5 Modern African Thinkers on Identity, Language and Regionalism · Global Voices
Street Philosophy at City Bowl, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, by <PERSON> on Flickr – CC license-NC-2.0
African philosophy is generally overlooked in the field of philosophy. The reasons for that are unclear. Some argue that it may be because African philosophy is closely tied to its oral traditions, making its extended history difficult to share to a larger audience. Others argue that its Afrocentric nature makes it less palatable to the rest of the world.
Nigerian born Philosopher <PERSON> defines African philosophy as “that which concerns itself with the way in which African people of the past and present make sense of their destiny and of the world in which they live.” Although it remains mostly a mystery to other countries, African philosophy is a well-established discipline, enriched by centuries of research dating back to Ancient Egyptian philosophy to the modern post-colonial thinking. Throughout its history, African philosophy has made important contributions to Greek philosophy, mostly through Egyptian philosopher <PERSON> who was instrumental in continuing the Greek tradition of <PERSON>'s philosophical academy, and to Christian philosophy via Algerian thinker <PERSON>, who established the notion of the original sin.
To further understand the current evolution of contemporary African philosophy, here are five thinkers that you ought to keep track of from the continent:
1. <PERSON> (Côte d'Ivoire)
<PERSON> is an Ivorian writer for magazine Jeune Afrique and the author of “Philosophies africaines” (African Philosophy), in which she reviews the current elite of African philosophers. She writes that modern African philosophy has been usually classified into 4 main groups: ethnophilosophy, philosophical sagacity, nationalistic–ideological philosophy, and professional philosophy. However, <PERSON> believes that the defining trend for modern African philosophy can be summarized in how it has evolved from its colonial influence.
In a discussion of the book, her colleague at Jeune Afrique Nicolas Michel presents a summary of the origin and evolution of comtemporary African philosophy and <PERSON> theories:
En archéologue des idées, <PERSON> explore les strates d'une épistémologie qui, au cours du dernier siècle, s'est construite essentiellement en réaction à l'Occident. 216
D'abord sous le joug de son influence impérialiste, puis en réaction contre cette emprise [..] avec le mouvement des Indépendances et l'injonction à la décolonisation des esprits, vient le temps d'une pensée cherchant à se replier sur « l'identité africaine », contre le moule occidental. Un « retour au sources » risqué : « Dès lors que la philosophie cherche à se penser de manière « nationalitaire », c'est-à-dire continentale, nationale, ethnique, elle doit éviter plusieurs écueils, notamment celui de l'esprit collectif et celui de la particularisation excessive », écrit l'auteur. L'apport de la philosophie occidentale comme celui des autres courants de pensée ne doit pas être rejeté.
In her role as an archaeologist of ideas, <PERSON> explores the layers of a discipline which was built mainly in response to the West during the past century. During the colonial period, it moved along under the overarching control of its imperialist colonizers, then it evolved as a counter-reaction against the colonizers’ influence […] As the Independence movement swept throughout the continent (in the 50's), the philosophy of trying to return to “the African identity” and move away from the Western mold grew stronger. <PERSON> argues that such a “return to the origins” ideology is a risky proposition. She writes: “As philosophy is trying to fit into a “regional “pattern, [i.e, continental, national or ethnic], it must avoid several pitfalls, including the pitfall of homogeneous thinking and excessive isolation”. The contribution of Western philosophy as well as that of other currents of thought should not be dismissed.
<PERSON> highlights a debate about ethnophilosophy that African philosophers have been grappling with for a long time: the idea that a particular culture or region has specific philosophy that is fundamentally different from the other philosophical trends is controversial in itself. However, many modern African philosophers argue that their work is a critical reflection on African leaderships and how it impacts their compatriots daily lives. 124