Indigenizing Philosophy: Descartes, Hegel, and the Critique of Western Dualism

Lake Washington (Lake Hutu): * The term "Hutu" translates simply to "lake," making the name "Lake Hutu" redundant (meaning "Lake Lake"). * It is a significant geographical feature for the people living near it, specifically the Duwamish people. * Historical Fishing: The Duwamish used unique and interesting techniques for fishing salmon in the tributaries leading into Lake Washington. * Current Context: While the current Duwamish people do not fish this area frequently, their historical techniques remain a point of interest for understanding the land.
Epistemological Foundation of the Lecture: * The lecture adopts an openness to lessons offered by land, air, water, and earth, as well as the indigenous peoples who have listened to these elements for millennia. * The goal is not to adopt the speaker's specific internal thoughts but to encourage students to think about their own bodies, communities, and inhabited spaces. * The lecture addresses the fundamental commitments of Western philosophy that contribute to environmental crises and philosophical stagnation.

Background of Brian Burkhart: * Burkhart is a philosopher working in US universities and a leading indigenous scholar. * He is a member of the Cherokee Nation and was raised on a Navajo reservation, with ties to other indigenous heritages. * His work focuses on "Indigenizing Philosophy," which involves a decolonization of philosophical thought.
The Concept of Decolonization: * Decolonization is not a metaphor; it is the literal identification and establishment of where colonial ideology creates and exacerbates oppression. * It involves identifying how colonization acts as a mechanism for ownership, lordship, and "grabbing" new territory deemed "available" by colonizers. * Philosophy must unravel its relationship with genocide and environmental crisis by identifying which intellectual threads carry "poison."
The Trickster Figure: * The Coyote: A significant figure in indigenous stories in North America. * Role: A teacher, boundary breaker, and trickster. * Nature: He does not play by traditional rules and can be seen as both a hero and a villain.

Biographical Details: * French philosopher and polymath: biologist, mathematician, and the father of robotics. * Developer of the Cartesian coordinate system used in geometry ( $y = mx + b$ etc.).
The Search for the Soul (The Kernal of Being): * Descartes sought the physical location of the soul through biological dissection of animals and humans. * Historical Context: Many cultures traditionally identified the heart as the center of the soul (e.g., Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament). * Descartes' Shift: He hypothesized that the core of the human person resides in the brain, specifically identifying the pineal gland as the seat of the soul.
The Persistence of Self: * Example: A great-grandfather (Severson) who lost his arm at years old to a corn thresher in Iowa. Despite the loss of a limb, he remained "himself," demonstrating that the core identity is not tied to appendages. * Descartes’ logic: You can lose eyes, hair, or limbs, but you remain "you."
Methodological Doubt: * Primary Works: Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on Method. * Architecture Metaphor: Philosophy is like sloppy architecture where one century adds to another without structural integrity. Descartes advocated tearing down the building and starting over with fresh material. * Exercise of Doubt: To build a bedrock foundation, one must doubt everything, including the existence of the self, until something indubitable remains.

The Cogito: * Verbatim Definition: "I think, therefore, I am." * The act of doubting proves existence; even if senses are deceived (like in a vivid dream or being a "brain in a jar" as seen in The Matrix), the "doubting self" must exist.
Privileging the Mental over the Physical: * Descartes preferred mental exercises over sensory experiences because senses are subjective. * He viewed sensory experiences (mirages, varied perceptions) as unreliable and bummed out by their subjectivity.
Universals vs. Particulars: * Universals (The "Sky"): Objective truths like mathematics and geometry. * Definition of a Circle: "A geometrical object in which all points are equidistant from a nonexistent central point." * Particulars (The "Mushiness"): Experiences of land, soil, relationships, emotions, and love. Love is subjective (e.g., loving a wife vs. loving pizza), whereas a circle is a shared objective concept.
Manicheanism: * A thousands-year-old philosophy (influenced St. Augustine of Hippo) that views the earth and nature as bad, misleading, or evil. * It posits that the soul is true while the body is a "nest of evil" and temptation. * This leads to traditions that loathe the body and focus strictly on prayer and meditation.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel ( $1800$ s / $19$ th century): * German philosopher who viewed history as a steady march of progress. * The Wheel of History: Momentum driven by change and the taming of the wild. * Progress through Enclosure: History advances when one neighbor encounters another and forces conformity or conquest, carrying forward the good elements of the previous system (e.g., the Roman Senate or Roman fonts).
Technology and the Final Goal: * Hegel had bedrock confidence that technology solves problems (hunger, war) and advances history. * He envisioned a "One World Order" or a final world government where all people get along. * He referred to this final state as the Kingdom or the Reich.

The Mechanism of Colonization: * Rooted in Western concepts of progress (Locke, Rousseau, Descartes). * Colonialism views all things not European as inferior or "savage." * White Man's Burden: The arrogant belief that Europeans have a duty to "save" others from their supposed inferiority through missionaries, politics, and conquest.
The Doctrine of Discovery: * Declared by a Pope in the late $1400$ s. * Principle: If you "discover" land that does not contain Christians, you can claim it as territory for God and yourself. * Absurdity: This ignores existing populations, assuming land is "undiscovered" if the people there do not know Christianity. * Duration: It remained church doctrine for hundreds of years and was only revoked approximately $500$ years after its inception.
Philosophical Implications for the Environment: * Cartesian Dualism: Viewing the body and environment as "lesser" and the soul as the only thing that matters. * Modern Echoes: Certain evangelical theologies believe "the world is going to burn anyway," so environmental protection is irrelevant because only the soul counts. This is a direct inheritance of Cartesian and Manichean thought. * Imperialism: The use of military might to push colonial messages and seize global control based on these hierarchical philosophies.