who is an african philosopher? (By: Dabo Euclid)

                                                INTRODUCTION

            The non-universally accepted definition of philosophy and the multi-dimensional activities termed philosophical makes it an interesting discourse in arguing for, or against the existence of philosophy among a group of people or a community.

            Running through the ages since man began to question the nature of the universe and the place of the human being in it, different people advance to express and give the meaning of philosophy in their various cultural, ideological and temperamental backgrounds. Some define philosophy from the ambient of their schools of thoughts, interest and epochs, others from their unque orientations and convictions. About be it religious, personal affiliations or socio-political bents. In spites of the impression with regards to the definitions of philosophy, most scholars would still see it as a critical enterprise; a quest to find through a rational, systematic and ordered inquiry, general into the nature of man.

            The delineation of this work will be to see if Africa is included in the controversial intellectual discipline of philosophy and the reasons for such position.

                       

 

 

DEFINATION OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY AND THE PRROPOUNDERS OF AFRICA PHILOSOPHY

African philosophy is a philosophy produced by African people, philosophy which presents African worldviews, or philosophical methods.

            African philosophy can be formally defined as a critical thinking by Africans on their experiences of reality. K.C.   Anyanwu defined African philosophy as “that which concerns itself with the way in which  African people of the past and present, make sense of their destiny and of the world in which they live”  African philosophy is any philosophy produced by Africans or by people of African descent; and others engaged in critiques or analysis of their works.

THE EXISTANCE OF AFRICA PHILOSOPHY

            It was Aristotle that said “man is a rational animal”. The rationality of man appeals to his inherent nature to probe, seek to know about reality and to make evaluate judgment about the daily activities of his life. Fundamentally, man is a seeker of meaning, he seeks to know about what goes on around him and why things happen the way they do. The propensity to carry out inquiry of some sort seems so irresistible in man that he could be well termed a ‘meaning’-seeking-animals’. Thus the notion of philosophy as a formal exercise of reason, innate in all men implicates every man in every culture as possessing the capacity or ability to philosophize.

            It can be establish from the foregoing thus that philosophy in a way, is a universal experience from the various definitions of philosophy. In this sense, people sheared a common experience within a given experience and this phenomenon is found in every culture irrespective of time or place, thus everyone in every culture is a ‘natural philosopher’. The African man being not an exception, philosophical speculation also exists among the African thinkers original to them. They also reflected on the fundamental questions arising from human experience and life in general. It becomes debatable who were the original authors of this ideas, insights, world-views and ideologies owing to the problem of lack of initial documentation of such philosophies. However, it is given, that this works were a brain-child of individuals before they were diffused to societal idiosyncrasies. For instance, the ‘Aan’ concept of the human person described by W.E Abraham and winedu; the human person is made up of five elements namely nipadua, (a body),  Okra (a soul), the sun sum (the part of man that account for his character), ntoro ( the part of man past from the father) which is the basis of inheritance and the Magyar (the part that becomes a ghost after death). Granted the basis of such doctrines and teachings could have emanated from mythology, the Africans must have in a way critically examined the mysteries surrounding human life, and tried to rationalized answers to such puzzles ending in such wise-sayings, fables, proverbs and religious doctrines. We could thus say that every man began with this approach to explain the universe and thus, making Africa more typical.

                                   

A HISTIORY OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

1)      THE ANCIENT PERIOD:

North Africa produced eminent philosophers in the first few centuries of the Christian era. Some of which are Tertullian, clement of Alexandria, Origen and St. Augustine of Hippo. However, some were more of theologians and philosophers of the Catholic Church. Two factors influenced and shaped their philosophy, these factors are: Christian religion and the Greek philosophy.

            How ever, they were primarily theologians who made use of philosophy as a tool to theology. It most be noted that these African philosophers, especially, St. Augustine exercised a considerable influence on western philosophy during the middle Ages. In the later ages up to the present day, philosophers still make reference to the works of Augustine.

2)      THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Philosophical speculations in the medieval era were more or less distinctly known due to lack of documentation and writing. However, this does not mean that there were no intellectual activities ensuing in Africa. The typical African was stroked with wonder about the activities of his entire life.

3)      CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY

Contemporary African come with the on set of western civilization and the development of critical thinking. In this period, philosophy generally reflects the socio-political situation of its time and place socio-political situation generally raise many questions in the minds of people. And this gave rise to reflection and philosophizing. Hence, there is always a close connection between the socio-political situation of a place at a given time and the philosophy of that place at that particular period.

            African was divided among European countries for the purpose of exploitation, subjugation and domination. European countries became masters of African nations and owners of everything in Africa which was of any value. The reign of government were forcefully seized from African rulers by new rulers and self appointed masters. However, this situation was destined to come to an end of nationalist in Africa. Men like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, having acquired higher education abroad came home and began nationalist movements and aimed at putting an end to colonialism in Africa. This was the beginning of the end of colonial exploitation and domination in Africa . this is the certain of contemporary African philosophy. Among the leading of contemporary African philosophers are Kwasi Wiredu Leopolds. Senghor, Jelius Nyerere, Azikiwe, Awolowo, Kwame Nkrumah.

EXPLICATION OF TERMS

        i.            God

      ii.            Death

    iii.            Immortality

        i.            God in the context of African philosophy

From ongoing work, African concept of God has arisen from a vary close relationship with nature and dependence on the land. Through perception of God vary widely among different peoples, God is generally re-organized as one Supreme Being, at the trip of hierarchy of lesser duties, and ancestors who are also thought to play a role in guarding and protecting men. Moreover, in traditional African societies, the representation of God is nature and the universe, and creation is believed to be the best evidence of Gods supremacy. Perhaps, God is associated with the sky or heaven and sometimes, with the sun. However, God is not conceived of as anthropomorphic, but he is believed to transcend all boundaries. No one can actually say that this is what God look like and it is beyond human understanding.

      ii.            God as Creator and Eternal Life

We know that God has never worked and we cannot imagine him doing any form of work. We can learn about his actions through myths and stories. There is neither a modality in doing or the creating or God, nor a human logic to it. However, the problem of God remains a central theme in our human reflection.

            Many invoke God’s benediction, goodness and friendship as the creator through rites, custom and prayer. The permeability of the religious sense and aim of life is God. In other to find the meaning of life, one must look towards God through the marvels of his creation in the midst of the people. The God of the Africans is a God of the community or tribe and never a God exclusively addressed to a single person.

            Up to now we have already become aware, that the reality of God does not constitute a

Problem for African thought. The question about God is not “who is God?” since he always dwells among the people and all that one has and knows comes from God, such as descendants, cattle’s, harvest and many others. The African has a dynamic conscept of God. God always has a face. He lives with the people and reveals himself through his goodness and generosity. No one can know anything without the presence of God, even if this presence is implicit and Man is un-aware of it.

    iii.            The Divine, the Divinities

The world created by God manifest itself as a Divinity. Often Africans are accused o f idolatry and the cult of planets, the answer to this accusation should be found in this idea of incorruptibility, which recalls the idea of eternity and immortality proper to the African people. The notion of eternity always implies the idea of the Divine is an object of cult and contemplation. The world participates in the nature of divinity and what ever it generates can be made divine. The whole process reaches its peak when human beings are considered as been divine. In facts, it is believed that there is a special kind of divine presence in these persons so much, so that they are considered worthy, of veneration. This cult is never on a family basis because God is worshiped only in the community not in private.

            All those who love the divine come to know God, gain his friendship and enter into a lasting relationship with him. We can say that all that is incorruptible is an African divinity; such a divinity is what assures and guarantees eternity. The consequences of this is that the divine and the divinity are not gods but a stage or face in the union with God. A divinity remains the external object of a spiritual experience of the people or an intellectual experience of an individual. African divinities are things or object made divine and are object of cult.

    iv.            The Sacred, the Sacrifice and the Cult.

African divinities are places, objects or characters made divine to give the people the opportunity to practice their worshipping fitting to their God. Such places and object are defined as “sacred” each village has its own place of worship in which the inhabitant can pray and offer sacrifices to their God. These places are normally left untouched and they are not cultivated for daily livelihood. Thus, we can find the sacred forest, the sacred statue (juju), the sacred or the sacrificial tree. Many tribes consider as been sacred, animals or plants even natural phenomenon particularly, related to a village, tribe or family. Among these, some are represented by a “totem”. The totem represents these beings as an object of worship.

            Sacrifices and cult:- The aim of the cult lies in the desire for union with God and for eternal life, immortality. Union with God is intensified every time the sacrificial acts is removed.  The sacrificial fruit, in case of an animal, is shared and eaten by all present. The animal is rendered sacred and therefore participates in the divine nature and life of God. Thus, those who partake of the sacrificial meat, participate collectively in the divinity and life of God. Through the participation in the sacrifice, all the people recognize one God, as their guide and above all, as the source of meaning.

Death and immortality

            African philosophy is concerned with the here and now. There is no distinction between the physical world and the spiritual world; the after life is regarded as simply continuation of life on earth with a few exceptions, most African religion do not poses judgment or punishment in the here after. There is no heaven or hell, and no desire for a closer contact or union with God. Believe in life after death is not associated with the hope for a better future or the idea of “salvation”. That is regarded as part of man’s destiny, a departure in which the physical body decides but the spiritual moves on to another state of existence. The “birth” of a person is regarded as a long process which is not complete until puberty, adolescent, and in some groups, even until marriage and the birth of a first child. Only then is a man or woman considered a “complete” person. Immorality is associated with a persons name and with the collective memory of their family. As long as there is someone alive, who can remember a deceased person, that person is considered as part of the “living death”. After no living person remember the name of a collective, community immortality. For this person, marriage and children are varying desirer able, as any descendant ensure the immorality of an individual.

                                               

 CONCLUSION

            The characteristic of African thinking is primarily anthropocentric. Man is at the center of life because he is the only one, among the living beings, who is in search of knowledge, asks sensible questions and above all, is able to find the meaning of life and give a meaning to events and his surrounding environment. The world owes its existence

to life, and man is the maker of life. In African tradition, the world is considered as the mother of all living beings, but man is always the highest form of these living beings. All other creatures find their meaningful existence in the presence of man in the world. At the same time, man finds his meaningful existence in spiritual dimensions through his relationship with others, the world and with God.

            The vital force, in virtue of its spiritual power is guarantee of the personality of the individual.

            When an African says everything comes from God and that everything moves toward God, he does not exclude himself from the “everything” man is, in the highest degree, a creature of man and that he will always remain. In order to truly understand who man is, the African questions God. Man remains a mystery to himself, if he is not thought of in relation with the world and with God.