A Contemporary Revolution of African Philosophy

"The controversy over what constitute an African philosophy, tends to dominate so much that it forms almost the entire content of the discourse"(Godwin Sogolo). African philosophy, indeed is rooted in African culture and religion, just as how Greek philosophy is rooted  in the theological postulations of Homer and Hesiod. Also,  contemporary African philosophy as an academic enterprise, has grown out of this traditional foundation, just like Greek philosophy. But there is still a leap of backwardness in the enterprise of African philosophy. Historically speaking, African philosophy arose as a mild reaction to the incessant eurocentric claims of the Europeans. They simply regarded Africans as savages, hybrids(people who had lost the virtues of their culture, and are incapable of comprehending European culture), primitives, incapable of doing philosophy, and so on. Ever since then, what African philosophers have tried to do over the years, is debunk the claims of these eurocentric scholars. However, contemporary African philosophy should grow out of the activity of proving the authenticity and existence of African philosophy. Contemporary African philosophy ought to be a matured discipline that has passed the stage of proving to non-Africans, it content and existence. It is time we focus on making African philosophy a critical and rigorous academic discipline. In fact, there is an iota of truth in the claim that being occupied with the task of making African philosophy a critical and rigorous academic discipline, is an indirect way of proving the existence of a genuine African philosophy, to the Eurocentric scholars. All these and more forms the main thrust of this paper. However, it is important to begin this discourse with a detailed analysis of the history of African philosophy, after which we shall delve into the inauguration of certain schemes that are bent on making African philosophy a critical and rigorous academic discipline.

Early History of African Philosophy:
It was Aristotle who claimed that philosophy started with wonder and curiosity. But African philosophy on this march, arose from the mild reactions of African scholars against the incessant eurocentric claims of the European scholars. In the wake of European imperialism in Africa 1841, the Europeans simply regarded African culture as being barbaric and uncivilized. Hence, their mission became to westernize Africa. To fulfil this, they embarked on a radical permeation of western religion, which came at a price of western education. Most Africans accepted this offer at that time. They were also told to abandon their native names and adopt foreign names. But even after being educated, the Europeans began to discriminate against them. In fact, the Europeans conceived them as inferior. They also called them "Hybrids". They became victims of Self-deceit.

Grappled with this turn of events, Africans began to clamour for a return to their indigenous culture. They began to search for a common African identity. It was at this point that African philosophy as a systemic enterprise, was born. We need to be careful here. The history of African philosophy can be broadly divided into two Eras; Pre-systematic and Systematic. The former refers to traditional African thought characterized by wise sayings, folktales, and proverbs, while the latter refers to a pure systemic enterprise. However, to go further into the discourse of early African philosophy, it is expedient to consider the four trends in African philosophy by the Kenyan philosopher, Henry Odera Oruka.

Trends in African Philosophy:
Ethno Philosophy-
This trend presents the discourse of African philosophy as a mere description of African traditional thought. It sprung up as an attempt to defend the existence of African philosophy, before the advent of the European colonialists. It presents a communal belief amongst Africans, as what African philosophy ought to be. For them, African philosophy is simply an enterprise bent on extracting the philosophical elements imbedded in traditional African thought. Scholars in this school of thought occupied themselves with debunking the assertions of the Eurocentric scholars, and to make the African culture and worldview more comprehensible  to European scholars. These scholars include; Placid Tempels, J.S Mbiti, Bolaji Idowu, just to mention a few.

Unfortunately this trend has been heavily criticized. The most popular of these critics, Paul Hountondji, has criticized the trend for rendering a grotesque view of the two senses of philosophy. For him, philosophy in the strict sense refers to a strict academic enterprise, while in the loose sense refers an act of extracting philosophical elements from traditional thought. According to Hountondji, Ethno philosophers have simply reduced African philosophy to a loose sense. Hence, they should not be taken seriously.

Philosophical sagacity-
This trend developed as a response to the backlashes of ethno philosophy. Since ethno philosophy has been criticized for portraying African philosophy as mainly the study of myths, philosophers in this trend (philosophical sagacity), set out to establish and point out these traditional philosophers who were also capable of doing philosophy in the strict sense of the word. These traditional African Philosophers were called sages, and they were the master brain behind the wise sayings, folktales and proverbs in ancient African philosophy. According to the philosophers of this trend, there are also some sagacious philosophers in the contemporary period who are tasked with continuing their predecessor's work. African philosophers who belong to this trend include; C.S Momoh, Barry Hallen, Sodipo, Odera Oruka, and so on.

Unfortunately, just like the ethno philosophy trend, the philosophical sagacity trend has also been criticized. The major critique leveled against philosophical sagacity is the identification of the real owners of these wise sayings, folktales and proverbs. Since these ancient sages never wrote, and immediate African philosophers never wrote about them, locating them seems an impossible task.

Nationalism/Ideological Orientation-
This trend developed as a result of the colonial experiences of the Africans during the colonial period. At a time that witnessed the end of colonial dictatorship which subjugated Africans and placed them under duress, there was a permeation of a kind of philosophy that should restore Africa back to the way it was before the advent of the colonial masters. Nationalists faced intense pressure of postulating theories that could restore the Glory of Africa. In response to this, several theories sprung up. They include; Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa, Leopold Senghor's philosophy of Negritude, Kwame Nkrumah's Consciencism , and so on. However, this trend has also been heavily criticized. The major criticism leveled against this trend, borders around the fact that they all suffered a "Replacement Syndrome". In other words, they simply replaced their colonial masters and continued in the trend and footsteps, instead of leading Africa towards a new path.

Professional Philosophy-
The African philosophers of this trend argue that African philosophy must become a strict, critical and rigorous academic enterprise. In the light of this, they disregard the activities of ethno philosophers, who only occupy themselves with presenting proverbs and folk beliefs as the main content of African philosophy. This, for the professional philosophers, is tantamount to reducing African Philosophy to the loose sense of the word, which they frown at.

African Philosophy as a Critical and Rigorous Academic Discipline-
To begin with, this paper tilt towards the discourse of the professional philosophers. As earlier mentioned in the introductory paragraph of this paper, African philosophy is completely safe to have it foundation and root in traditional African culture. After all, Greek philosophy itself has it foundation in the religious and cultural postulations of Homer and Hesiod. Also, just like Greek philosophy, African philosophy has grown out of this debase and loose form of philosophy, into a more rigorous and academic enterprise.

Today, African philosophy as an academic enterprise, has African metaphysics, African epistemology, African ethics and African logic, as it core branches, just like Greek philosophy. But, unlike Greek philosophy, we do not have an "African Philosophy of Other Disciplines", where african philosophers can critically evaluate the grounds of other African disciplines and enterprises. Just as we have the philosophy of Psychology, Philosophy of Anthropology, Philosophy of Science, and so on in Greek philosophy, African philosophy ought to have also the African Philosophy of Economics(where the industrial and agricultural economy of Africa, will be critically interrogated by African philosophers), African Philosophy of History(where the history of Africa from ancient to contemporary periods will be interrogated), African Philosophy of Culture, African Philosophy of Science, African Philosophy of Law, and so on.

In the western milieu, there are two forms of philosophy; Informative Philosophy and Interrogative Philosophy. But in the African terrain, we only have an Informative Philosophy, African philosophers hardly venture into Interrogative Philosophy, which should be the main thrust of the African Philosophy of Other Disciplines. From antiquity, African philosophers have only described African philosophy. However, with the inauguration of this interrogative branch, African philosophy will indeed become a full fledged critical and rigorous academic discipline.

Conclusion-
African philosophers have been occupied with the task of proving the existence of African philosophy to the Eurocentric scholars. It is time we let them be. It is time we focus on making African philosophy a critical and rigorous academic discipline. Europeans will never stop denying the existence of African philosophy. If they could propound theories to prove that Africans were primitive, irrational, prelogical and incapable of doing philosophy, then they will stop at nothing to prove the non existence of African philosophy. African philosophers, unfortunately have become blinded by this. All they try to do is debunk the claims of these Europeans, without seeing the bigger picture. Hence, contemporary African philosophy must indeed become a matured discipline that has passed the stage of proving to the European scholars, it content and existence.

Thank You
Wale Giwa