African Philosophy: Methodology

This paper offers an African perspective on moral status grounded on an understanding of personhood. These concepts are key to understanding the differences in emphasis and the values at play when global ethical issues are analysed within the African context. Drawing from African philosophical reflections on the descriptive and normative concepts of personhood, I propose a dual notion of subject and object moral status. I explain how object moral status, duties owed to persons, is differently grounded with respect to subject (...) moral status, which refers to communally directed agency. This distinction influences the African way of conceptualising and addressing ethical issues, where, without ignoring rights of persons, moral consideration about the agency of right bearers is often factored into ethical deliberation. As a practical example, I look at the debate surrounding legal access to safe abortion on the African continent. I suggest a Gadamerian approach to diffuse the tensions that sometimes arise between universalist advocates of rights and cultural decolonisationists. (shrink)

How should African philosophy be done in African Language? In response to this question, I engage Ngugi and Wiredu in their response to this language question in African philosophy. My aim is to appraise and extend their arguments by answering the question of “how” doing African philosophy in African language can be practically achieved. In this regard, I make a case for the creation of an indigenous cultural language that serves as a means of articulating, communicating and disseminating African philosophical (...) ideas. I suggest the need for African scholars to develop a language culture under the auspices of African Language Network that will enable them to do philosophy and present it in an African language. I show that African philosophy done in a foreign or colonial language is like dressing Africa in a borrowed rope, and that as long as African scholars continue to overlook this, the lofty goal of restoring the lost glory of Africa, the gains and further progress in African philosophy, rather than being consolidated, may become greatly hampered. Recognizing the diversity of languages in African culture, I present Afrolingualism as the key to achieving this end. Afrolingualism is a conscientious effort by African scholars to contrive a unanimously accepted indigenous language of discourse in philosophy. (shrink)

Let me straight from the beginning confess one thing: I am not happy with the phrase “African Philosophy” used to describe a subject-matter, a specific discipline in the university curriculum. Why? Because it seems to particularize a kind of intellectual production that takes place in Africa and to deny its universal validity. It apparently means, to use the words by Chimakonam himself, “a border-sensitive, culture-bound exclusive system that holds only in Africa and is not universally applicable » Philosophical perceptions of (...) logic and order. IGI Global, Hershey, pp 96–121, 2018). This particularization, however, has its own story. I wish first in this paper to recall the earliest stage of this story briefly and then discuss alternative ways to remain authentically African while doing philosophy in Africa today. (shrink)

The Southern Journal of Philosophy, Volume 60, Issue 2, Page 154-172, June 2022.

The intellectual climate of post-colonial Africa picked up a trail of interesting debates characterized by the quest for identity. In the second half of the twentieth century, for instance, arguments for and against the ‘Africanity’ of the philosophical culture of ancient Egypt occupied a considerable portion of the scholarly landscape of African philosophy. An average researcher into the literature produced by African philosophers in this period would wonder why the inclusion or exclusion of ancient Egyptian intellectual culture as ‘African’ would (...) be a contested issue, given that the word ‘Africa’ is taken to mean a continent in the same way Europe, Asia, and America is understood. Conversely, there are few contenders regarding the criteria of classifying Greek philosophy, German philosophy or even British philosophy as ‘European’. Nowadays, paradigmatic shifts of contemporary schools and systems of African philosophy turn to other scientific questions such as sources, subject matter, formal objects, approaches and methodology of African philosophy. In this chapter, I argue that this shift away from questions of identity to systematic issues in African philosophy is in the right direction given that these contemporary shifts offer a much more robust representation of the key questions and specific philosophical approaches which can be legitimately described as African. (shrink)

Since the 1960s, the focus of African Philosophy has predominantly been Afrocentric, and with an emphasis on racial issues, as a reaction to Eurocentrism. To hold an open intercultural dialogue on African Philosophy with African and other philosophers is, therefore, not-self-evident. This article will argue that intercultural dialogues or (in case of more than two participants) ‘polylogues’ can and should become a more central point of focus in the academic study of African Philosophy. The author will center on how three (...) renowned African(a) philosophers with a focus on the Akan people of Ghana have initiated intercultural dialogues for the enhancement of human wellbeing. These are Kwasi Wiredu, Kwame Gyekye and Kwame Anthony Appiah. What these philosophers have in common is their belief that all human beings are interdependent and that an emphatic, ethic orientation to one another and mutual communication helps to live together in social harmony, which enhances the wellbeing of mankind. Discussing these African philosophers’ insights into depth will pave the way for other scholars to explore the intercultural dialogue as a weak or non-centric and non-racial focused philosophical method and to enhance understanding of its relation to African(a) Philosophy and a Global Ethics of care. Keywords: Global Ethics, African(a) Philosophy, Akan, intercultural philosophical dialogue, human wellbeing. (shrink)

Philosophy from the ancient period to the contemporary period is regarded as the basis for rationality in all human societies. It is thus a veritable framework for showcasing, transmitting and developing the constitutive elements necessary for growth and development. The African philosopher, very steep in western philosophical orientation, is more often than not engaged with the interrogation of reality from the western mindset and saddled with the problem of accommodating the cultural elements in his/her own culture for development, especially in (...) the areas that constitute indigenous knowledge. The problem this chapter sets out to address is that of how the African philosopher with the western philosophical mindset can have an adequate gaze into African realities. We submit that the African philosopher must live with the reality that forms of knowledge within the indigenous African culture are as important as western epistemological paradigms. We adopt the critical and reconstructive methods of philosophy to examine the orientations in African philosophy concerning the cultural framework of philosophy and recommend that the African philosopher must theorize and promote indigenous knowledge because it offers a lot in the quest for the African development and that indigenous knowledge must not be seen as a burden but a blessing towards creating a complementary paradigm to the western ‘scientific’ framework. The imperative of indigenous knowledge system in African development cannot be over-emphasized in the contemporary period. (shrink)

As African philosophy continues to make progress, the question of language has emerged as an important issue. Put succinctly; should African philosophy be done through foreign languages or indigenous African languages? This has become a problem which some members of the Particularist and Universalist schools in African philosophy have being wrestling with. While the Particularists favour the view, that African philosophy should be done using an indigenous African language, the Universalists argue that a more universally spoken language should be the (...) vehicle for doing African philosophy. In this chapter, I seek to reconcile these two positions through what I call ‘Linguistic complementarity’. Here, I argue that ‘Linguistic complementarity’ provides for the usefulness of both African and foreign languages in doing African philosophy, especially in the post-colonial time. My hunch is that due to the existence of numerous language groups in Africa, it would be difficult if not impossible to identify one indigenous language that would be acceptable to all, or that is even widely spoken across the continent. As a result, any of the colonial languages, which is widely spoken remains a better alternative if part of the goal is to achieve a cross-cultural conversation. In this way, linguistic complementarity entails the complementarity of African and foreign languages where indigenous African languages can be used in formulating concepts, and the foreign languages can be used in communicating them. I will show examples of this approach in the works of Innocent Asouzu and Jonathan Chimakonam. (shrink)

The debate about the existence of African Philosophy is gradually fading into history as it is being overtaken by the question of the relevance of philosophy to the social, economic and political malaise bedeviling the African States. Currently, the unmasking of the masquerades of cultural imposition from the West is aggressively taking the center stage. In this new wave of recuperative consciousness, practitioners and researchers of academic philosophy in Africa should be propagating and orchestrating the sustained teaching of African virtue (...) ethics and character training principles in the primary and secondary schools and even beyond. This is with a view to bringing about the re-awakening of African cultural values in the formative years of the youths for constructive social engagements. The way to achieve this objective is to exhume the cultural ethical values by which pristine African societies maintained moral equilibrium, social harmony, and public trust in pre-colonial times and make these part of the school curriculum. There is no gainsaying the fact that a causal link exists between the moral bankruptcies in modern African societies infused by colonial cultural imposition and the lack of well developed, integrated and sustained character training in schools. “Zu dar sachen!” “Back to the things themselves!” is a phenomenological maxim. When a people are confused and find themselves in social, economic, political quagmire and moral debacle, the conventional wisdom is to return to their original lifeways to recapture their historical essence. Thus, as political leaders battle the scourge of official corruption which has assumed epidemic proportions in several African states, taking virtue philosophy to the schools has become a compelling imperative in the emerging African world order. (shrink)

"In this highly original book, Ada Agada responds to the question of how a philosophy can be African and at the same time universally relevant by constructing an original philosophical system that is at once African and universal. Drawing on African forms of thought and conceptual schemes like ethnophilosophy, ubuntu, sage philosophy, négritude, ibuanyidanda philosophy, and ezumezu logic, the author introduces new concepts and conceptual schemes like mood and proto-panpsychism into philosophical vocabulary and weaves them into a coherent and original (...) system that promises to significantly impact contemporary African philosophy. Arguing for intercultural and comparative philosophy as a desirable mode of philosophising in a continually globalising and interconnected world, the book demonstrates the universal applicability of consolationism. This book will be of interest to scholars in the fields of African Studies, intercultural philosophy, philosophy of mind, and existentialism"--. (shrink)

Social Media Communication has effectively infiltrated all kinds of social groupings, be it at family, community or corporate level. Incidentally, almost everyone who owns a smartphone, laptop, iPad or other related gadgets belongs to one, if not several, social media communication groups through different social media handles such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp Messenger. It is evident that social media groups have come to fill in the gap that has been created by distance between family and friends when members (...) separate or are not together for a while. In this regard, social media group communication has kept family members, friends and workmates in constant and consistent interaction regardless of the distance between them. Regrettably, social media group communication has come with integrity challenges. The African cultural values imbedded in the family court among the Ndau people in particular have been severely affected. In this chapter, an interrogation of the ethics of social media group communication from an African auto-ethnographic viewpoint is proffered. The chapter argues that, while social media group communication has become trendy in the era of the global village, it has also shattered the essential and valuable African traditional family court system. (shrink)

This paper aims to discuss possibilities of decolonization of logics of knowledge based on the proposal of the Yoruba sociologist and epistemologist Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, seeking to position her approach to osunism, the Ìyá institution and the concept of Matripotency, as possibilities of thinking ways to work about African philosophies that do not result in a reproduction of a Westocentric logic in the study and teaching of these philosophies. Based on this goal, the work will define what it understands as logics (...) of knowledge, and then discuss how the Yoruba author understands what decolonizing means. Then we will present how, based on Oyěwùmí's proposal of osunism, it’s possible to advocate an osunist thought and think of the categories of Ìyáand Matripotency as acquiring meaning through this way of thinking. This text is an invitation to think about non-excluding possibilities for reflection so that we do not erase African logics of knowledge, even when we are willing, even if willingly, to think about African philosophies. (shrink)

As a consequence of his attack on the verification criterion which was employed by the Vienna Circle, Popper proposed an alternative through his idea of falsificationism. Popper did not only see falsificationism as an improved demarcation criterion, he was also convinced that falsificationism attests to the fallible nature of all knowledge systems. Falsificationism embeds Popper’s demarcation of science from pseudo-science. In this study, I draw parallels between falsificationism and traditional Yorùbá epistemology. I disinter the inner kernel of Yorùbá indigenous thought (...) system, which frowns at knowledge demarcation, and yet employs fallibilism. I therefore submit that Yorùbá indigenous knowledge system has an outlook that acknowledges the main thesis of both verificationism and falsificationism. This position therefore validates the Yorùbá meta-epistemic domain of complementarity against the demarcation criterion that deems knowledge as scientific and others non-genuine. (shrink)

This paper examines the legitimacy of African knowledge system, in the light of Karl Popper’s Critical Rationalism, with a view to assessing whether or not African knowledge system is capable of legitimate science. Popper defended an attitude of Critical Rationalism as a mark of the natural sciences and formulated a suitable characterization of the empirical sciences. However, in African epistemic system, the dichotomy between science and non-science collide. The paper demonstrates that the current state of African knowledge system delineates it (...) as yet non-science and that African epistemic system, though not yet science in the strict sense, is only capable of legitimate science, if African scientists could adopt the critical attitude proper to science and apply Popper’s falsifiability method of testing of ideas. This paper concludes that Popper’s Critical Rationalism can provide credible ground for development of African epistemic worldview. This paper adopts hermeneutical, expository and textual analytical methods. (shrink)

In this paper, I identify two major philosophical crises confronting medicine as a global phenomenon. The first crisis is the epistemological crisis of adopting an epistemic attitude, adequate for improving medical knowledge and practice. The second is the ethical crisis, also known as the “quality-of-care crisis,” arising from the traditional patient-physician dyad. I acknowledge the different proposals put forward in the quest for solutions to these crises. However, I observe that most of these proposals remain inadequate given their over-reliance on (...) the Western biomedical tradition and the medical hegemony that underpins the proposals themselves. Contrary to the approach employed in these proposals, I propose medical pluralism as a viable platform for resolving the philosophic crises in medicine, by critically engaging non-Western medical traditions and thought systems. Ultimately, I make a push for the deliberate inauguration of an African philosophy of medicine and bioethics and other context-specific or indigenous philosophies of medicine and bioethics that will ensure continuous investigations into NMTs and their contribution to global medical issues. (shrink)

In this paper, I open an inquiry that provides a catalyst for the inauguration of African Philosophy of Medicine and Bioethics (APMB) as a full-fledged academic pursuit. I situate this inquiry within the quest of early professional African philosophers for a stirring of the course of contemporary African philosophy along the path of critically retrieving, clarifying, and articulating aspects of traditional African culture and practices in the light of social pluralism and modernization. The case I make for the establishment of (...) this discipline and my effort to delineate its nature, scope, and method hinge on three important realities: (i) The existence of African Traditional Medicine (ATM); (ii) the existence of philosophical puzzles in ATM that require conceptual, metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, and socio-political analyses; and (iii) the need to carry out this analysis in the context of the twenty-first-century reality of medical pluralism and globalization. Solidifying my effort to map out the landscape of this new enterprise, in the concluding part of this paper, I make recommendations on the direction the discipline is to take if it must fulfil its goal of providing a framework for the improvement of medical knowledge and practice in contemporary Africa. (shrink)

With its envisioned benefits of increased productivity, enhanced decision making with digital-based tools, qualitative and efficient processes, improved life expectancy rate, etc., the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a desideratum for contemporary society. The need to prioritize skills and knowledge needed for the participation of Africa in the 4IR thus becomes imperative. This paper argues for indigenous knowledge systems as a possible approach to enhance African participation in the 4IR. Consequently, the paper examines the methodical perspectives that would be appropriate for (...) framing African Indigenous Knowledge Systems as a tool for advancing science and technology. It argues for the process form of ideating IKS against the content forms implicit in the various views on IKS. It is concluded that the process form of ideating IKS – which essentially focuses on the critical analysis of the systematic formations and development of IKS – unearths the epistemological basis for scientific postulations and technological advancement in Africa. (shrink)

In this edited collection contributors examine key themes, sources and methods in contemporary African Philosophy, building on a wide-ranging understanding of what constitutes African philosophy, and drawing from a variety of both oral and written texts of different genres. Part one of the volume examines how African philosophy has reacted to burning issues, ranging from contemporary ethical questions on how to integrate technological advancements into human life; to one of philosophy's prime endeavours, which is establishing the conditions of knowledge; to (...) eternal ontological and existential questions on the nature of being, time, memory and death. Part two reflects on the definition of philosophy from an African vantage point and African philosophy's thrust to create its own canon, archive and resources to study African concepts, artefacts, practices and texts from the perspective of intellectual history. The volume aims to make a contribution to the academic debate on African philosophy and philosophy more broadly, challenging orthodox definitions and genres, in favour of a broadening of the discipline's self-understanding and locales. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of African philosophy and comparative philosophy. (shrink)

Universally, the idea of needs arises from the limited nature of man. Arising from this limitation, the desires involved in being human are such that man is trapped in a world of needs, which are biological, psychological, social, political, economic and so on. But the understanding that defines and directs these needs depends on the context and culture where the human being functions. This chapter sets out to articulate the key issues that define the idea of needs in African thought. (...) To do this, it applies the instance of the idea of needs in Igbo thought as an illustration of meaning assigned to needs and the understanding that informs reactions to needs in African thought. It translates needs into three components, namely Required necessity, Required necessity that could be provided through an agent and Required necessity that should be provided by an agent. It then maps out Igbo proverbs on Lack, Care and Duty, and applies them to articulate the idea of needs in African thought. It will also articulate the social and political imperatives implied by this understanding. (shrink)

This anthology is an important contribution to the interdisciplinary debate on poverty measurement and alleviation. Absolute and relative poverty—both within and across state boundaries—are standardly measured and evaluated in monetary terms. However, poverty researchers have highlighted the shortfalls of one-dimensional monetary metrics. A new consensus is emerging that effectively addressing poverty requires a nuanced understanding of poverty as a relational phenomenon involving deprivations in multiple dimensions, including health, standard of living, education and political participation. This volume advances the debate on (...) poverty by providing a forum for philosophers and empirical researchers. It combines philosophically sound analysis and genuinely global research on poverty's social embeddedness. Next to an introduction to this interdisciplinary field—which links Practical Philosophy, Development Economics, Political Science, and Sociology—it contains articles by leading international experts and early career scholars. The contributors analyse the concept of poverty, detail its multiple dimensions, reveal epistemic injustices in poverty research, and reflect on the challenges of poverty-related social activism. The unifying theme connecting this volume's contributions is that poverty must be understood as a multidimensional and socially relational phenomenon, and that this insight can enhance our efforts to measure and alleviate poverty. (shrink)

Franziska Dübgen and Stefan Skupien have written a much needed overview of Paulin Hountondji’s work. While Hountondji is quite well known for his critique of ethnophilosophy, his later intellectual work on scientific dependency and his political writings are not as well known to non-specialist Anglophone readers. This partially stems from the fact that while his later work on scientific dependency has been translated into English, it has been published in the form of short articles or through transcribed interviews, which makes (...) it difficult for a reader to situate it in relation to Hountondji’s work on ethnophilosophy. Moreover, the Anglophone reception of Hountondji’s explicit political writings has been hindered by the fact that many of them have not been translated into English, e.g. his 1973 book Libertés: Contribution à la Révolution Dahoméenne, which was written as a prescription of what needs to be done by the military regime in order to end neo-colonial dependency in Benin in the aftermath of the military coup led by Mathieu Kérékou in 1972, has still not been translated into English. Dübgen and Skupien have written a book that will contribute to remedying this neglect by contextualizing Hountondji’s work on scientific dependency and his political writings in relation to his better known writings on ethnophilosophy. (shrink)

In this short piece, I argue that Chimakonam’s Ezumezu logic bears methodological significance for African scholarship as a whole. If method rests on logic, and method accounts for the distinction of one knowledge output from another, then the formulation of a system of logic which can creditably be described as African, even if simply in cultural inspiration, would provide for methodological liberation of African scholarship trapped in western knowledge hegemony since colonial times. First, I discuss in simple terms the theory (...) of Ezumezu logic before showing its methodological significance. Keywords: Ezumezu, Logic, Chimakonam, African philosophy, Method. (shrink)

“Constructive-Engagement” is a meta-philosophical and meta-methodological “strategy” suggested by Chinese and comparative philosophy scholar Bo Mou for analyzing and enriching philosophical exchange. In this paper, I will use this strategy towards an end, on a scale, and with a topic not attempted before. I will use it as a “template” for redesigning a poorly developing area of cross-cultural comparison I call Sino-African reflective studies. My goal in this work-in-progress is to design a plan for reconstituting SARS as Sino-African philosophy, an (...) inclusive yet coherent field of research and innovation unified through organizing principles. I will design the overhaul of SARS in three stages. First, by surveying SARS for its basic features including its structural flaws. Second, by remapping SARS in line with “renovation” principles drawn from its literature. Third, by blueprinting SARS in line with “construction” principles theorized from the constructive-engagement strategy. (shrink)

This book takes stock of the strides made to date in African philosophy. Authors focus on four important aspects of African philosophy: the history, methodological debates, substantive issues in the field, and direction for the future. By collating this anthology, Edwin E. Etieyibo excavates both current and primordial knowledge in African philosophy, enhancing the development of this growing field.

Reprint of an article that initially appeared in the South African Journal of Philosophy (2016).

The essays in _The Philosophy of Spirituality_ address spirituality as a subject of philosophical interest independent of religion and respecting diverse spiritual traditions: African, atheist, Indigenous, Indian, Stoic, and Sufic perspectives, as well as Western analytic and continental views.

Left Universalism, Africacentric Essays presents a defense of universalism as the foundation of moral and political arguments and commitments. Consisting of five intertwined essays, the book claims that centering such arguments and commitments on a particular place, in this instance the African world, is entirely compatible with that foundational universalism. Ato Sekyi-Otu thus proposes a less conventional mode of Africacentrism, one that rejects the usual hostility to universalism as an imperialist Eurocentric hoax. Sekyi-Otu argues that universalism is an inescapable presupposition (...) of ethical judgment in general and critique in particular, and that it is especially indispensable for radical criticism of conditions of existence in postcolonial society and for vindicating visions of social regeneration. The constituent chapters of the book are exhibits of that argument and question some fashionable conceptual oppositions and value apartheids. (shrink)

In this chapter, Amato explores the concept of “vernacular rationality” introduced by Emmanuel Chukwude Eze in his On Reason: Rationality in a World of Cultural Conflict and Racism. Amato interrogates the different ways this idea can be unfolded, expanded, and developed in the spirit if not the letter of Eze’s employment in relation to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Philosophical Hermeneutics—in particular, its conception of the role tradition plays in the pursuit of understanding and the idea of hermeneutics as practical philosophy. A more (...) hermeneutical conception of vernacular rationality would have the benefit of embracing the linguisticality of our circumstance, and reorienting our rationality toward one another in conversation and dialogue. From the standpoint of Philosophical Hermeneutics this requires us to engage in a critical-constitutive relation toward our tradition(s), emphasizing the work of listening within and between tradition(s), and broadening the circle of listening so as to strengthen the practical connections that allow conversation and dialogue to overcome the irrational and inhumane. (shrink)

This article is a critical philosophical discussion of Lewis Gordon's An Introduction to Africana Philosophy. Gordon in his text does not portray Africana philosophy as an abstract universalism, philosophy as the “view from nowhere” or philosophy as the “god's eye view” on reality. He also refrains from depicting Africana philosophy as a documentary description of Africana identity, thereby indicating a refusal on his part to reduce Africana philosophy to identity politics, to mere psycho-existential babble. Gordon critically engages with race in (...) his text, but his involvement with this concept does not excessively dominate the text. This article critically explores Africana philosophy's involvement with postmodernism, as well as work through Gordon's notions of disciplinary decadence and the teleological suspension of philosophy. The basic analytical thrust endorses Gordon's efforts to represent Africana philosophy as, among other things, an existential phenomenological account of the being-in-the-world of Africana people. This approach represents Africana philosophy as an anti-Cartesian philosophy, precisely because it does not emanate from a theoretically disembodied consciousness nor from an epistemic knowing subject in search of the transcendental foundations of knowledge. (shrink)

A review of [Existence and Consolation: Reinventing Ontology, Gnosis and Values in African Philosophy]. Author: Ada Agada Editor: Jonathan O. Chimakonam Publisher: Paragon House and 3rd Logic Option Number of Pages: 368 Reviewer: Joseph N. AGBO Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.

A review of [Existence and Consolation: Reinventing Ontology, Gnosis and Values in African Philosophy]. Author: Ada Agada Editor: Jonathan O. Chimakonam Publisher: Paragon House and 3rd Logic Option Number of Pages: 368 Reviewer: Joseph N. AGBO Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.

In this paper, I tried to show how Western attitude to reality can be traced to the divisive exclusivist type of mind-set behind Aristotle’s conception of the world. I gesture toward some of the severest consequences of approaching the world with such a mind-set, and how such has complicated matters in some of the major debates in African philosophy. By recourse to ibuanyidanda or complementary philosophy, the author explores ways of addressing some of the challenges approaches of this kind present (...) in view of resolving issues that have relevance for authentic existence. Keywords : Aristotle, ibuanyidanda, complementary ontology, Tempelsian Damage, ihe mkpuchi anya, missing link of reality. (shrink)

Ethnophilosophy, although glorified by some African philosophers, remains a problem in our undertakings in African philosophy. In its infancy, the problem revolved around the call for a total decolonization of African thought and philosophy, which eventually led to the proliferation of a vast array of mostly descriptive literature about the cultural views and practices of the African, sold to us as not only philosophy but genuine African philosophy. In more recent times, due to the growing development of African philosophy, this (...) drive towards description is gradually waning and from its dying flames, a new and more subtle problem has arisen. This problem lays in the call by most African philosophers, to make philosophy done in Africa to be more African in nature, the methodology and/or logic of African philosophy becomes a narrow discourse which is based on the dogma of descriptive story telling of ethnophilosophy. This is the problem which this essay seeks to address. Thus I shall in this essay, expose the myth of ethnophilosophy and thereafter suggest that African philosophy builds its foundation on criticality rather than ethnophilosophy. As an addendum to this, it is also suggested here that the narrow nature of the false descriptive methodology of mainstream African philosophy be at the very least, de-emphasised. I shall employ conversationalism as the method of my inquiry. Keywords : Ethnophilosophy, myth, African philosophy, conversationalism, conversational school. (shrink)

Calls to decolonise the university and revise what we research and teach is a challenge that ought to be taken up by those working in African philosophy and philosophy in Africa, more generally. Often, the thought is that such decolonisation will involve a complete subversion, destruction or deconstruction of colonial attitudes, processes and concepts. A more moderate proposal for decolonisation of philosophy can be found, however, which is Kwasi Wiredu’s project of conceptual decolonisation. In this paper, I defend the project (...) from two categories of objection, what I call the decolonisation and methodology objections. I argue that the objections are misdirected and unfair because they fail to recognise the theoretical backing of Wiredu’s wider work. The critical reflection central to Wiredu’s project of conceptual decolonisation can be a genuinely helpful and viable route to take when tackling the challenges of decolonising philosophy. (shrink)