Contemporary African Philosophy Research Articles

Decolonizing “Decolonization” and Knowledge Production beyond Eurocentrism

Abstract I historicize decolonial theories within the context of epistemic contestations and knowledge production in Africa. I offer a critical appraisal of decolonization as simulated within Western academic institutions and argue that the current tempo of decolonization movements is by no means an accident of history; it is, in fact, a residual narrative of colonial epistemology. I offer internal critique and discuss the limitations of decolonization as an intellectual strategy, before addressing how Western academics have appropriated the discourse in a manner fitting an intellectual crusade. The decolonial scholar is, at the same time, perpetuating the mandate of colonial epistemology by substituting coloniality with subjective displacement. Finally, I suggest a modest proposal for adopting a new framework that admits the epistemic virtues of decolonization while eschewing its limitations and internal contradictions. My argument is that decolonization studies, as understood in contemporary African philosophy, has remained afflicted with the same disease it seeks to cure by (i) uncritical affiliation with historical generalizations, (ii) failure to recognize that history is no location of innocence and (iii) recolonization of non-Western ontologies through epistemic imperialism and network legitimation.

Ezumezu logical system as a sceptical trend in contemporary African philosophy

My aim in this paper is to tease out the sceptical dimension of Ezumezu logic, which is the logic that grounds the method of conversational thinking. I engage with the question of the place of scepticism in African philosophy and show that Ezumezu logic is a sceptical trend in contemporary African philosophy. I argue that the nature of the basic principles and concepts, such as arumaristics, thesis of regimented ontology, benoke point, tension of incommensurables, disjunctive-conjuctive motion, and methodological anarchy, that constitute a major part of Ezumezu logical system point to the need for continuous inquiry while suspending judgement, thereby encouraging the production of new thoughts. I demonstrate that this suspension of judgment is a basic tenet of scepticism.

A criticism of the notions of Nwansa and Nwanju in conversational approach to African philosophy

This paper undertakes a critical exposé of the nature of the notions of Nwansa and Nwanju in the conversational approach to African philosophy. Conversational thinking is a philosophical method that allows individual thinkers to engage with each other philosophically on phenomenological issues. It is a formal, intellectual exercise orchestrated by philosophical reasoning in which critical and rigorous questioning creatively unveils new concepts from old ones. I reveal the limitations of this approach as articulated by Jonathan Chimakonam in his contribution to the methodological issues in African philosophy. In doing so, I demonstrate that these limitations are present, in part, in Chimakonam's unclear distinction between conversationalism on the one hand, and Socratic-Hegelian dialectics on the other hand. I also show that Chimakonam's claim that the engagement between Nwansa and Nwanju in conversational relationship does not result in a synthesis but, rather, perpetuates the reshuffling of thesis and anti-thesis, raises questions on the conversational nature of conversationalism, and poses a challenge when applied to existential situations. I argue that conversational philosophy should be perceived as a reconstruction of Socratic-Hegelian Dialectics or a tacit improvement of it. It is, for this reason, I conclude that despite its limitations, a conversational approach through the dynamics of Nwansa and Nwanju is still significant in the development of contemporary African philosophy and in the management of some ideological issues confronting the African philosophical project.

A Critique of Wiredu’s Project of Conceptual Decolonization of African Philosophy

Abstract To liberate African philosophy from the remnants of the colonial style of thought, Kwesi Wiredu promotes the idea of the conceptual decolonization of African philosophy. He argues that, to accomplish this project, African philosophers must theorize in African vernaculars. This article attempts to show that the project of the conceptual decolonization of African philosophy by recourse to theorizing in African vernaculars is challenging. It examines a particular strategy that Wiredu deploys in “Conceptual Decolonization as an Imperative in Contemporary African Philosophy,” in which he hopes to demonstrate that the Akan conception of mind is superior to the Cartesian conception of mind. It demonstrates that Wiredu’s attempt to show the superiority of the Akan conception of mind is unsuccessful and that his project of conceptual decolonization fails. Nevertheless, it concludes that Wiredu’s conceptual decolonization project still shows promise even in light of our criticisms.

African tech development: The ideal and summit of contemporary African philosophy and literary studies

This treatise is a qualitative research in philosophy and literary studies aimed to assert the pertinence of African contemporary philosophy and ideologies to African technological development. The purpose of this study is to interrogate the significance of contemporary African philosophy and literary discourses for the stimulation of technological development in Africa and to assert that no society can develop or advance without thinkers, as science has no basis without philosophy. The expository and prescriptive methods were adopted in this study. Through the expository analysis, the discourse reveals that African philosophy and thinkers are most (generally) abstract and abstract and baseless philosophy is a liability rather than an asset; therefore inimical to tech development. Against this backdrop, it behooves to ask, as far as the global race for tech advancement is concerned, where does Africa stand? Of what relevance is African philosophy to African's quest for tech development? How may mother Africa liberate her offspring from tech stagnation and subsequently assert herself in the global village driven by science and technology through her sons and daughters’ intellectual ingenuity? Based on the findings of this critical analysis, the treatise concludes that the ideal object and teleology of the contemporary African philosophy ought to be the postulation of pragmatic ideologies that are germane for advancing Africa’s sustainable development of science and technology. The study therefore recommends that contemporary African philosophy has no business with abstract, ossified and baseless speculations for the latter is a liability not an asset.

On critical African philosophy: Mapping the boundaries of a good philosophical tradition

This essay deploys the existence of epistemic vices in the trajectory of Western philosophy to map the erasures and complicities that accompanied the emergence of contemporary African philosophy (CAP1). It argues that the complicity of CAP1 in the hyperspecialization and academic self-absorption that marked the professionalization of Western philosophy, makes it difficult to attend to the conditions for its own possibility. CAP1 arguably needs to make a critical turn into critical African philosophy (CAP2), understood as a metatheoretical and metaphilosophical framework for an internal transformation that is emancipatory. CAP2 is envisioned, first, as a critique of postcoloniality that rehumanizes the autonomous African subject; and, second, as an ethicopolitical project that explores the cracks between philosophy as theoretical practice and philosophy as praxis in opening up the spaces for postcolonial emancipation. The essay identifies three conditions that instigate the emancipatory possibility of philosophizing on the continent: the spatial/platial, demosophic, and political.

Black Actors: Eighteenth-Century Cultures and Decolonial Fantasies

Black Actors:Eighteenth-Century Cultures and Decolonial Fantasies Patricia Anne Simpson Beyond the scholarly sources found in specialized archives, libraries, and bookshelves (or digitized downloads), streaming services and popular series have piqued widespread interest in a Black presence in eighteenth-century European cultures. A number of binge-worthy shows—among them Shonda Rhimes Bridgerton (2021–22), Tony McNamara's The Great: An Occasionally True Story (season 1) and The Great: An Almost Entirely Untrue Story (season 2), and La cocinera de Castamar—adapted from a novel by Fernando J. Múñez by the same name, feature Black characters whose identities are comprised in unequal parts of historical fact, decolonial fantasies, and professionally progressive color-blind casting practices. Bridgerton imagines a Regency world in which Black royalty and aristocrats coexist with tradespeople and merchants. The presence of Black courtiers in the dark dramedy that unfolds in the Russia of Catherine II (The Great) raised some viewers' eyebrows, but the historical record attests to the partial reality of this "occasionally true story."1 And Múñez's novel follows the path of the protagonist, Clara Belmonte, an agoraphobic cook who catches the eye of a widowed duke in the palace Castamar, as she navigates her affliction and the marriage intrigues that surround the hero. Her character is loosely based on a composite of historical figures—the royal kitchen of Philip V was staffed by men—the person of interest is the duke's adopted brother, Gabriel de Castamar, a formerly enslaved Black man who was educated and elevated into the family. These amalgams of fact and fiction veer into controversies about historical accuracy and the inability of fantasy to right centuries of wrong. Each story indistinctly maps a topography transversed by economic, racial, and cultural politics networking Africa, Europe, and the Americas around 1800. Much is made of Catherine's Germanness, deftly delivered by Elle Fanning, in The Great—in particular, the ability to transfer Enlightenment theory into political practice. Perhaps we can imagine a popularized version of "Frederick—The Great?," but the Forschungsstand offers compelling reading with greater gravitas, for much current German studies scholarship is engaged in the project of decolonizing the long eighteenth century. The Black Lives Matter movements galvanized anti-Black-racist activism, which directly or indirectly has an impact on the work we do: this scholarship itself has a history—Black lives have always mattered.2 Of crucial significance, scholars across disciplines and regions are collaborating to make [End Page 119] hitherto unnoticed or marginalized materials widely available. One sterling example is the website Black Central Europe (https://blackcentraleurope.com/), which argues, "quite simply, that Black people have always been a part of Central European history."3 Literary and cultural studies scholars, among them Wendy Sutherland and Obenewaa Oduro-Opuni, have examined the texts and contexts of dramas and the Sklavenstücke.4 In early December 2021, the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa hosted a symposium devoted to the work of Wilhelm Anton Amo. Professor Josephat Obi Oguejiofor gave the keynote address, arguing for the central importance of Amo's influence on contemporary African philosophy. The unveiling of an Amo memorial plaque in the Department of Philosophy enhanced the solemnity of the proceedings, dedicated to the life and work of the first Black scholar to earn a degree from the University of Halle—Oguejifor noted that it would be more than two centuries before the second. Professor Oguejiofor also honored the legacy of Amo in African philosophy, lamenting that his name has yet to become widely known. Further, he affirmed the hybridity of Amo's life and work as Afro-European and Ghanaian-German and acknowledged the importance of studies by W. E. Abraham and V. Emma-Adamah as well as translations. Presenters from Ghana, Germany, Sweden, Nigeria, France, and the United States shared work on topics that included Amo's theory of impassivity (apatheia), his Tractatus, the theory of knowledge, migration policies, and the rights of Blacks in Europe, among others.5 As Oguejifor stated, "We do not need Amo and his success to tell us that slavery and racism, that these two practices are horrendous. … "It is likely that Kant knew of...

The status of oral traditions in the history of philosophy: Methodological considerations

Today, there is a growing consensus among philosophers in Africa, Latin America and other regions of the world that the history of philosophy has to consider both written and oral sources in the reconstruction of the history of philosophy. Even though it is usually not denied that philosophy also expresses itself in oral practices, such as conversation or instruction, the question remains as to how oral philosophical traditions can become part of a history of philosophy. This is subject to a number of methodological questions. On the basis of discourses in contemporary African philosophy as well as examples from other regions of the world, this article discusses selected methodological challenges that oral traditions pose for the historiography of philosophy, with a focus on the relation between philosophy and written texts and philosophy and practice. It is argued that a turn to philosophical practices can offer new insights into philosophy in oral societies.

Philosophy in the Present Context of Africa

The focus of the article is to explore the possibilities of philosophic discourse in the present postcolonial African situation. As indicated in the title, it will begin by exploring and laying out grosso modo, the character of philosophy as a discipline. It will then engage in examining, again broadly, Africa’s present: the situation that has prevailed since the end of formal colonialism. Consequent on the two expositive presentations, the article will then indicate the role that philosophy can and should play in this situation. The aim is to explore the possible beyond the demise of colonialism in the hope of catching sight of a truly postcolonial future. The article is thus a concise articulation of the hermeneutical stance in contemporary African philosophy.

The Hermeneutical Task of Postcolonial African Philosophy: Construction and Deconstruction

Meta philosophical issues surround the topic of African philosophy. What should be counted as African philosophy, and what makes African philosophy so notable has long been a matter of reflection by African and African descended thinkers? One stance taken by African thinkers leans toward ascribing philosophical status to the collective worldviews of Africans embedded in their traditions, language, and culture. By criticizing ethnophilosophy as being unanimous and uncritical, professional philosophers epitomize a philosophy to be a universal, individualized, and reflective enterprise. This tendency of appropriating cultural traits as philosophical and thereby tending to emphasize particularity by ethnophilosophers on the one hand and the universalist claim by professional philosophers puts African philosophy in a dilemma and whereby makes it counterproductive to the neocolonial liberation struggle. The article's central argument is that African philosophical hermeneutics is a panacea for the 'double blockage' that the philosophers currently look into contemporary African philosophy. African hermeneutics is the extension of German and French hermeneutical tradition with the works of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricœur. Hermeneutics is a mediation between culture and philosophy and also universality and particularity.

FILOSOFIA AFRICANA E PRÁXIS ANCESTRAIS FEMININAS: A SABEDORIA QUE “RENASCE” COM VESTES DE DIAMANTE

Este artigo tenciona dialogar brevemente sobre os saberes ancestrais femininos nas filosofias africanas. Para isso, apresenta uma crítica à forma como as mulheres são apresentadas no pensamento filosófico ocidental e a sua ausência na construção do pensamento da filosofia africana contemporânea, propondo a descolonização do conhecimento e de todos os sentidos. Assim, privilegiamos as vozes de mulheres negras africanas e da diáspora, falando a partir das enunci(ações) do cosmoencantamento, do ser-tão que nos habita, da escuta sensível e do feminino que nos tece desde memórias ancestrais.

The Idea of African Philosophy: A Critical Study of the Major Orientations in Contemporary African Philosophy, written by Olusegun Oladipo

The Idea of African Philosophy: A Critical Study of the Major Orientations in Contemporary African Philosophy, written by Olusegun Oladipo

The Light and Twilight of Zera Yaekob’s Philosophy for the Eminence of European Enlightenment

The objective of this paper is to scrutinize the role of Zera Yaekob’s philosophy of the current existing European enlightenment period/age of reason which was claimed to be the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Zera Yaekob’s philosophy is systematically ignored and neglected by Euro-philosophers because of various reasons. Underscoring the following research questions is pertinent to resolve such neglecting: Is Zera Yaekob’s philosophy really hollow of the European enlightenment? Why Euro-philosophers systematically ignored his philosophy, nevertheless, his philosophical outlook still working there? To harangue these questions, therefore, the researcher employed philosophical methods of qualitative/analysis and phenomenology. Zera Yaekob’s rationalistic philosophy seems to, like the ocean, have diverse echelons. The usual daily activities have been documented by philosophical philosophers, starting from his mouthpiece Welde Hewot till now according to a Canadian philosopher Claude Sumner. Now a day, several Neo-Zera Yaekobian’s are emerging on the philosophical scene of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, gender and the like. The streams—the sincere pillar of the ocean that mixes water across the world and it embodies the most philosophical echelons of enlightenment. This is why Zera Yaekob’s philosophy is considered as a premium spring/notebook of western enlightenment philosophy. The researcher argues that the Enlightenment culminated their climax with Zera Yacob of Abyssinia in Africa than Immanuel Kant in Europe. Moreover, the paper also takes into account how his philosophical scene governs contemporary African philosophy. Above all, surprisingly but terribly also, they (European) are there with the light of enlightenment because we (Africans) are here with the twilight of counter-enlightenment.

The Light and Twilight of Zera Yaekob’s Philosophy for the Eminence of European Enlightenment

Zera Yaekob’s rationalistic philosophy seems to be, like the ocean, has diverse echelons. The usual daily activities have been documented by philosophical philosophers, starting from his mouthpiece Wolde Hewot till now a Canadian philosopher Claud Sumner. Now a day several Neo-Zera Yaekobian’s will be emerging on the philosophical scene of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, gender and the like. The streams—the sincere pillar of the ocean that mixes water across the world and it embody the most philosophical echelons of enlightenment. This is why Zera Yaekob’s philosophy is considered as a premium spring/notebook of western enlightenment philosophy. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to scrutinize the role of Zera Yaekob’s philosophy of the current existing European enlightenment period/age of reason which was assumed a philosophy of Immanuel Kant. However, the Enlightenment culminated their climax with Zera Yacob of Abyssinia in Africa than Immanuel Kant in Europe. Moreover, the paper also takes into account how his philosophical scene governs contemporary African philosophy. Keywords : Zera Yaekob, Ethiopian philosophy, Western Philosophy, Enlightenment, Philosophy. DOI : 10.7176/JLLL/64-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2020

África, modernidad, libertad

The paper is focused on highlighting some choice samplings from modern European philosophical narratives of “emancipation” and showing how they frame Africa, and the world beyond Europe, into a subordinate position in need of “beneficent” conquest. The paper will argue that, to undo this frame the formerly colonized must articulate their own sense of history, in and through which they can enter our contemporary world on their own terms. It will argue this point by articulating what it takes to be a central concern of contemporary African philosophy, i.e., the systematic undermining of Western hegemonic narratives while—and concurrently—formulating a stance cognizant of the varied, incommensurable, historical and cultural actualities that are, and constitute, our shared human existence. The focus of the paper is thus to explore the possible, beyond the demise of colonialism, in the hope of catching-sight-of a truly postcolonial future.

Rethinking the Decolonization Trope in Philosophy

AbstractThis piece takes a close look at the contributions of two very important thinkers whose works have, on the whole, framed the deployment of what I call the decolonizing trope in contemporary African philosophy: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Kwasi Wiredu. I argue that, in light of current discussions in African life and politics and current trends in African philosophical discourse dominated by this trope, it may be time to, at least, rethink, if not abandon, the trope. The viability of a conceptual decolonization in philosophy may have been oversold; the trope may give a false impression of the complexity of the situation it is designed to help attenuate; and it may be having deleterious consequences on discourse and its progress even if they are unintended.

Rethinking corruption in contemporary African philosophy: Old wine cannot fit

To conceive the notion of corruption presupposes the existence of corrupt individuals, groups or organisations. The existence of corrupt individuals, groups or organisations you might say presupposes the presence of an entity. Every entity (i.e. state or corporate) has laid down procedures, processes and methods of doings and functioning. When these procedures and processes are negated, one could be accused of subversion. Subversion is an element in the definition of administrative corruption and is the unwillingness to follow stipulated plans of actions. An action that negates procedures falls under corrupt practice. This article will answer the following research questions: How has corruption been framed and perceived and what are the underlining consequences in Africa? In what ways, if any, has the prevailing perception of corruption undermined and understated the notion of corruption in Africa? In what ways can a remedial be conceived in the fight to make Africa free of corruption? And finally: How can Kleptoafronia be conceived as a panacea for corruption in the continent? This article uses themes and narrative analysis in the qualitative realm to provide answers to the research questions. Over 500 scholarly materials were read and scanned from journal articles, Internet sources, textbooks and several academic indexes to provide evidence for the arguments in this article from five disciplinary standpoints: political science, public administration, criminology, psychology and medical sciences. This article is a conceptual article that tends to demonstrate that corruption in Africa is a psych-administrative disorder termed – Kleptoafronia.

Personhood in a transhumanist context: An African perspective

Personhood is an extensively discussed theme in contemporary African philosophy, which has taken metaphysical, epistemological and normative dimensions. In Western philosophical traditions, discourse on personhood is transmuting to debates on transhumanism. Missing in the African philosophical literature is consideration of transhumanism and an explication of the relationship between personhood and transhumanism. In this article, I critically examine the relationship between personhood and transhumanism in an African context. Drawing on Barry Hallen’s African metaphysical account of personhood and Thaddeus Metz’s Afro-communal normative conception of personhood, I argue that while some transhumanist elements are embedded in African normative and ontological conceptions of personhood, some others are not. In the final analysis, I defend an Afrofuturistic account of personhood that is compatible with some censored essentials of transhumanism in African thoughts.Keywords: Personhood, Transhumanism, Barry Hallen, Thaddeus Metz, Africa, Yoruba

해석학적 기획으로서의 (현대) 아프리카 철학 ― 세레퀘버안(T. Serequeberhan)의 견해를 중심으로

해석학적 기획으로서의 (현대) 아프리카 철학 ― 세레퀘버안(T. Serequeberhan)의 견해를 중심으로

Questioning the validity, veracity and viability of the case for “Cogno-normative (complementary) epistemology”: A conversation with Chimakonam

In this short conversation, I will engage Jonathan Chimakonam’s essay entitled “The knowledge Question in African Philosophy: A Case for Cogno-Normative (Complementary) Epistemology” published as the chapter four of [Atuolu Omalu: Some Unanswered Questions in Contemporary African Philosophy]. I will identify the major submissions of the essay and engage them critically with the aim of opening new vistas of thought. My method will be conversationalim.Keywords: Conversational philosophy, Jonathan Chimakonam, African philosophy, epistemology, cogno-normative