The eternal now: Exploring possibilities of dialogue across African and Western philosophies of time

Abstract

In this chapter I explore the diverse philosophical influences on Tanzanian poet, novelist and intellectual Euphrase Kezilahabi’s idea of time, and especially on his notion of the “eternal now”, which he defines as constitutive of African philosophy and poetics. These different philosophical influences range from Kenyan philosopher John S. Mbiti’s conception of “African time” as constituted by sasa (present), zamani (past) and virtually no future to German philosopher Martin Heidgger’s notion of Vorgriff as pre-oriented understanding operating as an anticipatory and foreshadowing scheme through which the future is met. Based on these multi-cultural influences in Kezilahabi’s thought, I explore the possibility of inaugurating a new type of philosophical dialogue between African and western contemporary philosophy. This dialogue attempts to go beyond the challenges of ethnophilosophy, without negating or devaluing the vital political and existential significance that the paradigms of difference and identity maintain in African philosophy.