A Companion to African Philosophy

Copyright © 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

A Companion to African Philosophy

Editor(s): Kwasi Wiredu

Published Online: 26 NOV 2007

Print ISBN: 9780631207511

Online ISBN: 9780470997154

DOI: 10.1002/9780470997154

About this Book

Product Information

About The Product

This volume of newly commissioned essays provides comprehensive coverage of African philosophy, ranging across disciplines and throughout the ages.


  • Offers a distinctive historical treatment of African philosophy.
  • Covers all the main branches of philosophy as addressed in the African tradition.
  • Includes accounts of pre-colonial African philosophy and contemporary political thought.

Table of contents

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      Frontmatter (pages i–xx)

    1. Introduction: African Philosophy in Our Time (pages 1–27)

      Kwasi Wiredu

  3. Part I: HISTORY

    1. Chapter 1

      Egypt: Ancient History of African Philosophy (pages 29–49)

      Théophile Obenga

    2. Chapter 2

      African Philosophers in the Greco-Roman Era (pages 50–65)

      D. A. Masolo

    3. Chapter 3

      Precolonial African Philosophy in Arabic (pages 66–77)

      Souleymane Bachir Diagne

    4. Chapter 4

      Some Nineteenth-Century African Political Thinkers (pages 78–88)

      Pieter Boele Van Hensbroek

    5. Chapter 5

      Africana Philosophy: Origins and Prospects (pages 90–98)

      Lucius T. Outlaw

    6. Chapter 6

      Contemporary Anglophone African Philosophy: A Survey (pages 99–148)

      Barry Hallen

    7. Chapter 7

      Philosophy in South Africa Under and After Apartheid (pages 149–159)

      Mabogo P. More

    8. Chapter 8

      Philosophy in North Africa (pages 161–171)

      Mourad Wahba

    9. Chapter 9

      The Light and the Shadow: Zera Yacob and Walda Heywat: Two Ethiopian Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century (pages 172–182)

      Claude Sumner

    10. Chapter 10

      Zera Yacob and Traditional Ethiopian Philosophy (pages 183–190)

      Teodros Kiros

    11. Chapter 11

      Anton Wilhelm Amo (pages 191–199)

      William E. Abraham

    12. Chapter 12

      Amo's Critique of Descartes' Philosophy of Mind (pages 200–206)

      Kwasi Wiredu

    13. Chapter 13

      Albert Luthuli, Steve Biko, and Nelson Mandela: The Philosophical Basis of their Thought and Practice (pages 207–215)

      Mabogo P. More

    14. Chapter 14

      Frantz Fanon (1925–1961) (pages 216–224)

      Teodros Kiros

    15. Chapter 15

      Theory and the Actuality of Existence: Fanon and Cabrai (pages 225–229)

      Tsenay Serequeberhan

    16. Chapter 16

      Alexis Kagame (1912–1981): Life and Thought (pages 231–242)

      Liboire Kagabo

    17. Chapter 17

      Post-Independence African Political Philosophy (pages 243–259)

      Olúfémi Táíwò

  4. Part II: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

    1. Chapter 18

      Some Methodological Controversies in African Philosophy (pages 261–273)

      A. G. A. Bello

    2. Chapter 19

      Sage Philosophy: Its Methodology, Results, Significance, and Future (pages 274–281)

      Kibujjo M. Kalumba

  5. Part III: LOGIC, EPSTEMOLOGY, AND METAPHYSICS

    1. Chapter 20

      Logic in the Acholi Language (pages 283–295)

      Victor Ocaya

    2. Chapter 21

      Yoruba Moral Epistemology (pages 296–303)

      Barry Hallen

    3. Chapter 22

      Ifá: An Account of a Divination System and Some Concluding Epistemological Questions (pages 304–312)

      Olúfémi Táíwò

    4. Chapter 23

      Toward a Theory of Destiny (pages 313–323)

      Segun Gbadegesin

    5. Chapter 24

      On the Normative Conception of a Person (pages 324–331)

      Ifeanyi A. Menkiti

    6. Chapter 25

      African Conceptions of a Person: A Critical Survey (pages 332–342)

      Didier Njirayamanda Kaphagawani

    7. Chapter 26

      Quasi-Materialism: A Contemporary African Philosophy of Mind (pages 343–351)

      Safro Kwame

  6. Part IV: THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

    1. Chapter 27

      Religion in African Culture: Some Conceptual Issues (pages 353–363)

      Olusegun Oladipo

    2. Chapter 28

      Okot p'Bitek's Critique of Western Scholarship on African Religion (pages 364–373)

      Samuel O. Imbo

    3. Chapter 29

      Islam in Africa: Examining the Notion of an African Identity within the Islamic World (pages 374–383)

      Souleymane Bachir Diagne

  7. Part V: ETHICS AND AESTHETICS

    1. Chapter 30

      Some African Reflections on Biomedical and Environmental Ethics (pages 387–395)

      Godfrey B. Tangwa

    2. Chapter 31

      Ethics and Morality in Yoruba Culture (pages 396–403)

      John Ayotunde Isola Bewaji

    3. Chapter 32

      Aesthetic Inquiry and the Music of Africa (pages 404–414)

      Kofi Agawu

    4. Chapter 33

      Art and Community: A Social Conception of Beauty and Individuality (pages 415–424)

      Nkiru Nzegwu

    5. Chapter 34

      The Many-Layered Aesthetics of African Art (pages 425–432)

      Ajume H. Wingo

  8. Part VI: POLITICS

    1. Chapter 35

      Government by Consensus: An Analysis of a Traditional Form of Democracy (pages 433–442)

      Edward Wamala

    2. Chapter 36

      Democracy, Kingship, and Consensus: A South African Perspective (pages 443–449)

      Joe Teffo

    3. Chapter 37

      Fellowship Associations as a Foundation for Liberal Democracy in Africa (pages 450–459)

      Ajume H. Wingo

    4. Chapter 38

      Economic Globalism, Deliberative Democracy, and the State in Africa (pages 460–471)

      George Carew

    5. Chapter 39

      Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Violence (pages 472–482)

      Ali A. Mazrui

    6. Chapter 40

      Western and African Communitarianism: A Comparison (pages 483–498)

      D. A. Masolo

    7. Chapter 41

      Human Rights in the African Context (pages 499–508)

      Francis M. Deng

    8. Chapter 42

      The Politics of Memory and Forgetting After Apartheid (pages 509–518)

      Pieter Duvenage

    9. Chapter 43

      The Question of an African Jurisprudence: Some Hermeneutic Reflections (pages 519–526)

      John Murungi

  9. Part VII: SPECIAL TOPICS

    1. Chapter 44

      Knowledge as a Development Issue (pages 527–537)

      Paulin J. Hountondji

    2. Chapter 45

      African Philosophy and African Literature (pages 538–548)

      Anthony Kwame Appiah

    3. Chapter 46

      Philosophy and Literature in Francophone Africa (pages 549–558)

      Jean-Godefory Bidima and Nicolas De Warren

    4. Chapter 47

      Feminism and Africa: Impact and Limits of the Metaphysics of Gender (pages 560–569)

      Nkiru Nzegwu

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      Index (pages 570–587)

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