WHAT
COULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE HISTORIC-BASE FOR THE MYTH IN AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY?
BY
MUOGBO MICHAEL.
SS/PP/2368
Being a Term Paper submitted to the
Department of Philosophy, Seminary of
Saints Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan, in Affiliation with the
University of Ibadan, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award
of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy (B.A. HONS.).
COURSE
AFRICAN
TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHY
COURSE
CODE
SS/PHL/212
LECTURER
MR.
ADEBAYO OGUNGBURE
DATE:
NOVEMBER, 2013.
INTRODUCTION
African
philosophy is a course designed to debunk the bases of the Eurocentric scholars
on the question of philosophy, but the issue to be discussed in this work is
not the question of an African philosophy but the historic bases for the myth
in the African philosophy. There is philosophy in Africa and the Africans have
philosophers for the singular virtue of the existence of their philosophy.
There is a mythology in African
philosophy and to this regard the myths must have a historical base for
existing as a part of the philosophy of the African man. [1]This
may be in contra-distinction to Odera Oruka and Kwasi Wiredu’s suggestion that
the mission of African philosophy in the contemporary world is a practical one.
It is not even simply a conceptual problem having much to do with the meaning
of cross-cultural concepts. [2]
Modern African thought, both in its imaginative ideological manifestations,
have been largely conditioned by the violent historical encounter of Africa
with the west. The formal can be as a result of the division between those
advocating for a strong western orientation in African philosophy, those that
held that the African system of thought cannot pass as philosophy because of
its lack of rigorous nature and criticality and those taking a deviant route,
advocating a strictly traditional and more indigenous approach in the sense
that their philosophical orientation is strictly African.[3] Up
to the present, ethnographers have denied all abstract thought to tribal
peoples. Cultures may be dear to the owners but the truth is dearest.
In the course of my discussion in
this term paper, I will state in elaboration what I consider to be the historic
bases for the existence of myth in the African philosophy but before I proceed
to the main concern of this work, it will be of relevance if I clarify the
concept of this term paper first, as to what each meant in its usage in this
paper.
CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION
In an attempt to clarify terms
conceptually with regards to this term paper, I need to make clarifications as
to what is an African philosophy, what do I mean by a myth and a historic base.
I would say that the concept of an African
philosophy is a philosophical practice of the African people which to
extents centers on or is faced with the issue of addressing the problematic of
the African mind. The question here is, African philosophy in this context, is
it referring to a particular group or division of African philosophers, as
there are ethno philosophy, sage philosophy, nationalist-ideological philosophy
and the professional philosophy. African philosophy is not just a cultural
enterprise of the Africans, it is a discipline which constitutes the
description of the African worldviews and representing the African indigenous
mode of thinking or philosophizing. It contradicts the notion that it is a
description of mere African cultural practices.[4] I
state as a personal view that the myth in the African philosophy is not a
constituent of the four divisions of African philosophy. Taking for instance, the
belief, philosophy and thought system of the African professional philosophy is
subjected to the realm of critical and logic examination. Stating this as a
premise, I do not see the reason why a myth should exist in a critically and
logically examined philosophy of the African professional philosophers. Myths are stories of the event of
ancient times especially the ones told to explain natural events or early
history of a particular people, place or culture. Myths in the African context,
offers insight to the nature of reality. [5]African
myths communicate an important paradox: the cosmos grounded in a fundamental
order and characterized by constant change and renewal. African mythology
depicts the cosmos as an entity; they express values, identify morals and
embody profound philosophical reflection. Myths retain their cultural
importance, even after they had come under attack from philosophers. Mythology
is linked to philosophy and other anthropology, it is a symbolic narrative usually
of unknown origin and at least partly traditional that ostensibly relates
actual events and it is always associated with belief. The historic bases, refers to those essential dynamic elements,
facts and forces that advocated or paved way for the mythical constituent or
for a mythology in African philosophy. Those are the forces that pushed it down
from its origin up to this contemporary period.
WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE THE
HISTORIC-BASE FOR THE MYTH IN AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
The influence of folklore elements
straddles philosophical space in modern African society. Although Ben Okri and
Ayi Kwei Armah represent a generation apart in modern African society, their
creative sensibilities in their texts tilt to a point of overlap when the contexts
and thematic thrusts are placed in the historical perspective. The two writers
draw on the ancestral cultural artifact and focus their creativity and vision
in a way to re-engage and textualise the dilemma of the present realities while
centralizing African experience in their philosophical endeavors. The element
of myths, legends and related oral texts that embed contemporary African philosophical
texts are sustained by the creative imagination and firm grasping of the cultural
order, skillfully invoked to energize the eloquence needed to articulate and
engage the memory of the post colonies.[6]
But then, while each of these mythic
representations of this aspect of African reality are open to serious
questioning and critical examination, this paper is concerned with a critical
examination of the basis of the claim that the existence of a distinct sense of
theorization and conceptualization of jurisprudence that is African and not
western is a myth. The several ways in which these myths have been represented
and projected constitutes the basis of the present work.
The
historical-base for the myth in African philosophy resulted in a series of
debates that ensued with regards to knowing if there is actually an African
philosophy or a mere story told, a myth. The existence of myth in the
philosophy of the African man is not as a result of ignorance, it is clearly
deliberate. With regards to the usual and exact sense of the term ‘myth’, it
clearly can be said to have its origin from the African ancestors but the
question here remains, what could be its historic-base, the origin from which
it emanated.
In a personal opinion, after a clear
and critical examination of some texts written about myth in African
philosophy, I will state below what I consider to be the historic-bases of the
myth in African philosophy.
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MYTHIC
REPRESENTATION OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY.
THE PROBLEMS OF WHAT IS CALLED
AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
There are certain problems inherent in the
African philosophy and these problems contributed to the myth in the African
philosophy thereby making it look as a non-existent philosophy. The issue here
is the bulk of materials called African philosophy by their authors, readers or
researchers genuinely philosophy and genuinely African philosophy? Such
materials include P. Tempel’s and A. Kagame’s Bantu philosophy, J. Mbiti’s African
Religions and Philosophy and other traditionally based narratives or
accounts of African thought pattern. Inclusive also are the political thoughts
of Senghor, Nkrumah, Nyerere, etc. are these African philosophy in an authentic
sense?[7]
The works of the authors mentioned
above are certainly meant to be an African philosophy in the sense of
showcasing the fundamental thought pattern, belief system and rationale of the
lives and actions of the African peoples. Nevertheless, their philosophical
status has been seriously challenged by authors like P. Hountondji, T.I Okere,
W.A Hart, J.E Wiredu, Peter Bodunrin, and Odera Oruka.
THE GREAT DEBATE
The debate on the existence of
African philosophy revolves around the intellectual exchanges between those
that argue that there is nothing like African philosophy and those that argue
contrary that there is an African philosophy.
The myth in African philosophy is as
a result of the debate that ensued between the ethno-philosophers and the
professional philosophers as to what shape or form will what is today referred
to as African philosophy take. What determines the contents of an African
philosophy; is it an integration of different traditional norms, values and
beliefs systems as propounded by the ethno-philosophers, or is it a critical
and logical analysis and debates about the African belief and thought system.
As a matter of presentation, “the
ethno-philosophers as termed by Paulin Hountondji are those anthropologists,
sociologists, ethnographers and philosophers who present the collective world
view of the African peoples, their myths and folk-lore and folk-wisdoms as
philosophy. They try describing a world outlook or thought system of a
particular or whole African society. They perceive African philosophy as
communal thought and give it emotional appeal as one of its features”[8].
This is opposed and in contradistinction to seeing African philosophy as a body
of logically and critically argued thoughts and debate by individuals as
propounded by the professional philosophers of Africa. The professional
philosophers took a universal view of philosophy, arguing that it must have the
same meaning in every culture though the subject of priority may be dictated by
cultural biases and existential situations and conditions within which a
philosopher airs his views. Some representative authors that wrote within the
confines or category of ethno-philosophy are Tempels, Senghor, Mbiti and
Kagame. This argument of consideration puts to question the real nature of what
is called African philosophy.
Knowledge that is nothing short of
contemptuous. I shall not be dealing with this attitude however but shall
concentrate on the substance of the argument. According to Wiredu, “it was a pervasive
trait of this indigenous [African] culture that enabled sparse groups of
Europeans to subjugate much larger numbers of Africans and keep them in colonial
subjection for many years, and which even now makes them a prey to
neo-colonialism. I refer to the traditional and non literate character of the
culture with its associated underdevelopment.” Wiredu adds, for good measure,
that “a culture cannot be both scientific and non-literate, for the scientific
method can flourish only where there can be recordings of precise measurement,
calculations and, generally, of observational data.” Wiredu then goes on to
distinguish between folk philosophy, written traditional philosophy and modern
philosophy. The first is called philosophy only in a loose, broad sense, since
without argument and clarification; philosophy in the strict sense does not
exist. Folk thought, is by far a preferable term for Wiredu than philosophy, is
hampered by non-discursiveness.[9] In
Africa, so called African philosophy (as distinguished from academic philosophy
in Africa) is nothing but traditional folk thought. Thus, for Wiredu, the
“African philosopher has no choice but to conduct his philosophical inquiries
in relation to the philosophical writings of other peoples, for his own
ancestors left him no heritage of philosophical writings”. Putting together
this and similar discussions in the literature, we can present the arguments
against oral traditions that purport to be philosophy, that is, ethno philosophy,
including Africa’s, in the following way (cf. ’the three negative claims’ of H.
Odera Oruka, xv-xvi). According to the argument, ethno philosophy is not
philosophy because:
(a)
Unlike philosophy which is the
product of an individual mind, ethno philosophy is basically the work of the
collectivity. In this sense, we can speak of traditional African philosophy in
the same way we can speak of traditional Indian philosophy and traditional
European or English philosophy, with this significant difference of course,
that there is a second order Indian philosophy represented by the written meditations
of the gurus which a modern Indian philosopher might rely on as a foundation
for a (third order) discourse. The English example is even more complicated by
Wiredu’s suggestion that in truth traditional English philosophy might in fact
refer to the philosophy of Hume (strangely enough a Scotsman) and the English
empirical tradition. In spite of all these foreign complications, the situation
regarding Africa as far as Wiredu is concerned is fairly straight forward:
individuals do philosophy in the true sense, the community or tribe does not;
since in Africa the traditional philosophy is the work of the collective, it
does not qualify as philosophy. Let us for the sake of simplicity call this the
Individualist or Subjectivist argument.[10]
(b)
Another reason why ethno philosophy
is not philosophy is that the former is not analytical, or expository or
discursive, these three terms being used rather synonymously. A collection of
proverbs, sayings and other wisdom literature do not constitute philosophy. To
clarify the point: Wiredu states clearly that philosophy occurs where there is
a thesis or argument, and there is a discussion or clarification. But as I
shall be arguing below, this statement is rather ambiguous. Is it the form
(prose) that constitutes the defining criterion here, or is it the structure
(thesis-counter thesis-conclusion or first premise-second premise or
premises-conclusion), that is, the syllogistic structure? Is each of these
criteria that is form or structure, sufficient; is any necessary? We shall call
this the Formal argument or argument from form.[11]
(c)
The third argument may be called
the Disciplinary or Epistemic argument or thesis. According to this argument,
ethno philosophy is not philosophy because it does not follow, in the words of
Masolo, the ‘rules of the game’, that is the rules of philosophic discourse.
Some questions immediately arise here: (i) what are these rules of philosophic
discourse; (ii) who makes them; (iii) are they the same as the formal or
structural requirements of (b); (iv) are these rules universal such that anyone
from any culture or language can recognize them, given an adequate translation,
or are these rules culture-specific but binding on all others in as much as
they come to the ‘game’ of philosophy? To come to the bald point without
further equivocation: is philosophy a specifically Western discourse or
discipline as indeed Hegel and Heidegger had claimed? This is the critical
question, the very heart of the debate. But let us proceed in a more systematic
manner and take each of these arguments in the order above. The view that
philosophy is not a group or collective activity but a practice of individual
investigators inquiring into an aspect of truth or reality is a subjective thesis.
It is subjective in the ordinary sense that philosophy is not out there, an anonymous
intellectual event or process. It is the expression of the thoughts and ratiocination
of a specific human subject. And because it is the subject who initiates and
carries out this activity, the content of the process is the expression of the subjectivity
of the inquirer. Philosophy, in this view, expresses the identity of the inquiring
subject. What we call philosophy is the discourse of a particular subject who
in and through this discourse expresses his or her subjective identity. The arguments
and clarifications, the thesis, even when they have nothing to do with the
actual workaday life of the subject as such, are nevertheless the work, the
inner work of a subject, and these cannot be expropriated from him or her. The
subject’s identity is embedded in the very act of thesis formulation.[12]
Man in his nature is a thinker and
from his thoughts about his environment and otherwise, he raises fundamental
questions. The myths also results as a fact that the life of a society is
organized according to what are accepted as the answer to the fundamental
questions raised. These answers may in fact be grounded in error and ignorance
though they are usually not questioned. Rarely do men turn around to criticize
them or feel the necessity to provide justifications for these beliefs and
thoughts without challenge. In Africa, the challenge to the traditional
worldviews and belief system came chiefly from contact with western Europeans.[13]
“Another factor, which stimulated
the debate on African philosophy, had to do with the process of social transformation
in Africa. This process of modernization, which, according to Kwasi Wiredu,
“entails change not only in the physical environment but also in the mental
outlook of our peoples[14],
generated a debate on the adequacy or inadequacy of African traditional
world-views for contemporary existence. At issue here are the questions of the
cultural and epistemological requirements for economic growth and social
development and the extent to which the intellectual resources of traditional
thought and culture could meet these requirements. It was the attempt to answer
these questions, which led to the general discussion on the role and direction
of African philosophy. It is this aspect of debate on African philosophy, which
has generated, at least for now, the most formidable literature in
post-colonial African philosophy.[15]
Hence, prior to the contemporary
African scholars’ exemplar works or writings on what, indeed, qualified to be
African philosophy, mere descriptive accounts and typical generalizations about
‘the traditional world-views of African people, which were predominantly
communal and largely unwritten,’ were taken as African philosophy. In
fact, as Wiredu puts it, the conception of African philosophy, which is largely
christened ‘ethno-philosophy’, was “implicit in the life, thought and talk of
the traditional African”. The statement of this conception of African philosophy
is found in the works of John Mbiti, who notes that “‘African Philosophy’ here
refers to the understanding, attitude of mind, logic and perception behind the
manner in which African peoples think, act or speak in different situations of
life.[16]”
This is the conception of African philosophy challenged by Oruka, Wiredu,
Bodunrin, Hountondji and Makinde etc. Arising from this challenge is the debate
on the possibility of African philosophy, a debate that took the central stage
in the larger part of the 1970s through to the 1990s[17].
The orientation of the contemporary African philosophers is based on the
assumption that philosophy is “a rational, critical study of which
argumentation and clarification are essential elements”. Hence, since the
documentation and records of African traditional thoughts, beliefs and
world-views do not share these essential elements; they are not ‘African
philosophy’. However, this does not suggest the denial of these thoughts,
beliefs and world-views as nonexistent, what is denied is that “the
unanalytical narratives of these (thoughts, beliefs and) world views given by
the scholars of the first orientation in African philosophy can produce an authentic
modern African philosophy”.[18]
The debate about African philosophy
being a real philosophy or a myth is based and primarily under the influence of
what one understands to be a myth and a philosophy in the actual sense of the
terms as they are being used. Hountondji argued that philosophy is a scientific
inquiry based on formal logic, rational argumentation and systematic method.
These are absent in traditional African philosophy. African (traditional)
philosophy is a myth and not a reality.[19]
AFRICAN SENSE OF DUTY AND
RESPONSIBILITY
This is the need felt by the
Africans of being duty-bound to reconstruct the thoughts of their four-fathers
because the Europeans never expected anything from us in cultural terms except
that we should offer her our civilization as showpieces and alienate ourselves
in a fictitious dialogue with her over the head of our own people.[20]
Motivated by the genuine need for an African philosophy, they have wrongly
believed that this philosophy lies in our past needing only to be exhumed and
then brandished like a miraculous weapon in the astonished face of colonialist
Europe. They did not see that African philosophy like African science or
African culture in general is before us not behind us and must be created today
by decisive action. Nobody would deny that this creation will not be effected
ex nihilo (out of nothing), that it will necessarily embrace the heritage of
the past and will therefore rather be a recreation.[21]
In an attempt to preserve the
African believe and thought system, they were petrified and mummified into
myths and presented as philosophy and topics for external consumption. It is an
objective of describing the features of African civilization for the benefits
of the European counterparts to secure a respect for African originality. In
the proves of these, an African philosophy concocted from extra-philosophical
materials consisting of tales, legends, dynastic poems etc were formed by
aggressively interpreting these cultural data, grinding them down to extract
their supposedly substantive marrow, turning them over and over in order to
derive what is possible.[22]
THE INABILITY OF THE BANTU
PHILOSOPHY TO GIVE A PHILOSOPHY OF AN AFRICAN ORIGIN:
The Bantu philosophy of Placide
Tempels which is said to be the first formal philosophy of the African was not
and did not address the Africans; it was rather focused to an European
audience. In an attempt to rehabilitate the notorious Bantu philosophy and
produce a philosophy strictly African, myths were employed. In trying to define
the African thought system and trying to codify a strictly African thought
system, African philosophy literatures were written but in an alienated form
which did not even solve the problem created by the Bantu philosophy. The myth
is as a result of the need; not just to talk about Africa but also to talk
among Africans. There is need to first and foremost write for an African public
and no longer an European public.
Deviating
from the inspirations of Tempels’ works, philosophic debates in Africa was
divided into different currents according to different authors. Olusegun
Oladipo made divisions of what he regarded as the analysts and traditionalists.
For him, the traditionalists are those who uphold the presence of philosophy in
the African tradition in general, including religion, proverbs, folk-lore and
myth.[23]
While the analysts are those that held that philosophy is a special kind of
academic discipline that is not to be sought wherever there is culture. Odera
Oruka made a detailed division, while including the earlier mentioned two,
expanded it to four, including ethno philosophers (traditionalist),
professional philosophers (analysts), nationalist ideologists and sage philosophers.
These are intellectual classifications in contemporary African philosophy[24].
What Tempels and Kagame present to
us may be philosophy, but not African because they are not Africans. They
presented their philosophy as Bantu philosophy.
THE FIRST AFRICAN PHILOSOPHERS WERE
NOT PROFESSIONALS:
The
post colonial era in African philosophy was a period of professionalism. Yet,
paradoxically, the philosophical doctrines of this period have been propounded
by non-professionals than professionals. These philosophies of the
non-professionals have influenced the thought system of many Africans before
and after independence, while those propounded by the professionals after
independence is still struggling to make its way to the African thought system.
Most of the non-professionals are termed philosophers due to historical
circumstances. The philosophy thought by the non-professional philosophers
before independence, had myths as a constituting factor and one of the major
elements of it.[25]
Myth in the African philosophy also
is as a result of clarifying the origin of philosophy whether philosophy
originated from Greek or ancient Egypt. This is a case for the myth of the
stolen legacy. Trying to explain and clarify the fact that philosophy actually
started on the African continent and specifically in Egypt. The formal is on
the bases of the claim that philosophy was taught in temples by ancient
Egyptian priests were the first Greek philosophers are said to have studied.
THE UNWRITTEN NATURE OF AFRICAN
PHILOSOPHY:
There is no proper documentation of
the ideas of African philosopher before independence and immediately after
independence for present and future purposes as a reference point. This problem
has motivated the denial of the existence of African thought system, belief or philosophy
THE PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE:
The African philosophy as it is
claimed to be African in nature is not always presented in an African language
but often presented in a foreign language. If this is to be the case, nothing
authentic African would be presented because the language it is being presented
is not African. African thoughts in foreign language seem more or less a
non-African; it loses the African nature of it.
THE PROBLEM OF LOGICALITY AND
RATIONALITY:
What is believed to be a traditional
African thought always does not follow the rules of logic; it always does not
pass critical evaluation and rationality. On the bases of this problem, going
with the formal principles of Aristotelian logic, ‘it is the only way through
which all human experiences across cultures should be assessed and examined.
Using this as criteria to judge intelligibility and rationality, the human
society is divided into those with primitive mentality and those with civilized
mentality. On the bases of this, those who operate within the principles and
laws of formal logic are mentally advanced, and those who do not operate within
the principles of formal logic are not mentally advanced. Since Africa
obviously falls to the latter group, the argument is that they are not mentally
developed, they cannot be philosophical, they can rather be mythological.
CONCLUSION:
At the end of this examination of
the historic-bases of the myth in African philosophy, I would say that African
philosophy is an in-depth of African realities and as they relate to others has
come down the ages to our contemporary time. The reflection includes
environmental, political, epistemological, religious and ethical aspects of the
life of the African people.
These reflections provide the
material objects of wonder, responding and questioning the challenges that are
presented by reality. In the history of the origins of African philosophy, time
has been taken to debate on the issue of whether there is an African philosophy
or not. Authors like Paulin Hountondji and Odera Oruka are not aware of what is
present in African philosophy, owing partly to Eurocentricism in their
education and the stolen legacy of regarding what is authentically African to
be western oriental. The manner used by these authors in rejecting African
traditional philosophy as being philosophy must be replaced by a more
reasonable view of philosophy as a discipline.[26]
The
debate was not totally useless as it made a deep inquiry in to the research of
what is called African philosophy. Even questioning the existence of an African
philosophy, “is there an African philosophy?” is a contribution to it.[27]
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BIAKOLO,
EMEVWO. “On the Theoretical Foundations
of Orality and Literacy.” Research in African Literatures, Vol. 30,
No 2 (Summer 1999).
FRANCIS
OGUNMODEDE (Ed.). African philosophy down
the ages, Hope Publications Ibadan, Nigeria. 2004.
H. ODERA ORUKA, “The Fundamental Principles in the Question
of African Philosophy”, Second Order, Vol.
IV. No. 1, 1975.
HOUNTONDJI, P. African philosophy, myth and reality, London: Hubtchinson univ.
Lib. 1974.
J.
OBI OGUEJIOFOR. Philosophy and the
African predicament. Hope Publication, Ibadan, Nigeria. 2001.
KWASI
WIREDU, philosophy of an African culture.
Cambridge university press, 1980.
KWASI
WIREDU. Conceptual decolonization in
African philosophy. 4 essays.
Hope Publication, Ibadan, Nigeria. 1995.
L. NJINYA-MUJINYA (Ed.) The African mind a journal of religion and
philosophy in Africca, vol. 1 No. 1,1989. Orbitas Publishers.
M.F
ASIEGBU AND J.C. AGBAKOBA (Ed.). Four decades of philosophy. Hope
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OKPEWHO, ISIDORE. ‘Myth and Rationality in Africa’.
In Ibadan Journal of Humanistic Studies, No. 1 (April), 1981
OLUSEGUN
OLADIPO (Ed.). Core issues in African
philosophy, Hope Publication, Ibadan< Nigeria.2006.
OLUSEGUN OLADIPO. Idea of an African philosophy, Hope
Publications, Ibadan, Nigeria. 2000.
PANTALEON
IROEGBU. Enwisdomization and African philosophy (two selec5ed essays).
International university press,1994.
PANTALEON
IROEGBU. Enwisdomization and African philosophy (two selec5ed essays).
International university press,1994.
PAULIN
HOUNTONDJI. African philosophy. Broadway,
New south Wales 2007.
PAULIN
HOUNTONDJI. Le mythe de la philosophie
spontance. In cahiers philosophiques African . no 1 (lumbumbashi, 1972).
The
Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.2, no.3, March 2008
The
Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.2, no.3, March 2008
TSENAY
SEREQUEBERHAN (ed.) African Philosophy:
The Essential Readings. New York paragon house. 1991.
V.
Y. MUDIMBE, the intention of Africa:
philosophy, Gnosis and the order of knowledge, Indiana Univ. press, 1988.
[1]
Olusegun Oladipo. Idea of an African
philosophy, Hope Publications, Ibadan, Nigeria. 2000. pg 112.
[2]
Francis Ogunmodede (Ed.). African
philosophy down the ages, Hope Publications Ibadan, Nigeria. 2004. pg 361.
[3]
L. Njinya-Mujinya (Ed.) The African mind
a journal of religion and philosophy in Africca, vol. 1 No. 1,1989. Orbitas
Publishers. pg 12.
[4]
M.F Asiegbu and J.C. Agbakoba (Ed.). Four decades of philosophy. Hope
Publications, Ibadan, Nigeria. 2008. pg 78.
[5]
Microsoft encarta 2009
[6]
Okpewho,
Isidore. ‘Myth and Rationality in Africa’. In Ibadan Journal of Humanistic
Studies, No. 1 (April), 1981.
[7]
Pantaleon Iroegbu. Enwisdomization and
African philosophy (two selected essays). International university press, 1994. pg 129
[8]
Paulin hountondji. Le mythe de la
philosophie spontance. In cahiers philosophiques African . no 1
(lumbumbashi, 1972).
[9] The Journal of Pan African
Studies, vol.2, no.3, March 2008
[10]
[10] Biakolo, Emevwo. “On the Theoretical Foundations of Orality
and Literacy.” Research in African Literatures, Vol. 30, No 2
(Summer 1999): 42-65.
[11]
ibid
[13]
Tsenay Serequeberhan (ed.) African
Philosophy: The Essential Readings. New York paragon house. 1991.
[14]
Kwasi Wiredu, philosophy of an African
culture. Cambridge university press, 1980 pg x
[15]
Olusegun Oladipo (Ed.). Core issues in
African philosophy, Hope Publication, Ibadan< Nigeria.2006.
[16]
H. Odera Oruka, “The Fundamental Principles in the Question of African Philosophy”, Second Order, Vol. IV.
No.
1, 1975.
[17] The Journal of Pan African
Studies, vol.2, no.3, March 2008
[18] ibid
[19]
Hountondji, P. African philosophy, myth
and reality, London: Hubtchinson univ. Lib. 1974, p.1.
[20]
Paulin Hountondji. African philosophy. Broadway,
New south Wales 2007. pg 52
[21]
Ibid, pg 53
[22]
Ibid, pg 50
[23]
J. Obi Oguejiofor. Philosophy and the
African predicament. Hope Publication, Ibadan, Nigeria. 2001.
[24]
V. Y. Mudimbe, the intention of Africa:
philosophy, Gnosis and the order of knowledge, Indiana Univ. press, 1988,
pg. 173-174.
[25]
Kwasi Wiredu. Conceptual decolonization
in African philosophy. 4 essays.
Hope Publication, Ibadan, Nigeria. 1995. pg 11
[26]
Pantaleon Iroegbu. Enwisdomization and African philosophy (two selected essays).
International university press,
1994. pg 160
[27]
ibid
