African Philosophy: An Overview and a Critique of the Philosophical Significance of African Oral Literature

by Victor Anoka

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Philosophy as a discipline has not only been distinct and crucial but also consistent in the enduring search for practical solutions to human problems. This study discusses the role philosophical enquiries and postulations can play in the practical reconstruction of Africa. It identifies the continent's peculiar and diverse challenges as arising mostly from effects of Western intervention in African history and argues for a restoration of the heritage immanent in Africa's oral tradition. The author prefers an African philosophy rooted in a critical reappraisal and appropriation of Africa's oral literature which not only possesses a treasure of philosophical ideas and principles but can also be employed in meeting the challenges confronting Africa and in sustaining development there. He, consequently, defends the theory of intracultural dialogue as the best possible option towards a practical reconstruction of Africa in an African manner. This dialogue can be initiated and sustained with the help of philosophical hermeneutics and through the method of ordinary-language philosophy. The intracultural dialogue is seen as the necessary foundation for a meaningful, productive, and realistic intercultural dialogue.
  • ISBN10 3653021359
  • ISBN13 9783653021356
  • Publish Date 19 October 2012 (first published 11 October 2012)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country DE
  • Imprint Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften
  • Edition 150th ed.
  • Format eBook
  • Pages 220
  • Language English