Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.20.1.0044
E. Radney
This article asks why African American Philosophy matters. The notion of the “Black philosopher” continues to be an enigma. African descendants are not generally associated with the revered location and status of “the philosopher” and with doing philosophy. In a celebration of the sustained work of the Black philosopher-practitioner, who continues to suffer a fate of deliberate academic “invisibility” and historical erasure, this article supports the expansion of philosophical categories, philosophical conversation, and philosophical inclusivity. This work contends that the marginalization of African American philosophy can be understood from a synthesis of Foucault’s thesis of “subjugated knowledge” (how certain discourses are routinely disqualified by dominant ones) and Black philosopher Lewis Gordon’s explanation of “subverted realization,” which is built in to “white” modern thought. Both key philosophers help locate the problem questioned here. The overriding current of the “white (main) stream” of philosophy, by its deliberate exclusion of African American philosophy, disqualifies it.
{"title":"Why African American Philosophy Matters: A Case for Not Centering White Philosophers and White Philosophy","authors":"E. Radney","doi":"10.5325/philafri.20.1.0044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.20.1.0044","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article asks why African American Philosophy matters. The notion of the “Black philosopher” continues to be an enigma. African descendants are not generally associated with the revered location and status of “the philosopher” and with doing philosophy. In a celebration of the sustained work of the Black philosopher-practitioner, who continues to suffer a fate of deliberate academic “invisibility” and historical erasure, this article supports the expansion of philosophical categories, philosophical conversation, and philosophical inclusivity. This work contends that the marginalization of African American philosophy can be understood from a synthesis of Foucault’s thesis of “subjugated knowledge” (how certain discourses are routinely disqualified by dominant ones) and Black philosopher Lewis Gordon’s explanation of “subverted realization,” which is built in to “white” modern thought. Both key philosophers help locate the problem questioned here. The overriding current of the “white (main) stream” of philosophy, by its deliberate exclusion of African American philosophy, disqualifies it.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44039334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.20.1.0019
Philemon Ayibo
The idea behind right and wrong is premised on ethics. There have been controversies about the philosophy of right and wrong in Western and African thoughts. There is a perception that the essential difference between right and wrong is honor-orientation versus justice-orientation, which is believed to be based on shame and guilt. With the aforementioned, the researcher sought to explore the comparative analysis on guilt and shame in Western and African ethics using a qualitative research design to make the investigation. It was discovered that Western ideas and beliefs are quite different from those of African society. Western ethical standards have been used wrongly to scan African ethics and ethical conducts and these African ethical conducts have not been given elaborate investigation and clarification. It concluded that using Western ethical standards to judge African moral ideas is biased and demeaning to philosophical scholarship. Some recommendations on extensive analysis and interpretation of moral values on the scale of guilt and shame as well as a rethink on morality as it relates to ethics and corporate existence were made.
{"title":"Guilt and Shame in Western and African Ethics: A Comparative Analysis","authors":"Philemon Ayibo","doi":"10.5325/philafri.20.1.0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.20.1.0019","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The idea behind right and wrong is premised on ethics. There have been controversies about the philosophy of right and wrong in Western and African thoughts. There is a perception that the essential difference between right and wrong is honor-orientation versus justice-orientation, which is believed to be based on shame and guilt. With the aforementioned, the researcher sought to explore the comparative analysis on guilt and shame in Western and African ethics using a qualitative research design to make the investigation. It was discovered that Western ideas and beliefs are quite different from those of African society. Western ethical standards have been used wrongly to scan African ethics and ethical conducts and these African ethical conducts have not been given elaborate investigation and clarification. It concluded that using Western ethical standards to judge African moral ideas is biased and demeaning to philosophical scholarship. Some recommendations on extensive analysis and interpretation of moral values on the scale of guilt and shame as well as a rethink on morality as it relates to ethics and corporate existence were made.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41620626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.20.1.0001
L. Cordeiro‐Rodrigues
Islamophobia is a form of prejudice significantly widespread in Western societies. To date, very little research in moral and political philosophy has been done to explain why Islamophobia is morally wrong. This article has the objective of addressing this gap in the literature by looking at Islamophobia in the West. In particular, the aim of this article is to explain why Islamophobia, in its Western expression, is morally wrong, articulating an argument based on an African value-system. The African value-system presented is of consequentialist pedigree, and I conclude that at least part of why Islamophobia is morally wrong is because it causes disharmony.
{"title":"An African Approach to Western Islamophobia","authors":"L. Cordeiro‐Rodrigues","doi":"10.5325/philafri.20.1.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.20.1.0001","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Islamophobia is a form of prejudice significantly widespread in Western societies. To date, very little research in moral and political philosophy has been done to explain why Islamophobia is morally wrong. This article has the objective of addressing this gap in the literature by looking at Islamophobia in the West. In particular, the aim of this article is to explain why Islamophobia, in its Western expression, is morally wrong, articulating an argument based on an African value-system. The African value-system presented is of consequentialist pedigree, and I conclude that at least part of why Islamophobia is morally wrong is because it causes disharmony.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44456933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.20.1.0067
L. Cordeiro‐Rodrigues
The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a strong negative impact on African countries. This is due to the fact that poverty has reduced the ability of these countries to implement health measures that are necessary to address the pandemic. In this article, I contend that colonialism has a role to play in this reduced ability to respond to the current crisis. Hence I argue that Ubuntu ethics imposes responsibility on European governments to aid Africans during this period.
{"title":"Colonial Legacies and African Reparations: What Ubuntu Implies in Terms of the Duties of Europeans","authors":"L. Cordeiro‐Rodrigues","doi":"10.5325/philafri.20.1.0067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.20.1.0067","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a strong negative impact on African countries. This is due to the fact that poverty has reduced the ability of these countries to implement health measures that are necessary to address the pandemic. In this article, I contend that colonialism has a role to play in this reduced ability to respond to the current crisis. Hence I argue that Ubuntu ethics imposes responsibility on European governments to aid Africans during this period.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44789124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.19.2.0138
R. S. Nakabo
Leadership, as a habit of thinking, assumes the alpha and omega position for pursuance of sustainable development in Uganda. However, what if we considered followership first? Using literature review, a conceptual framework, and critical reflexivity as data source and analysis, this paper provides a new approach to understand challenges in Uganda. The argument is to transcend leadership models and switch to followership model for possibilities of achieving especially sustainable development. This will not only strengthen democratic practices, but also offers more efficient and effective leadership methods. Followership remains the critical yet silent element that has caused the shift in focus from traits, behavior, and lastly, contingent leadership theories. It is why some leadership theorists are considering feminine styles as more effective because they are prejudiced as natural followers. I suggest possibilities of exploring a followership model where followership is the main factor upon which Empowerment for Sustainable Development (ESD) directly depends.
{"title":"Sustainable Development for Uganda: A Switch to Followership Model","authors":"R. S. Nakabo","doi":"10.5325/philafri.19.2.0138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.19.2.0138","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Leadership, as a habit of thinking, assumes the alpha and omega position for pursuance of sustainable development in Uganda. However, what if we considered followership first? Using literature review, a conceptual framework, and critical reflexivity as data source and analysis, this paper provides a new approach to understand challenges in Uganda. The argument is to transcend leadership models and switch to followership model for possibilities of achieving especially sustainable development. This will not only strengthen democratic practices, but also offers more efficient and effective leadership methods. Followership remains the critical yet silent element that has caused the shift in focus from traits, behavior, and lastly, contingent leadership theories. It is why some leadership theorists are considering feminine styles as more effective because they are prejudiced as natural followers. I suggest possibilities of exploring a followership model where followership is the main factor upon which Empowerment for Sustainable Development (ESD) directly depends.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45620923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.19.2.0176
Thaddeus Metz
Many values originating in Africa and in China, and ones that continue to influence much of everyday communication in those societies, are aptly placed under the common heading of “harmony.” After first spelling out what harmony involves in substantially Confucian China, and then in Africa, this article notes respects in which the Confucian and African conceptions of harmony are similar, an awareness of which could facilitate smooth communication. The article then indicates respects in which the Confucian and African conceptions of harmony are different, a lack of awareness of which could undermine smooth communication. The point of the article is to facilitate Sino-African communication by means of an awareness of indigenous moral-philosophical mindsets that continue to be salient in China and Africa, despite the influence of the West.
{"title":"Communication Strategies in the Light of Indigenous African and Chinese Values: How to Harmonize","authors":"Thaddeus Metz","doi":"10.5325/philafri.19.2.0176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.19.2.0176","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Many values originating in Africa and in China, and ones that continue to influence much of everyday communication in those societies, are aptly placed under the common heading of “harmony.” After first spelling out what harmony involves in substantially Confucian China, and then in Africa, this article notes respects in which the Confucian and African conceptions of harmony are similar, an awareness of which could facilitate smooth communication. The article then indicates respects in which the Confucian and African conceptions of harmony are different, a lack of awareness of which could undermine smooth communication. The point of the article is to facilitate Sino-African communication by means of an awareness of indigenous moral-philosophical mindsets that continue to be salient in China and Africa, despite the influence of the West.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44787947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.19.2.0101
A. Agadá
The concept of vital force in African philosophy received its first full articulation in Placide Tempels’s Bantu Philosophy (1959) and has evolved over time from the ontological dimension of a universal actuation and energizing principle to an element of mind, notably in the work of Kwame Gyekye. In this essay, I present the concept of vital force and trace its evolution from the time of its first full articulation by Tempels up to its identification with spirit, or mind, in Gyekye’s thought. I try to defend the thesis that the concept of vital force can ground the notion of mood that takes a pivotal position in the twenty-first century philosophy of consolationism. I adopt an analytical and constructive method in this paper.
{"title":"Grounding the Consolationist Concept of Mood in the African Vital Force Theory","authors":"A. Agadá","doi":"10.5325/philafri.19.2.0101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.19.2.0101","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The concept of vital force in African philosophy received its first full articulation in Placide Tempels’s Bantu Philosophy (1959) and has evolved over time from the ontological dimension of a universal actuation and energizing principle to an element of mind, notably in the work of Kwame Gyekye. In this essay, I present the concept of vital force and trace its evolution from the time of its first full articulation by Tempels up to its identification with spirit, or mind, in Gyekye’s thought. I try to defend the thesis that the concept of vital force can ground the notion of mood that takes a pivotal position in the twenty-first century philosophy of consolationism. I adopt an analytical and constructive method in this paper.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44728333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.19.2.0154
F. Ochieng’-Odhiambo
The essay has two parts. The first part outlines one cardinal aspect that runs through traditional African societies: the communal spirit. It is argued that it is this aspect of traditional African societies that sets them apart from the individualistic Western societies. The notions of ontology, ethics, and marriage are used to characterize the communal spirit. The second part, which is the core of the essay, focuses on the naming system among the Luo ethnic group of Kenya (“Joluo”). Three categories are identified in their naming system and it is maintained that all the categories reflect the prevalent communal principle and is the reason why Joluo treat names with reverence. For them a name is more than what one responds to when called out; it is a reflection that an individual is part and parcel of the community .
{"title":"Communalism in African Cultures and the Naming System among the Luo of Kenya","authors":"F. Ochieng’-Odhiambo","doi":"10.5325/philafri.19.2.0154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.19.2.0154","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The essay has two parts. The first part outlines one cardinal aspect that runs through traditional African societies: the communal spirit. It is argued that it is this aspect of traditional African societies that sets them apart from the individualistic Western societies. The notions of ontology, ethics, and marriage are used to characterize the communal spirit. The second part, which is the core of the essay, focuses on the naming system among the Luo ethnic group of Kenya (“Joluo”). Three categories are identified in their naming system and it is maintained that all the categories reflect the prevalent communal principle and is the reason why Joluo treat names with reverence. For them a name is more than what one responds to when called out; it is a reflection that an individual is part and parcel of the community .","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47147796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.19.1.0027
J. Duran
The work of Chester Himes, as exemplified by Real Cool Killers, is examined for its attention to social issues. It is concluded, as Polito has contended, that Himes is gifted at portraying an inner-city world and its problems. In a sense, Himes’s work also speaks to the post-World War II existential issues that drive some of the writing of Richard Wright.
{"title":"Chester Himes and the Popular Novel: A Voice for Existential Blackness","authors":"J. Duran","doi":"10.5325/philafri.19.1.0027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.19.1.0027","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The work of Chester Himes, as exemplified by Real Cool Killers, is examined for its attention to social issues. It is concluded, as Polito has contended, that Himes is gifted at portraying an inner-city world and its problems. In a sense, Himes’s work also speaks to the post-World War II existential issues that drive some of the writing of Richard Wright.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44514609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-01DOI: 10.5325/philafri.19.1.0040
L. Rodrigues
One of the key ethical and political issues in South Africa today is the decolonization of education. In 2015, a movement called Rhodes Must Fall was born in South Africa precisely with the purpose of engaging in activism to promote this decolonization. The Rhodes Must Fall movement to further this purpose engaged in some violent protests. The objective of this article is to assess whether South Africans are justified to believe that these protests can or cannot be morally justified from the perspective of Ubuntu. To explore this question, I assess the morality of the actions using a consequentialist interpretation of African values. I contend that the symbolic violent protests of the Rhodes Must Fall movement were morally justified, whereas its indiscriminate violent protests were not. Hence, I do not myself mean to defend the position they are morally justified; instead, I wish to show that it is a moral implication of African values.
{"title":"Ubuntu and Moral Epistemology: The Case of the Rhodes Must Fall Movement","authors":"L. Rodrigues","doi":"10.5325/philafri.19.1.0040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/philafri.19.1.0040","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 One of the key ethical and political issues in South Africa today is the decolonization of education. In 2015, a movement called Rhodes Must Fall was born in South Africa precisely with the purpose of engaging in activism to promote this decolonization. The Rhodes Must Fall movement to further this purpose engaged in some violent protests. The objective of this article is to assess whether South Africans are justified to believe that these protests can or cannot be morally justified from the perspective of Ubuntu. To explore this question, I assess the morality of the actions using a consequentialist interpretation of African values. I contend that the symbolic violent protests of the Rhodes Must Fall movement were morally justified, whereas its indiscriminate violent protests were not. Hence, I do not myself mean to defend the position they are morally justified; instead, I wish to show that it is a moral implication of African values.","PeriodicalId":42045,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Africana","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42591896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：