African Philosophy is a disputed term, used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate concerning the nature of African philosophy itself. Though this is often criticised as being sterile and self-absorbed, it can nevertheless provide useful insights into the nature of philosophy in general. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... It has been suggested that Meta-epistemology be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what...

Introduction

One of the most fundamental loci of disagreement concerns what exactly it is that the term ‘African’ qualifies: the content of the philosophy or the identities of the philosophers. On the former view, philosophy counts as African if it involves African themes (such as distinctively African perceptions of time, personhood, etc.) or uses methods that are distinctively African; on the latter view, African philosophy is any philosophy done by Africans (or sometimes, by people of African descent).

In what follows – for the purposes of an encyclopædia article – it will generally be more useful to take the former view as central, as it is surely the distinctive content and methodology that distinguishes African from other philosophy. (It's perhaps worth pointing out that the vast majority of African philosophy in the former sense will as a matter of fact also count as African philosophy in the latter sense.)

Having said all that, a historical survey is most easily and informatively undertaken by looking at philosophers who were born on the continent of Africa; when we come to the modern era, we shall revert to taking content and methodology as primary. Let us start, however, by looking at ancient African philosophy.

Pre-modern African philosophy

We start with yet another distinction: that between philosophers and philosophy. Paulin J. Hountondji has argued that, without a written language: “thousands of Socrates could never have given birth to Greek philosophy... so thousands of philosophers without written works could never have given birth to an African philosophy” (Hountondji, p.106; quoted in Kwame, Introduction, p.xx). Joseph I. Omoregbe's broad definition of a philosopher as, "one who devotes a good deal of his time reflecting on [ fundamental questions about human life or the physical universe] and who frequently and habitually does this” (Omoregbe, p.4), and though no clearly articulated and documented philosophy exists, there is still a philosophical tradition. Put simply, even if there were no known African philosophers, there was African philosophy. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Paulin Hountondji (b. ...

At least one may say that if we take a philosophy to be a coherent set of beliefs, but not a system explaining the unity of it's understanding of all the world's phenomena phenomenon the nature of the world and the place of human beings in that world, then few if any cultures lack a philosophy. Such a philosophy doesn't depend upon the existence of specific people who philosophise, but even its innate in responding to life.

There is no debate concerning the fact that Africans have always been perfectly capable of philosophical thought. The standard view of the rise of philosophical (and of scientific) thought is that it probably required a certain sort of social structure (one in which, for example, a significant part of society had the leisure to think and debate), but that even given this necessary background condition, there's a further complex set of factors needed. The claim that Africa developed no philosophy, then, is merely the claim that the right conditions happened not to arise there.

North Africa

Philosophy in North Africa has a rich and varied history, dating from pre-dynastic Egypt, and continuing through the birth of both Christianity and Islam. Arguably central to the ancients was the conception of "ma'at", which roughly translated refers to "justice", "truth", or simply "that which is right". One of the earliest works of political philosophy was the Maxims of Ptah-Hotep, which were taught to Egyptian schoolboys for centuries.  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ...

North African philosophers made extremely important contributions to Hellenistic philosophy, Christian philosophy, and Islamic philosophy. Hellenistic philosophy is the period of Western philosophy that was developed in the Hellenistic civilization following Aristotle and ending with Neo-Platonism. ... It is proposed that this article be deleted, because of the following concern: Filled with OR and completely unsourced. ... Islamic philosophy (الفلسفة الإسلامية) is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between philosophy (reason) and the religious teachings of Islam (faith). ...

In the Hellenistic tradition, the influential philsophical school of Neoplatonism was founded by the Egyptian philosopher Plotinus in the 3rd century CE. Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists. ... Plotinus Plotinus (ancient Greek: ) (ca. ...

In the Christian tradition, Augustine of Hippo was a cornerstone of Christian philosophy and theology. He lived from 354 to 430 CE, and wrote his best known work, The City of God, in Hippo Regius, (now Annaba, Algeria). He challenged a number of ideas of his age including Arianism, and established the notions of original sin and divine grace in Christian philosophy and theology. “Augustinus” redirects here. ... Events Gallus deposed, executed at Antioch. ... Events Saint Patrick reaches Ireland on his missionary expedition. ... The City of God, opening text, created c. ... Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba (or Bône), Algeria. ... A small beach in Annaba with the city skyline in background. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      This article... “Original Sin” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In the Islamic tradition, Ibn Bajjah philosophized along neo-Platonist lines in the 12th century C.E. The purpose of human life, according to Bajja, was to gain true happiness, and true happiness is attained by grasping the universals through reason and philosophy, often outside the framework of organized religion. Ibn Bajjah ابن باجة Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn al-Sayegh أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن الصايغ was an Andalusian Muslim philosopher and physician who was known in the West using his latinized name, Avempace. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is an ancient school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would... Universals (used as a noun) are either properties, relations, or types, but not classes. ...

Ibn Rushd philosophised along more Aristotelian lines, establishing the philosophical school of Averroism. Notably, he argued that there was no conflict between religion and philosophy, and instead that there are a variety of routes to God, all equally valid, and that the philosopher was free to take the route of reason while the commoners were unable to take that route, and only able to take the route of teachings passed on to them. Averroes (1126 - December 10, 1198) was an Andalusi philosopher and physician, a master of philosophy and Islamic law, mathematics and medicine. ... Averroism is the term applied to either of two philosophical trends among scholastics in the late 13th century, the first of which was based on the Arab philosopher Averroës or Ibn Rushd interpretations of Aristotle and the resolution of various conflicts between the writings of Aristotle and the Muslim...

Ibn Sab'in challenged the above view, arguing that Aristotelian methods of philosophy were useless in attempting to understand the universe, because those ideas failed to mirror the basic unity of the universe with itself and with God, so that true understanding required a different method of reasoning. Mohammad Ibn Abd-al-Haq Ibn Sab’in (محمدبن عبدالحق بن سبعين) is the last philosopher of the Andalous in the west land of Islamic world and his school is a combination of philosophical and Gnostic thoughts. ...

Sub-Saharan Africa

There is at least one example of a pre-modern sub-Saharan African philosopher in Omoregbe's sense: Anthony William Amo was taken as a slave from Awukenu in what is now Ghana, was brought up and educated in Europe (gaining doctorates in medicine and philosophy), and became a professor at the universities of Halle and Jena. A political map showing national divisions in relation to the ecological break (Sub-Saharan Africa in green) A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the sub-Saharan area Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south... Anthony William Amo (1703–c. ... The Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg is located in the German cities of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt and Wittenberg. ... Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (FSU) is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was named for the German writer Friedrich Schiller. ...

Modern African philosophy

Kenyan philosopher Henry Odera Oruka has distinguished what he calls four trends in modern African philosophy: ethnophilosophy, philosophical sagacity, nationalistic–ideological philosophy, and professional philosophy. In fact it would be more realistic to call them candidates for the position of African philosophy, with the understanding that more than one of them might fit the bill. (Oruka later added two additional categories: literary/artistic philosophy, the work of literary figures such as Ngugi wa Thiongo, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Okot p’Bitek, and Taban lo Liyong, and hermeneutic philosophy the analysis of African languages in order to find philosophical content.) Maulana Karenga is one of the key philosophers in African-American circles, he produced a 803 page book titled Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt. Henry Odera Oruka (1944–9 December 1995) was a Kenyan philosopher, best known for his project of Sage philosophy. ... Ethnophilosophy is an approach to the study of philosophy. ... Sagacity of Victoria is the largest kink-friendly pansexual alternative lifestyle organization on Vancouver Island. ... NgÅ©gÄ© wa Thiongo (born January 5, 1938) is a Kenyan author, formerly working in English and now working in GÄ©kÅ©yÅ©. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, essays and scholarship, criticism and childrens literature. ... Akinwande Oluwole Wole Soyinka (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. ... Chinua Achebe (born November 16, 1930) is a Nigerian novelist and poet, an esteemed and controversial literary critic, and one of the most widely read authors of the 20th century. ... Dr. Ron Karenga Dr. Ron Karenga (Maulana Ron Karenga, Maulana Karenga, Ron Ndabezitha Everett-Karenga, Ron N. Everett) is an author and activist best known as the founder of the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, first celebrated in California, December 26, 1966 to January 1, 1967. ...

Ethnophilosophy & philosophical sagacity

Ethnophilosophy has been used to record the beliefs found in African cultures. Such an approach treats African philosophy as consisting in a set of shared beliefs, values, categories, and assumptions that are implicit in the language, practices, and beliefs of African cultures; in short, the uniquely African world view. As such, it is seen as an item of communal property rather than an activity for the individual. Ethnophilosophy is an approach to the study of philosophy. ... A world view (or worldview) is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (pronounced ) Welt is the German word for world, and Anschauung is the German word for view or outlook. It implies a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and refers to a wide world perception. ...

One proponent of this form, Placide Tempels, argued in Bantu Philosophy that the metaphysical categories of the Bantu people are reflected in their linguistic categories. According to this view, African philosophy can be best understood as springing from the fundamental assumptions about reality reflected in the languages of Africa. Placide Frans Tempels (1906–1977) was a Belgian missionary who became famous for his book Bantu Philosophy. ... Bantu Philosophy (La philosophie bantu in French) is a book written by Placide Tempels which argues that the people of Sub-Saharan Africa (or Bantu people) have a distinctive philosophy, and attempts to describe the underpinnings of that philosophy. ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (light brown) vs. ...

An example of this sort of approach is the work of E. J. Alagoa of the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, who argues for the existence of an African philosophy of history stemming from traditional proverbs from the Niger Delta in his paper "An African Philosophy of History in the Oral Tradition". Algoa argues that in African philosophy, age is seen as an important factor in gaining wisdom and interpreting the past. In support of this view, he cites proverbs such as "More days, more wisdom", and "What an old man sees seated, a youth does not see standing". Truth is seen as eternal and unchanging ("Truth never rots"), but people are subject to error ("Even a four-legged horse stumbles and falls"). It is dangerous to judge by appearances ("A large eye does not mean keen vision"), but first-hand observation can be trusted ("He who sees does not err"). The past is not seen as fundamentally different from the present, but all history is contemporary history ("A storyteller does not tell of a different season"). The future remains beyond knowledge ("Even a bird with a long neck cannot see the future"). Nevertheless, it is said, "God will outlive eternity". History is seen as vitally important ("One ignorant of his origin is nonhuman"), and historians (known as "sons of the soil") are highly revered ("The son of the soil has the python's keen eyes"). Philosophy of History is an area of philosophy concerning the eventual significance, if any, of human history. ... The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil. ...

Another more controversial application of this approach is embodied in the concept of Negritude. Leopold Senghor, a proponent of negritude, argued that the distinctly African approach to reality is based on emotion rather than logic, works itself out in participation rather than analysis, and manifests itself through the arts rather than the sciences. Cheikh Anta Diop and Mubabinge Bilolo, on the other hand, while agreeing that African culture is unique, challenged the view of Africans as essentially emotional and artistic, pointing out that Egypt was an African culture whose achievements in science, mathematics, architecture, and philosophy provided a basis for Greek civilization. Négritude, a concept developed in the 1930s by a group that included future Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor and Francophone poet Aimé Césaire, is the belief that one should identify ones blackness without reference to ones homeland, native language, religion or spatial/geographical location. ... Léopold Sédar Senghor (October 9, 1906–December 20, 2001) was an African poet and political leader who served as the first president of Senegal (1960–1980). ... Book Cover The African origins of civilization Cheikh Anta Diop (29 December 1923–7 February 1986) was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and staunch defender of the world view known as Afrocentricity, which places emphasis on the human races African origins and on the study of pre-colonial African culture... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... This article is about building architecture. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...

Critics of this approach argue that the actual philosophical work in producing a coherent philosophical position is being done by the academic philosopher (such as Algoa), and that the sayings of the same culture can be selected from and organised in many different ways in order to produce very different, often contradictory systems of thought. One can imagine trying to develop an English theory of mind by collecting proverbs and idioms such as "I'm in two minds about that", "He's out of his mind with worry", "She has a mind like a sieve", etc.

Philosophical sagacity is a sort of individualist version of ethnophilosophy, in which one records the beliefs of certain special members of a community. The premise here is that, although most societies demand some degree of conformity of belief and behaviour from their members, a certain few of those members reach a particularly high level of knowledge and under­standing of their cultures' world-view; such people are sages. In some cases, the sage goes beyond mere knowledge and understanding to reflection and questioning — these become the targets of philosophical sagacity.

Critics of this approach note that not all reflection and questioning is philosophical; besides, if African philosophy were to be defined purely in terms of philosophic sagacity, then the thoughts of the sages couldn't be African philosophy, for they didn't record them from other sages. Also, on this view the only difference between non-African anthropology or ethnology and African philosophy seems to be the nationality of the researcher. Anthropology (from Greek: ἀνθρωπος, anthropos, human being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of humanity. ... Ethnology (from the Greek ethnos, meaning people) is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyses the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the racial or national divisions of humanity. ...

Critics argue further that the problem with both ethnophilosophy and philosophical sagacity is that there is surely an important distinction between philosophy and the history of ideas, although other philosophers consider the two topics to be remarkably similar.^{[citation needed]} No matter how interesting the beliefs of a people such as the Akan or the Yoruba may be to the philosopher, they remain beliefs, not philosophy. To call them philosophy is to use a secondary sense of that term, as in “my philosophy is live and let live”. Akan is an ethnic group from western Africa. ... The Yoruba (Yorùbá in Yoruba orthography) are a large ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in Africa; the majority of them speak the Yoruba language (èdèe Yorùbá; èdè = language). ...

Professional philosophy

Professional philosophy is the view that philosophy is a particular way of thinking, reflecting, and reasoning, that such a way is relatively new to (most of) Africa, and that African philosophy must grow in terms of the philosophical work carried out by Africans and applied to (perhaps not exclusively) African concerns. This view would be the most common answer of most Western philos­ophers (whether of continental or analytic persuasion) to the question ‘what is African philosophy?’

Critics of this view note the ethnocentricity within this statement. The question to them is "What is philosophy?" Those who hold the viewpoint of the Professional Philosopher would likely answer, "European, American and Asian philosophy alone shall be called philosophy". Professional Philosophers therefore must either provide more detail regarding their views or accept that their views are simply ethnocentric.

The professional philosopher would likely point out that, aside from academic journals, philosophy primarily consists of book-length treatises on philosophical topics written in an open, philosophical mindset by a uniquely gifted individual. Not just any work will suffice of course, the work must be brilliant and unique. However, there doesn't seem to be anything necessarily Euro-centric or ethnocentric about the production of such works. The historical lack of such works in sub-saharan Africa therefore says something about the culture and peoples of Africa.

Kawaida

Created by Maulana Karenga the philosophy of Kawaida is an ongoing synthesis of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world. One of its central tenets is that culture is the fundamental source of a people's identity, purpose and direction. Thus, Kawaida is, in fact, a continuous dialog with African culture, asking questions and seeking answers to central and enduring concerns of the African and human community. At the heart of this project is the continuing quest to define and become the best of what it means to be both African and human in the fullest sense. This involves an ongoing search for models of excellence and paradigms of possibilities in every area of human life, but especially in the seven core areas of culture: history; spirituality and ethics; social organization; political organization; economic organization; creative production (art, music, literature, dance, etc.) and ethos. It also involves creating a language and logic of liberation, one of opposition and affirmation, and a corresponding liberational practice to create a just and good society and pose an effective paradigm of mutually beneficial human relations and human possibility. ^[1] Dr. Ron Karenga Dr. Ron Karenga (Maulana Ron Karenga, Maulana Karenga, Ron Ndabezitha Everett-Karenga, Ron N. Everett) is an author and activist best known as the founder of the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, first celebrated in California, December 26, 1966 to January 1, 1967. ...

Nationalist–ideological philosophy

Nationalist–ideological philosophy might be seen as a special case of philosophic sagacity, in which not sages but ideologues are the subjects. Alternatively, we might see it as a case of profes­sional political philosophy. In either case, the same sort of problem arises: we have to retain a distinction between ideology and philosophy, between sets of ideas and a special way of reasoning.

Ethnophilosophers attempt to show that African philosophy is distinctive by treading heavily on the 'African' and almost losing the 'philosophy'. Their main rivals, the professional philosophers, adopt the view that philosophy is a particular way of thinking, reflecting, reasoning, that such a way is relatively new to (most of) Africa, and that African philosophy must grow in terms of the philosophical work carried out by Africans and applied to (perhaps not exclusively) African concerns. Thus they tread heavily on the 'philosophy', but risk losing the 'African'; this risk, however, is by no means unavoidable, and many African philosophers have successfully avoided it, including Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwame Gyekye, Kwasi Wiredu, Oshita O. Oshita, Lansana Keita, Peter Bodunrin, and Chukwudum B. Okolo. Kwame Anthony Appiah (1954-) is a philosopher whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. ... Kwame Gyekye is a Ghanaian philosopher, and an important figure in the development of modern African philosophy. ... Kwasi Wiredu (b. ...

(part of this article is based upon Peter J. King's introduction to African philosophy (see link below),used with permission) Peter J. King (born March 27, 1956) is a British poet and humanist philosopher. ...

See also

• African philosophers

Further reading

• Mubabinge Bilolo, Contribution à l’histoire de la reconnaissance de Philosophie en Afrique Noire Traditionnelle, (1978: Kinshasa, Facultés Catholiques de Kinshasa, Licence en Philosophie et Religions Africaines)
• Mubabinge Bilolo, Les cosmo-théologies philosophiques de l'Égypte Antique. Problématiques, Prémisses herméneutiques et problèmes majeurs. Academy of Afrian Thought, Sect. I, vol. 1,(1986: Kinshasa-Munich-Libreville, African University Studies)
• Peter O. Bodunrin Philosophy in Africa: Trends and Perspectives (1985: University of Ife Press)
• Kwame Gyekye An Essay of African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme (1995: Temple University Press) ISBN 1-56639-380-9
• Paulin J. Hountondji African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (1983: Bloomington, Indiana University Press)
• Samuel Oluoch Imbo An Introduction to African Philosophy (1998: Rowman & Littlefield) ISBN 0-8476-8841-0
• Bruce B. Janz "African Philosophy" PDF
• Safro Kwame Reading in African Philosophy: An Akan Collection (1995: University Press of America) ISBN 0-8191-9911-7
• Joseph I. Omoregbe “African philosophy: yesterday and today” (in Bodunrin; references to reprint in [E. C. Eze] [ed.] African Philosophy: An Anthology (1998: Oxford, Blackwell))
• H. Odera Oruka [ed.] Sage Philosophy [Volume 4 in Philosophy of History and Culture] (1990: E.J. Brill) ISBN 90-04-09283-8, ISSN 0922-6001
• Tsenay Serequeberhan [ed.] African Philosophy: The Essential Readings (1991: Paragon House) ISBN 1-55778-309-8
• Placide Tempels, La philosophie bantoue (Bantu Philosophy), Elisabethville, 1945, Full text in French here.
• Kwasi Wiredu Philosophy and an African (1980: Cambridge University Press)
• Kwasi Wiredu [ed.] A Companion to African Philosophy (2004: Blackwell)
• Kwasi Wiredu Toward Decolonizing African Philosophy And Religion In: African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998
• Olabiyi Babalola Yai, Guest Editor: African Studies Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 4 (1998): Religion and Philosophy in Africa

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Placide Frans Tempels (1906–1977) was a Belgian missionary who became famous for his book Bantu Philosophy. ... Bantu Philosophy (La philosophie bantu in French) is a book written by Placide Tempels which argues that the people of Sub-Saharan Africa (or Bantu people) have a distinctive philosophy, and attempts to describe the underpinnings of that philosophy. ... Kwasi Wiredu (b. ...

Wikiversity

• Wikiversity Research Project of African Philosophy

External links

• Samuel Oluoch Imbo's page
• African Philosophy Pages — a huge site maintained by Bruce Janz
• African Philosophy — maintained by Peter J. King
• African Philosophy page of African Studies Centre, Leiden
• Comparing Nigerians and Canadians: Insights from Social Survey Research, 1990-2005

References