| dc.description.abstract | This study is an examination of cross cultural philosophical discourse between
North American Indigenous cultures and the dominant Western culture. The
methodological approaches used in this study are modeled after the work of Michael M.
Pomedli, Thomas W. Overholt and J. Baird Callicott, and George Lakoff and Mark
Johnson. A case study of the concept of autonomy is used in exploring the possibility of
such discourse. This case study is particularly relevant in light of Indigenous peoples’
continuing struggles for self-government and appropriate education, as well as their
attempts to re-assert their unique cultural perspectives. Examples of both Western and
Indigenous uses of the concept of autonomy are compared and contrasted in
demonstrating that, although there are differences in their uses of this concept, they can
be rendered intelligible one to another. Cross-cultural dialogue is indeed possible. | |
