The Particularist Theory

----My last blog I talked about my desire to be taught in a Ghanian style. After a week of classes, I have to ask myself if thats even possible. In philosophy, the Particularist Theory says that "philosophy is its own time apprehended in thought." Meaning that whatever idea a philosopher comes up with is only relative to his own culture, of his own time. This can be argued right or wrong, yet as I read more about it in my philosophy homework I thought about in terms of what I want from my education here.
----Many teachers teach through examples. It is at times easiest to learn something new when it is compared to something familiar. Macbeth's finding of self as paralleled to King Edward II. Spanish past tense compared to our own. Foreign history connected to our relative present. So how can I really be taught in the Ghanian style? Their connections, parallels, and comparisons are far to different than mine. My teacher makes connections to Avatar, a movie that most Ghanians don't even know exists. A Ghanian teacher makes reference to a novel by Chinua Achebe, an author that most Ghanians would have read, and although many English scholars have read some of the works, few American students would be able to relate. So with all these divisions its pretty impossible for me to ask to be taught in an exact Ghanian style, because I would have such difficulty in comprehension.
----So the ideas and culture the Ghanians have been raised in, is particular to themselves, something that I can learn about, but unlikely ever fully understand without becoming intensely immersed in. Likewise, the culture and ideas of Americans are so difficult for Ghanians to understand without experiencing them. The other day I tried to explain snow to the security guard at my residence, Uncle Eugene. As I told him that I had about a foot before I left, he said to me, "But when you step on it... How...What.... How do you feel!!!?" He was so curious about what snow felt like, what it feels like to walk on, how you stay warm, and he couldn't even fathom the ideas I was telling him. Shaking his head accompanied with a high pitched, "Ah!!" (a Twi noise used to show surprise, a common noise heard throughout Ghanian-Obruni interaction).
----With all these differences between culture it seems crazy to think I could ever really feel immersed here, or have any similar experiences to what Ghanians have. But as Uncle Eugene tells me, "I protect you. I protect your home here... I hope this will be home here." Maybe, Uncle Eugene. One day at a time.