Understanding African Philosophy: A Cross-cultural Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues

by Bell,Richard H.

• ISBN13: 9780415939379
• ISBN10: 0415939372
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781135948658
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-04-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Understanding African Philosophyserves as a critical guide to some of the most important issues in modern African philosophy. Richard Bell introduces readers to the complexity of Africa, the legacy of colonialism, the challenges of post independence Africa, and other recent developments in African Philosophy. Chapters discuss the value of African oral and written texts for philosophy, concepts of "negritude," "African socialism," and "race," as well as current discussions in international development ethics connected to poverty and human suffering. Two chapters are focused on moral issues related to community, justice, and civic responsibility. Bell's sensitivity to and engagement with the complications of cross-cultural understandings help non-African readers connect with African culture and thought.

Author Biography

Richard H. Bell is Frank Halliday Ferris Professor of Philosophy at The College of Wooster

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xvii
Understanding Another Culture	1	(20)
Understanding Others and Ourselves
A Procedure from an Aesthetic Point of View
``Found in Translation''
Foundations of Modern African Philosophy	21	(16)
Ethnophilosophy and the ``Negritude'' Movement
Critical, Scientific Philosophy
Sage Philosophy
Liberation and Postcolonial African Philosophy	37	(22)
African Humanism and Socialism
Postcolonial African Thought
The Question of ``Race''
African Moral Philosophy I: Community and Justice	59	(26)
Persons, Individualism, and Communalism
Suffering and Injustice
Poverty and Human Development
African Moral Philosophy II: Truth and Reconciliation	85	(24)
Linking Communalism, Ubuntu, and Restorative Justice
Understanding the Grammar of Justice after Apartheid
``Not All Storytelling Heals'': Criticisms of the TRC Process
Justice and Political Transformation
Narrative in African Philosophy: Orality and Icons	109	(26)
The Philosophical Significance of Oral Narratives
Rational Dialogue, Democracy, and the Village Palaver
Finding Pictures and Fictitious Narratives ``Surprising''
Iconic Forms and the Aesthetic Consciousness Revisited
Some Concluding Remarks	135	(4)
Notes	139	(32)
Bibliography	171	(12)
Index	183