What is African Philosophy?

• Published in: Ars & Humanitas
• Main Author: Pirc, Tadej
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani / University of Ljubljana Press 2018
• Subjects: African philosophy; ethno-philosophy; philosophic sagacity; nationalist-ideological philosophy; professional philosophy; afriška filozofija; etnofilozofija; filozofske modrosti; nacionalistično-ideološka filozofija; profesionalna filozofija; sami
• Online Access: https://journals.uni-lj.si/arshumanitas/article/view/8007; https://doi.org/10.4312/ars.12.1.189-203

The article focuses on the concept of African philosophy. I enter the discussion with some of the earliest texts that we can classify both as philosophical and of African origin. I proceed with an overview of four approaches to philosophising in Africa, as identified by Henry Oruka (ethno-philosophy, philosophic sagacity, nationalist-ideological philosophy, and professional philosophy) and, in reference to other categorisations, emphasise the critique by Peter Bodunrin, who attributes the status of true philosophy exclusively to professional or academic philosophy. The explication makes it evident that the question of African Philosophy is in essence the question of Philosophy itself. Članek se osredotoča na pojem afriške filozofije. Razpravo pričnem z nekaterimi zgodnjimi deli, ki jih lahko opredelimo kot filozofska in hkrati afriškega izvora. Nadaljujem s pregledom štirih pristopov k filozofiranju v Afriki, kot jih je razbral Henry Oruka (etnofilozofija, filozofske modrosti, nacionalistično-ideološka filozofija in profesionalna filozofija), ter v navezavi z drugimi kategorizacijami izpostavim kritiko Petra Bodunrina, ki status prave filozofije pripiše le profesionalni oziroma akademski filozofiji. Med eksplikacijo se izkaže, da je vprašanje afriške filozofije bistveno vpraševanje po filozofiji sami.