The question of the “African” in African philosophy
GE Subjects
Cultural ethicsMethods of ethics
Philosophical ethics
Community ethics
Ethnicity and ethics
Full record
Show full item recordAbstract
"The African question in African philosophy is enigmatic because of the intentional attempt to rationalize Africans out of humanity. Eurocentric scholars and missionaries mutilated history and concocted a false image of Africans which they presented as the substantive African identity (MUDIMBE 1988); an identity that presents the African as pre-logical, barbaric and as such incapable of philosophic thoughts. This identity was foisted and consolidated on humanity including Africans, and intellectually accepted as the true African identity for over four centuries. Consequently, while the racist Eurocentric description of the African makes it impossible for one to suggest that there can be anything like African philosophy, the enslavement, balkanization, colonization and the introduction of a Western-oriented formal education into Africa further dehumanized, traumatized and alienated Africans from their culture. This experiment is what precipitated the identity problem in Africa. Hence, the issue of a criterion for the Africanness of a philosophy is a contentious one because Africans were by their intellectual orientation trained to believe that there is nothing as such. This training and orientation also makes it difficult for those who think that there is a distinct African mode of thinking to be able to present it in a clear and unambiguous manner. This is because such a criterion will restrict the scope of African philosophy to a given epoch. In this sense, African philosophy will be concerned with only a part of the African historical experience. Given the comprehensive nature of philosophy, we are inclined to the persuasion that a criterion for the Africanness of a philosophy ought to be derived from the totality of the African experience"Date
2014Type
ArticleCopyright/License
Creative Commons Copyright (CC 2.5)Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The Integral Nature of African Cultural & Religious Values as Ethical ValuesThe fundamental thrust of this paper is the ambitious claim which postulates that there is an African Business Ethics, the challenge of which is to rediscover Traditional African Values and apply them to modern Africa, thus, building a sound foundation for doing ‘Business’ in an ‘Ethical’ manner and making them known to the rest of the business community. The paper takes as its evaluative focus African Business Values and Ethics. These are pre- eminent virtues still known and operative in various communities all over the continent. Some of the points that will be touched upon are the question of African identity; it’s past and future, as well as aspects of African philosophy relating to religion, culture and ethics. The paper tries to show how such issues fit into and/or relate to many modern categories of Western philosophical paradigms.
-
Towards an Indigenous African Bioethics"In response to a perceived moral crisis in South Africa and Africa, I argue that there is a need to seek ways to restore the dignity of the people of Africa, whose values, beliefs and cultures were denigrated in the past. One way is for African bioethicists to begin to apply indigenous African philosophy, thought and values to ethical issues. This project is important (i) to restore dignity; (ii) because a bioethics grounded in indigenous ideas is more likely to be accepted by Africans; and (iii) because such ideas can enrich bioethical discourse. Highlighting the central importance of relationality, community and harmonious relationships in African thought, I conclude that we should adopt a revised version of principlism that incorporates these salient African moral conceptions."
