The Dialectics of the Blueberry Muffin: Towards a Philosophy of Love

This dissertation study was a process where I purposed my life in the personal, educational, and societal contexts within three periods in my life: high school, college, and graduate school. My conceptual framework draws on the writings of Paulo Freire and Martin Luther King Jr., bell hooks, Cornel West, and Maulana Karenga because their works seek to understand contradictions that limit human beings from living up to their human potential. Although their works are similar, they have different foci. Freire and Karenga's writings are driven by a humanist desire to human transformation, while King's, hooks', and West's works are rooted in a theological foundation for individual transformation. All of the scholars embed love within their writings, which they declare is essential to individuals working to assist in the development of a better world. For my methodology, I use autobiographical writing, which allowed me to reflect on my personal, educational, and societal contradiction within three periods in my life: high school, college, and graduate school. Upon reflecting on my life, I analyzed it using my conceptual framework. The result of my dissertation project was the creation of a philosophical framework I call Transconceptualization. This framework seeks to understand the self in the past and present in order to move beyond contradictions to live a new life in the present and future