Friday, 14 October 2016

CHALLENGES OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY



The challenges of African philosophy in the 16th to 19th century
INTRODUCTION
The African continent like several other less developed entities was once under colonial siege several decades ago with attendant deprivation, exploitation and domination by the colonial masters. The effect of this relationship is expressed in the unequal trade relations either in form of slavery or colonialism. However, it equally affected the philosophy of the people and posed many challenges to it.
There was a background to intellectual tradition in Africa. This goes beyond the 16th century. The older African philosophy was based on inter-zonal tradition. However, the challenges of the African’s philosophy of the 16th to 19th century were both intellectual and socio-historical. Philosophies are always products of socio-cultural experiences; it involves connecting cultural experiences with theories. This is cosmological.
Africa was denied of history and characterized as being inferior, mentally primitive and incapable of logical, coherent, systematic thoughts about reality. The above however, gave way to the major challenges of African philosophy in the 16th to 19th century. However, various attempts had been made to locate the focus of the problems confronting the idea of African philosophy and the African idea of philosophy, not only in history but also in the present time.
There is need for reconciling the universal nature of philosophical challenges with the preponderance in African philosophical scholarship. Thus philosophical inquiry is universal in nature. However, there is need, following from the African philosophy of the 16th to 19th century, to develop the structural modes of the practice of philosophy in Africa.
CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION
AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
African philosophy has been hard to define; however, most philosophers have contented themselves in describing what African philosophy is. “The controversy over what constitutes an African philosophy tends to dominate sometimes so much that it forms almost the entire content of African philosophy”.[1] African philosophy seems to be a result of the charge of irrationality leveled against the Africans. It is worth noting that African philosophy according to Hountondji, bears a direct relation to history and culture and that the reflection of African intelligentsia upon our total historical being represents a significant moment in the intellectual response of Africans to the challenge of western civilization.[2]
Disregarding the difficulty of defining the concept of an African philosophy, I would try to give a definition of the concept of African philosophy which I would consider and use for my work in this paper. Thus, African philosophy is a rational, critical and systematic exercise based on procuring solutions to the problematic of the African continent. African philosophy is the compendium of African thought system dealing with the evaluation and analyses of issues troubling the African mind.
AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY OF THE 16TH TO 19TH CENTURY
African philosophy of the 16th to 19th century refers to the critical and systematic, rational analyses of the problematic of the African continent that took place with the range of the years 1500 to 1899 approximately. It is the theories that resulted from critically and systematically analyzing the issues that troubled the African mind within the 1500 and 1899. However, African philosophers of the 16th to 19 century are the personalities that philosophize within the range of the years written above.
This paper is not intended to be a lamentation over Africa, her philosophy and her past. Rather, it is an intellectual exercise of Africa and African philosophers to appreciate Africa’s historical and socio-cultural identity of which most of them have even been denied the benefits of a critical analysis to determine their constructive values. Africa has been neglected, suppressed and sometimes completely disregarded.
THE CHALLENGES OF THE AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE 16TH TO 19TH CENTURY
More so than other philosophical traditions, African philosophy struggles with a central tension within its very name. The major challenge of African philosophy down the 16th to 19th century is the problem of affirmation regarding the concept of the African philosophy and the question of criticality. Is there something both uniquely African and fundamentally philosophical within African culture or tradition. However, African philosophy down the ages was challenged to fighting the defensive battle imposed by European thought as it dismisses African philosophy as legitimate.
Yet another challenge of African philosophy within the 16th to 19th century issues of slavery and colonialism. Colonization and slavery made the worst of history in Africa. These two events marked the experiences of Africa. Superiority was tagged based on the skin colour, Africa was thus characterized as inferior and primitive, and thought as having an infantile mentality. All these are effects of man’s inhumanity and brutality to a fellow man thought to be less human; an effect of man using his fellow being as a means to an end. This did not only challenge the African philosophy, it equally challenged and indeed affected the value of the human person.
The issue of slavery had a very big negative impart and effect on the African philosophy of the 17th -19th century during which the activities of slavery and colonization took place. As a matter of courtesy, the African kings gave away slaves to the westerners. It was not clear to them at the very first beginning what they are causing the African mind and race in general. The transatlantic slave presented a scenario where Africans sold themselves as slaves, this greatly affected the African philosophy because it is taken that Africans lack reason and basic logic. First, slavery brought a decline of the African population, and a shift in the conception and definitions of values and concepts like freedom, violence, rape, justice, dehumanization, deprivation and right.
Africa had a problem of integrity with regard to talking bad of slavery. Africans were not conscious of the fact that they are giving away their right, and it was unreasonable for Africans to participate in making themselves slave, and based on this fact, it was asserted that the African mind is not reasonable and logical enough to embark or participate on a philosophical journey. The participation of Africans in the transatlantic slave trade made it unreasonable to restore the situation of Africa, and the image of their philosophy.
Colonization brought a new way of viewing African which also affected the image of African and its philosophy. This displaced the old system of African order and calibration. Colonialism was more wicked, systematic and premeditated, and thus has more effects that slavery. With colonialism, African was made to have an instrumental value to the westerners. The western colonization of Africa is beyond economic reason and, it affected the philosophy of the people also.
***The effects of colonialism and slavery in African philosophy


[1] Sogolo, G.S., 1990. “Options in African Philosophy”, Philosophy, Vol.65, No.251, pp: 39.
[2] Hountondji, P.J., 1983. African Philosophy: Myth and Reality, (London: Hutchinson University Library for Africa,
1983), pp: 11.

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