Elders derive epistemic authority from lived experience and oral transmission in absence of writing
Evidence
The truth that natural thinkers talk about is their very evidence of lived life. It is the very life of the people. Such popular knowledge is considered to delivered from God, thought of now as Omniscience. The evidence of life combined with popular knowledge is what gives credibility and confers dignity to the elderly. The teachings of the elders generally take place through proverbs (words of life – wisdom and teachings on morality), which are considered to be entries in a dictionary. The elder is the dictionary of traditional African culture. In the absence of writing, the guarantee of the speculative value of natural thinkers is, therefore, the traditions, myths, rites and habits handed down orally. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 320
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- DEFINE: Clarifies how the elder functions as ‘the dictionary’ and how oral tradition validates knowledge when writing is absent.