African philosophy

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Not to be confused with Africana philosophy.
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African philosophy is philosophy produced by African people, philosophy which presents

African worldviews, or philosophy that uses distinct African philosophical methods.[1]
Although African philosophers may be found in the various academic fields of philosophy,
such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, much of the
modern African philosophy has been concerned with defining the ethnophilosophical
parameters of African philosophy and identifying what differentiates it from other
philosophical traditions.[1] One of the implicit assumptions of ethnophilosophy is that a
specific culture can have a philosophy that is not applicable and accessible to all peoples and
cultures in the world, however this concept is disputed by traditional philosophers.[2] Father of
African Philosophy, Prof. Uzodinma Nwala,prior to his employment to teach at UNN, there
was nothing called African Philosophy as course of study in any university. “All we were
taught as students were Western philosophy. Nothing like African philosophy existed
anywhere. In fact, many years after the introduction of the courses, there still remained
arguments among experts, whether there was really African Philosophy".He was awarded the
Aime Cesiare award in 2013 at the University of Abuja. African Philosophy can be formally
defined as a critical thinking by Africans on their experiences of reality. Nigerian born
Philosopher K.C. Anyanwu defined African philosophy as "that which concerns itself with
the way in which African people of the past and present make sense of their destiny and of
the world in which they live."[citation needed] In this regard, African philosophy is a critical
reflection on African leaderships in the administration of their duties towards their citizens;
the morally blameworthiness or praiseworthiness of it. It will also provide possible solutions
to the problems experienced in African governances.[citation needed]

As a rational critical inquiry on Africans and their worlds, it is consequently the task of
African philosophy and of African philosophers to make the uncoordinated coordinated, the
uncritical critical and the inarticulate articulate, particularly of the preliterate Africa.[citation
needed]

One of the most basic disagreements concerns what exactly the term ‘African’ qualifies: the
content of the philosophy and the distinctive methods employed, or the identities of the
philosophers.[1] On the former view, philosophy counts as African if it involves African
themes such as perceptions of time, personhood, space and other subjects, or uses methods
that are defined as distinctively African.[1] In the latter view, African philosophy is any
philosophy produced by Africans or by people of African descent, and others engaged in
critiques or analysis of their works.[1]

Nigerian philosopher Joseph I. Omoregbe broadly defines a philosopher as one who attempts
to understand the world's phenomena, the purpose of human existence, the nature of the
world, and the place of human beings in that world. This form of natural philosophy is
identifiable in Africa even before individual African philosophers can be distinguished in the
sources.[3]

Contents
 1 Pre-modern African philosophy
o 1.1 North Africa
 1.1.1 Christian
 1.1.2 Islamic
o 1.2 West Africa
o 1.3 Horn of Africa
o 1.4 Southern Africa
o 1.5 Central Africa
o 1.6 African Diaspora
 2 Modern African philosophy
o 2.1 Ethnophilosophy and philosophical sagacity
o 2.2 Professional philosophy
o 2.3 Nationalist and ideological philosophy
 3 African ethics
 4 Africana philosophy
 5 List of African philosophers
 6 See also
 7 Notes and references
 8 Further reading
 9 External links

Pre-modern African philosophy

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(January 2014)

Philosophy in Africa has a rich and varied history, dating at least as far back to the Ancient
Egyptian philosophy identified in pre-dynastic Egyptian thought and culture, and continuing
through the development of the major regional philosophical traditions of North Africa, West
Africa, Central Africa, and the Horn of Africa.

In the early and mid-twentieth century, anti-colonial movements had a tremendous effect on
the development of a distinct African political philosophy that had resonance on both the
continent and in the African diaspora. There was also notable engagement in the pre-colonial
and early post-colonial era with the Marxist and Communist philosophical traditions
developing throughout the twentieth century, resulting in the flourishing of a distinctive
African economic philosophical tradition. One well-known example of the economic
philosophical works emerging from this period was the African socialist philosophy of
Ujamaa propounded in Tanzania and other parts of Southeast Africa. These African political
and economic philosophical developments also had a notable impact on the anti-colonial
movements of many non-African peoples around the world.
North Africa

In North Africa, arguably central to the development of the Ancient Egyptian philosophical
tradition of Egypt and Sudan 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.

Ancient Egyptian philosophers also made important contributions to Hellenistic philosophy

and Christian philosophy. In the Hellenistic tradition, the influential philosophical school of
Neoplatonism was founded by the Egyptian philosopher Plotinus in the 3rd century CE.

Christian

Further information: Christian philosophy

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.

Islamic

Further information: Islamic philosophy

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 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.

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.

West Africa

The most prominent of West Africa's pre-modern philosophical traditions have been
identified as that of the Yoruba philosophical tradition and the distinctive worldview that
emerges from it over thousands of years of its development, as well as the cosmologies and
philosophies of the Akan, Dogon and Dahomey.
Historically the West African and North African philosophical traditions have had a
significant impact on Islamic philosophy as a whole as much of the Islamic philosophical
tradition was subject to the influence of scholars born or working in the African continent in
centres of learning such as Cairo in Egypt and Timbuktu in Mali. Many of these intellectuals
and scholars created a philosophical tradition in these cities.

Horn of Africa

In the Horn of Africa, there are a number of sources documenting the development of a
distinct Ethiopian philosophy from the first millennium onwards. Among the most notable
examples from this tradition emerge from the work of the 17th-century philosopher Zera
Yacob, and that of his disciple.

Southern Africa

In Southern Africa and Southeast Africa the development of a distinctive Bantu philosophy
addressing the nature of existence, the cosmos and humankind's relation to the world
following the Bantu migration has had the most significant impact on the philosophical
developments of Southeast Africa and Southern Africa, with the development of the
philosophy of Ubuntu as one notable example emerging from this worldview.

Central Africa

Many Central African philosophical traditions before the Bantu migration into southern
Central Africa have been identified as a uniting characteristic of many Nilotic and Sudanic
peoples, ultimately giving rise to the distinctive worldviews identified in the conceptions of
time, the creation of the world, human nature, and the proper relationship between mankind
and nature prevalent in Dinka mythology, Maasai mythology and similar traditions.

African Diaspora

Some pre-Modern African diasporic philosophical traditions have also been identified,
mostly produced by descendants of Africans in Europe and the Americas. One notable pre-
modern diasporic African philosopher was Anthony William Amo, who was taken as a slave
from Awukenu in what is now Ghana, and was brought up and educated in Europe where he
gained doctorates in medicine and philosophy, and subsequently became a professor of
philosophy at the universities of Halle Halle and Jena in Germany.

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.[2] 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, such as the work of literary figures such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o,
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.) In the
African diaspora, American philosopher Maulana Karenga has also been notable in
presenting varied definitions for understanding modern African philosophy, especially as it
relates to its earliest sources.

Ethnophilosophy and 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 worldview. As such, it is seen as an item of communal property
rather than an activity for the individual.

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.

Another example of this sort of approach is the work of E. J. Algoa 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"). However, these arguments must be taken with a grain of cultural
relativism, as the span of culture in Africa is incredibly vast, with patriarchies, matriarchies,
monotheists and traditional religionists among the population, and as such the attitudes of
groups of the Niger Delta cannot be construed to the whole of Africa.

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, arguing that
Egypt was an African culture whose achievements in science, mathematics, architecture, and
philosophy were pre-eminent. This philosophy may also be maligned as overly reductionist
due to the obvious scientific and scholarly triumphs of not only ancient Egypt, but also
Nubia, Meroe, as well as the great library of Timbuktu, the extensive trade networks and
kingdoms of North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, the Horn of Africa and Great
Zimbabwe and the other major empires of Southern, Southeast and Central Africa.
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.

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' worldviews; 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 could not be African philosophy, for they did not 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.

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.[4] The argument
is that 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, such as in "my philosophy is live and let live."

Professional philosophy

Professional philosophy is usually identified as that produced by African philosophers trained

in the Western philosophical tradition, that embraces a universal view of the methods and
concerns of philosophy.[2] Those philosophers identified in this category often explicitly
reject the assumptions of ethnophilosophy and adopt a universalist worldview of philosophy
that requires all philosophy to be accessible and applicable to all peoples and cultures in the
world[2] This is even if the specific philosophical questions prioritized by individual national
or regional philosophies may differ.[2] Some African philosophers classified in this category
are Paulin Hountondji, Peter Bodunrin, Kwasi Wiredu, Tsenay Serequeberhan, Marcien
Towa and Lansana Keita.[2]

Nationalist and ideological philosophy

Nationalist–ideological philosophy might be considered a special case of philosophic

sagacity, in which not sages but ideologues are the subjects. Alternatively, it has been
considered as a subcategory of professional political philosophy. In either case, the same sort
of problem arises with retaining a distinction between ideology and philosophy, and also
between sets of ideas and a special way of reasoning.

African ethics
Although Africa is extremely diverse, there appear to be some shared moral ideas across
many ethnic groups.[5] In a number of African cultures, ethics is centered on a person's
character, and saying "he has no morals" translates as something like "he has no character".[5]
A person's character reflects the accumulation of her deeds and her habits of conduct; hence,
it can be changed over a person's life.[5] In some African cultures, "personhood" refers to an
adult human who exhibits moral virtues, and one who behaves badly is not considered a
person, even if he is considered a human.[5]

While many traditional African societies are highly religious, their religions are not revealed,
and hence, ethics does not center around divine commands.[5] Instead, ethics is humanistic
and utilitarian: it focuses on improving social functioning and human flourishing.[5] On the
other hand, social welfare is not a mere aggregate of individual welfare; rather, there is a
collective "social good" embodying values that everyone wants, like peace and stability.[5] In
general, African ethics is social or collectivistic rather than individualistic.[5] Cooperation and
altruism are considered crucial.[5] African ethics places more weight on duties of prosocial
behaviour than on rights per se, in contrast to most of Western ethics.[5]

Africana philosophy
Main article: Africana philosophy

Africana philosophy is the work of philosophers of African descent and others whose work
deals with the subject matter of the African diaspora.[citation needed]

Africana philosophy includes the philosophical ideas, arguments and theories of particular
concern to people of African descent. Some of the topics explored by Africana philosophy
include: pre-Socratic African philosophy and modern day debates discussing the early history
of Western philosophy, post-colonial writing in Africa and the Americas, black resistance to
oppression, black existentialism in the United States, and the meaning of "blackness" in the
modern world.

Notes and references

1.

 Bruce B. Janz, Philosophy in an African Place (2009), pp. 74-79, Plymouth, UK:
Lexington Books, books.google.com/books?isbn=0739136682
  Samuel Oluoch Imbo, An Introduction to African Philosophy (1998), pp. 38-39,
books.google.com/books?isbn=0847688410
  Maurice Muhatia Makumba, An Introduction to African Philosophy: Past and Present
(2007), p. 25, books.google.com/books?isbn=9966082964
  "OVERVIEW AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY", p. 172, One Hundred Philosophers, Peter
J. King, Zebra, 2006

1.  Gyekye, Kwame (9 Sep 2010). "African Ethics". The Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Fall 2011 Edition. Retrieved 7 October 2014.

Further reading
 Peter O. Bodunrin Philosophy in Africa: Trends and Perspectives (1985: University
of Ife Press)
 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
 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
 Prof Nwala "Igbo Philosophy" , ISBN 978-245-453-2
 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
 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
African 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)
 Babajide Dasaolu/Demilade Oyelakun The concept of evil in Yoruba and Igbo
thoughts: Some Comparisons in: Philosophia: E-Journal of Philosophy and Culture –
10/2015.
 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
 K.C. Anyanwu (and E.A. Ruch) African Philosophy: An Introduction (1981: Catholic
Book Agency)
 Janheinz Jahn Muntu : African culture and the Western world (1990: Grove
Weidenfeld) ISBN 0802132081
 Alexis Kagame La philosophie bantu-rwandaise de l'être (1966 Johnson Reprint)