Some Thoughts about the Philosophical Underpinnings of Aboriginal Worldviews

Indigenous Australian philosophy is more than just a survivalist kit to understanding nature, human or environmental, but is also a system for realising the fullest potential of human emotion and experience. This paper explores elements of indigenous philosophy, focusing on indigenous views that maintain human-ness is a skill, not developed in order to become a better human being, but to become more and more human. In this context, the paper considers indigenous understandings of the land as a spiritual entity and human societies as dependent upon the land.