Africa Countries - The Difficulty of Rationality in the Heritage

of African Philosophy

The discourse on dilemma of rationality in African Philosophy has been related traditionally
with two related happenings: Western discourse in Africa and the African response to it . The
Western discourse experienced occur in form of this sort of infamous proclamations and
statements as "motive is Greek", "emotion is African", which meant to them that Africans are
not rational . Still to some, it additional intended that African beliefs are neither rational nor
irrational since the types of rationality just do not use to them . For a different established like
the postmodernists, the strategy of rationality does not utilize to Africa, due to the fact the
concept is a contested 1 that presupposes a language match with its finish regulations that
do not apply across languages and cultures African was supposedly 1 of these languages
and cultures. This in accordance to Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka can be explained as
hyperbolic weapons that ended up figured in the heat of contestation.

The African response has come in diverse kinds and proportions, with the African
nationalists, postcolonial African leaders, pan-Africanists, students, writers and traditionalist
in the fore entrance. The response has sought to reafricanize the 'natives', to strip them of
the alienations of Western modernity that had as it ended up, designed them a folks with no
identification and hope, and to drive them to return to the 'authentic' and pristine values of a
pre-colonial previous. They have sought to disprove what Paul Tiyambe phone calls the
Western extreme rationality that has portrayed their graphic as that of rational excellence,
and to free of charge Africans from its materialism, moral decadence and lifelessness
alienation from nature and propensity for destructiveness. This has fashioned the basis for
the rationality discussion.

The rationality dilemma is as a result the dilemma of how to ascertain the area and standing
of Africa and African understanding in the fantastic discussion on the concept of purpose. It is
the problem of critically analyzing the conceptual difficulties, implied in the distinction
amongst the civilized and the uncivilized, the sensible and the pre-reasonable or mystical. It
suffices to say that Africa nowadays has been tremendously identified by this difference.

Nevertheless, the author believes that the Africans' responses and demonstrations of
rationality has not truly debunked or disproved completely this kind of classification of
Africans as prelogical, alternatively, even more justified the classification and claims. The
major concentrate of this paper would be to search for different ways, if any that Africa can in
this twenty initially century demonstrate rationality.

The Emergence of a Dominant Rationality
The rationality debate or difficulty is comprehended as the theoretical and realistic
proportions depicting the individual's purpose and impression in the shaping of one's id and
future, and handle of heritage and other cultural values. It is the estimation of the basis and
deserves of cultural norms and the clarification of the supremacy of contending photos of
person. The discussion progressed as promises and counter-claims, justifications and
alienations, handed among the two camps: western and non-western . To a large extent, the
debate about African philosophy can be summarized as a important contribution to the
discussion and definition of reason or what Hegel identified as the Reason. Certainly, it is
normally referred to as the "rationality debate".

Africa History