Four Decades Of African Philosophy

In this volume, I present to the reader exciting articles that cut across different areas of the disciplines of African philosophy and studies. The first article by the famous Paulin Hountondji of the National University of Benin Republic took long coming. In over four decades, he pursued his goal of critiquing the practice and direction of African philosophy which climaxed in his famous 1983 book titled [African Philosophy: Myth and Reality], revised in 1996. Critics have descended on his conclusion that what is called African philosophy might just be a myth over the years. In his article in this issue, he responds in style. His opening statement says it all: "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 taking place in Africa and to deny its universal validity." Other contributors in this volume addressed topical and exciting issues in the discipline. The collection is worth reading.

" . . . a great read. It is masterfully presented, and is an ideal text both for advanced undergraduates and graduate students." —International Journal of African Historical Studies " . . . a detailed, critical guide to fifty years of African philosophy . . . " —Teaching Philosophy "Masolo offers an expansive and lucidly panoramic view of the origin and developments in African philosophy." —Africa Today "The excellence of this book lies in the wealth of perspectives that it brings to the discussion on what constitutes philosophy, rationality, and meaningful reflection. It is both thought provoking and illuminating." —Ethics A Kenyan philosopher surveys themes and debates in African philosophy over the last five decades. Masolo's purview includes Francophone and Anglophone philosophers in both the analytic and phenomenological traditions.

Divided into eight sections, each with introductory essays, the selections offer rich and detailed insights into a diverse multinational philosophical landscape. Revealed in this pathbreaking work is the way in which traditional philosophical issues related to ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology, for instance, take on specific forms in Africa's postcolonial struggles. Much of its moral, political, and social philosophy is concerned with the turbulent processes of embracing modern identities while protecting ancient cultures.

As academic subject African philosophy is predominantly concerned with epistemology. It aims at re-presenting a lost body of authentic African thought. This apparently austere a-historical concern is framed by a grand narrative of liberation that cannot but politicise the quest for epistemological autonomy. By “politicise” I mean that the desire to re-cover an authentic African epistemology in order to establish African philosophy as autonomous subject, ironically re-iterates Western, enlightenment notions of the autonomous subject. Here, in the pursuit of an autonomous subject the terms of historical oppression are necessarily duplicated in the terms of liberation. In this study I use the term disfigurement to refer to the double-bind - peculiar to post-coloniality - in which the African subject finds itself when it has to establish and affirm a sense of apartheid (in order to confirm the assumption of difference) by inventing its own autonomy in a way that ironically conflicts with an African conception of the autonomous subject. The transcendental concern with epistemological authenticity and autonomy - indicative of an oppressive desire for Western style autonomy - necessary as it may be in a post-colonial context, is placed in an ethical framework that seeks to remain faithful to the African dictum of identity and autonomy “I am because we are”. Whereas the first three chapters are concerned with the transcendental question ‘what is African philosophy?’, the fourth and last chapter situates the ethical framework within which this question arises in the context of the recently “completed” South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

For several decades, African philosophers have debated on the history, nature, and methodology of African philosophy, among others; however, this piece takes a different turn. It reflects on the disciplines of African philosophy. It is a work of twelve chapters and focuses on the major disciplines of African philosophy. This piece is a response to the recurrent question in the class of African philosophy: What are the disciplines of African Philosophy?

This book provides an excellent orientation to, and a logical development of, the major trends and issues that have dominated discussions in African philosophy since the publication of Placide Tempels' Bantu Philosophy in 1945. Views of some of the best-known African philosophers, such as Kwasi Wiredu, Paulin Hountondji, H. Odera Oruka, Peter Bodunrin, and D. A. Masolo are discussed in detail. The text takes into account, in the form of quotations or referencing, the views of several other philosophers who have had something to say about African philosophy. This book facilitates an excellent orientation on African philosophy at the undergraduate level. Those pursuing African philosophy at the graduate level will find the text refreshingly novel.