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ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706 12 Hid’s Copse Road Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ, England Copyright © 1998 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Imbo, Samuel Oluoch, 1961– An introduction to African philosophy / Samuel Oluoch Imbo. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Philosophy, African. I. Title. B5305.I43 1998 199’.6—dc21 97-48810 CIP 9781461636502 Printed in the United States of America ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
To Yu-jung
Table of Contents
Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE - Definitions of African Philosophy Chapter One - How Is African Philosophy to Be Defined? PART TWO - Ethnophilosophy and Its Critics Chapter Two - Is Ethnophilosophy Really Philosophy? Chapter Three - Is African Philosophy Unique? PART THREE - African Philosophy Making Connections Chapter Four - What Should the Language(s) of African Philosophy Be? Chapter Five - Are There Connections Among African, African American, and Feminist Philosophies? Conclusion References Index About the Author
Acknowledgments I owe a huge debt of gratitude to many people who have contributed to this book over the years. First, my teachers, especially the late Henry Odera Oruka, who together with Dismas Masolo introduced me to comparative philosophy. Next, my students at Purdue University Calumet and at Hamline University, who unfailingly asked the crucial questions that challenged me to clarify my positions on the topics discussed here. I am very grateful to Jeffrey Crawford, whose extensive comments on the manuscript at various stages were extremely useful. His suggestions, even those I did not agree with, made the book clearer than it might otherwise have been. Emmanuel Eze and Bill Lawson provided additional constructive guidance that made me revisit some previously unclear arguments. My institution, Hamline University, provided a most supportive environment in which to finish writing this book. I particularly want to acknowledge the debt to my colleagues in the philosophy department, Duane Cady, Nancy Holland, and Stephen Kellert, for listening and providing opportunities for ongoing dialogue on these topics. Support from the College of Liberal Arts came in the form of the Hanna Grant, which freed me from material concerns during the summer of 1997. Finally, my wife, Yu-jung Hu, to whom this book is dedicated. She was the first reader of every chapter and also typed and computer edited the manuscript through all its stages. Without her love, inspiration, and encouragement, this book would not have been completed.
Introduction Much contemporary writing on African philosophy is a direct challenge to the bases and content of Western scholarship. Other writing that celebrates indigenous traditions is an indirect challenge to the view that in the absence of “great” written texts, traditional Africa could not claim to have had intellectual cultures. Indeed, the theme of whether philosophy can exist and thrive in the absence of written texts runs through many contemporary discussions in African philosophy. A number of books, mostly anthologies, bring together articles from a wide range of academic journals where these debates on the nature and defin