sacred places Closing remarks about circularity as a world ordering principle The dance of person and place American Indian philosophy as a dance of person and place Consequences, speculations, and closing reflections. Ever since first contact with Europeans, American Indian stories about how the world is have been regarded as interesting objects of study, but also as childish and savage, philosophically curious and ethically monstrous. Using the writings of early ethnographers and cultural anthropologists, early narratives told or written by Indians, and scholarly work by contemporary Native writers and philosophers, Shawnee philosopher Thomas Norton-Smith develops a rational reconstruction of American Indian philosophy as a dance of person and place. He views Native philosophy through the lens of a culturally sophisticated constructivism grounded in the work of contemporary American analytic philosopher Nelson Goodman, in which stories (or "world versions") satisfying certain criteria construct actual worlds—words make worlds. Ultimately, Norton-Smith argues that the Native stories construct real worlds as robustly as their Western counterparts, and, in so doing, he helps to bridge the chasm between Western and American Indian philosophical traditions. "The author opens a unique and exciting avenue for philosophical discourse by demonstrating a method of inquiry that provides a new way of interpreting Native thinking, a method that not only promotes Native philosophical systems but allows for greater communication between Western and Native philosophers."--Lorraine Mayer, author of Cries from a Metis Heart. 9781438431345-1 1 9781438431345-2 9 9781438431345-3 11 9781438431345-4 13 9781438431345-5 17 9781438431345-6 19 9781438431345-7 35 9781438431345-8 57 9781438431345-9 73 9781438431345-10 95 9781438431345-11 113 9781438431345-12 137 9781438431345-13 153 9781438431345-14 159 9781438431345-15 171 9781438431345-16 177 "Challenging and provocative, this book is a great step forward in the conversation of academic Indigenous philosophy."--Brain Yazzie Burkhart, Pitzer College --Book Jacket. Uses the concept of "worldmaking" to provide an introduction to American Indian philosophy