African Logic and the Question of Method: Towards Villagisation of Knowledge

Abstract

Do we need new methods for African philosophy? Or, are the methods of Western philosophy adequate for African philosophy? These questions are not some of the easiest to answer in African philosophy. In charting the course of future direction in African philosophy, one must be confronted with these questions. On the one hand, if one agrees that we sure need new methods for African philosophy, a serious but perhaps not far reaching implication could be drawn: does it mean that all we have been doing using methods developed in Western philosophy is not African philosophy? On the other hand, if one says that Western-developed methods are more than adequate for African philosophy, a further implication could be drawn: does it mean that African philosophy is not truly African as yet?