Intercultural philosophy and emerging paradigm: a new approach to the "reasons" of a different culture

Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1807-1384.2014v11n2p37

This research begins with the questioning of a certain paradigmatic crisis that, according to some authors, is not restricted to the scientific modus faciendi, but also reaches knowledge itself, considered under a broader perspective and applied to all our values and relationship among men, nature and society. It’s worth mentioning the crisis that is known as “dominant paradigm”, by which there is an urgent need for a new scientific practice and a new form of knowledge appropriation, one in which the common sense is rescued and receives proper value. This is the proposal of the so called “emerging paradigm” which we believe, paves the way for the heterodoxy of proposals, such as the Intercultural Philosophy, to find conducive soil in the construction of alternative ways, to embrace indigenous knowledge and cultures. Some epistemological aspects that make up the Intercultural Philosophy are described, in particular, its negative view on ethnocentrism. It is argued that this new form of making philosophy meets the requirements of an emerging paradigm; in that it does not favor this or that logos as the “absolute and universal reason”, but allows the expression of other forms of rationality that often clash the standards of what is considered “conventional”, as in the case of indigenous cultures. All these paradigmatic and intercultural principals find echo in the interpretation of some forms of rationality unique to the Rio D’Areia Indian Reserve, located in the municipality of Inácio Martins, Paraná, whose data was collected through participant observation.