Conversations on African Philosophy of Mind, Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence

lt;p>Aribiah David Attoe

Dr Aribiah David Attoe is currently a Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa. He has (co)authored several articles, encyclopedia entry, book chapters and books, one of which includes; Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics: The Idea of Predeterministic Historicity (Palgrave, 2022). He also guest-edited the first ever book-length literature/special issue on "African Conceptions of the Meaning of Life", published by the South African Journal of Philosophy, and his forthcoming book, The Question of Life's Meaning: An African Perspective, will be the first-ever book on African conceptions of the Meaning of Life. He is also a member of the prestigious Conversational School of Philosophy. Dr Attoe has been on the cutting edge of research in African metaphysics, African Philosophy of Religion and African Conceptions of Meaning. His other interests include Ethics and Social and political philosophy. 

Samuel T. Segun

Samuel T. Segun research includes the ethics of artificial intelligence with a focus on computational ethics, African intellectual development, and philosophy of mind with specific focus on neurophilosophy and consciousness. Samuel's doctoral research focused on developing a robust ethical theory for autonomous intelligent systems that is informed by African values and rivals Western approaches. He is a member and Research Fellow of the Conversational School of Philosophy (CSP), and a Research Associate of the AI for Social Good working group at the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR), University of Pretoria.

Amongst ST Segun's publications are "From machine ethics to computational ethics" in AI & Society; "Criticially engaging the ethics of AI for a global audience" in Ethics and Information Technology, where he served as Lead Guest Editor for the special issue on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. He is also the coauthor of the book New Conversations on the Problems of Identity, Consciousness and Mind (Springer, 2019).

Victor Nweke

Victor Nweke is currently a researcher/Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Cultural Studies, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany. His major research interest includes African philosophy, global normative theory, intercultural philosophy, and philosophy of logic. He is working on his Ph.D. as a member of a multidisciplinary normative project, 'Diversity, Power and Justice: Transcultural Perspectives', funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the German Research Foundation). His peer-reviewed publications (articles and chapters in academic journals and edited books) attempt to interrogate and (re)conceptualize articulate perspectives on right conduct and optimal human flourishing using salient ideas in African philosophy as a crucial point of departure. Victor is also an affiliate researcher with the Conversational School of Philosophy (CSP), University of Calabar, Nigeria, as well as an Alumni of the HASTAC Scholars Program (Class of 2016-2018).

Umezurike J. Ezugwu

Umezurike J. Ezugwu is a research fellow, Conversational Society of Philosophy.  He did his first degree in the Department of Philosophy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.  He obtained his Masters and Doctorate degrees in the Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.  During this period, he taught, as a part-time lecturer, two General Studies Courses, Philosophy and Logic, and History and Philosophy of Science.  Currently, he is a lecturer in Nigeria Maritime University.  Here, he lectures Philosophy and Logic, History and Philosophy of Science and Nigeria Peoples and Culture. He is an a

i.Dedication.- ii. Acknowledgement.- iii.Preface.- Part One: Conversations on Mind, Body and Consciousness.- 1. James Tartaglia - Gyekye's Idealist Theory of the Soul.- 2. Oladele Balogun -  A Central State Materialistic Interpretation Of The Yoruba Concept Of Person: A Critique.- 3. Elvis Imafidon - Between The Demon And The Tumour: Exploring Mental Cognitive Processes And Healing As If Context Mattered.- 4. Ada Agada - The Concept Of Vital Force, Protopanpsychism, And The Mind-Body Problem.- 5. Emmanuel Ofuasia - On Human Consciousness And Cognition Of The Actual World: A Case For Skepticism.- 6.Laura Crompton - Extended Mind, Extended Agency?.- 7. Khondlo Mtshali - Dualism Without The Problem of Interaction.- 8.Clarton Fambisai - A Novel Reply to Jackson's Knowledge Argument.- 9. Kenneth Uyi Abudu - A Critique Of Central State Materialism From An African Perspective.- 10. Aribiah Attoe - The Hard Problem of Consciousness: A Proto-phenomenal Outlook.- 11. Samuel Segun - Questioning the Validity of Equiphenomenalism as a Functionalist Theory.- 12. Nelson Osuala - Interrogating the Reasonability of Equiphenomenalism as an Explanatory Theory of Mind: A Conversation with Segun T. Samuel.- 13. Victor Nweke - The Emergence of Proto-mind and its Import for Ubuntu.- 14. Solomon Awe - Rethinking The Metaphysical Issues Of Reincarnation In Yoruba Culture: A Further Reflections On Mind-Body Dichotomy.- 15. Enyimba Maduka - Epistemological Implication Of Chimakonam's Theory Of Sense-Phenomenalism.- 16.John Patrick Giddy - African Traditional Philosophy Of Mind And World: A Framework For The Ethical Potential Of Modern Thought.- Part Two: Conversations on Africa and some Major Themes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.- 17. Samuel Segun - Making Afro-ethics Computational.- 18. Ojochogwu Abdul - Transhumanism, Singularity And The Meaning Of Life: An Afrofuturist Perspective.- 19. Aribiah Attoe & Amara Esther - Transhumanism, Immortality and the Communal Normative Function Theory of the Meaning of Life.- 20. Thaddeus Metz - African Reasons Why AI Should Not Maximize Utility.- 21. Diana Ofana - Can Robots Attain Personhood In African Thought?.- 22. Hailu Andebet - Robotics And The African Man.- 23.John Umezurike - The Concept of AI and Personhood in African Thought Systems.- 24. Augustine Atabor - Affective Computing And The Singularity: The Moral Relevance Of Shame In AI.- 25.Reneilwe Masuluke & Abiola Azeez - On Indigenous Design and Consumerism: 4IR in Africa.- 26. Joseph Hungwe - My Phone And The Community: Nomophobia As A Technological Reconfiguration Of African Communalism.

"The diverse range of topics covered in this book makes it an essential read for professionals in African philosophy ... The editors and contributors have done a remarkable job in bringing together diverse perspectives, highlighting the richness of African philosophical thought ... . This volume serves as a testament to the vibrancy and significance of African philosophy in the global intellectual landscape, shedding light on pressing issues at the intersection of philosophy, consciousness, and AI." (Goran Trajkovski, Computing Reviews, June 3, 2024)