A Critique of the Question of African Philosophy

Abstract

The history of African philosophy as a distinct academic discipline has witnessed a lot of controversies, debates, arguments and counter-arguments bordering on the issue of the existence or non existence of the discipline. This debate has been described by an erudite scholar, Makinde, as unnecessary. According to him, if African philosophy exists, then do it, teach it and write it instead of engaging in endless debate on its ontology. The focus of this paper is to examine his arguments in support of his (Mankinde’s) claim that there is African philosophy. This is to show how his arguments authenticate African philosophy as a“specie” of philosophy thereby putting an end to this controversy. This is because, an end to this controversy, will move African philosophy forward to contribute to human, social and political development through its ethics, social and political philosophy, to mention a few.