INTRODUCTION
The
issue of African philosophy and its existence has been a controversial issue
among philosophers of both African and non-African alike. As a distinct
intellectual quest, philosophy abounds with different problems. Likewise,
different systems or modes of philosophic inquiries exhibit different problems
at different times. African philosophy is no exception; it is not devoid of
problems. Even though it’s life span as vigorous intellectual activity in
African universities and beyond is short, yet it has given rise to salient
problems which have split philosophers interested in the discipline into
opposite warring camps. However, this paper is an attempt to survey the
problems of colonialism and language/hermeneutics in African philosophy.
WHAT IS AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy
in general sense of the concept refers to the critical reflection of human
beings on the problem of their existence and essence. In a similar way, it can
be seen as a rational, critical and a systematic reflection or study on the
nature of the world of man and his position and goal in the world. African
philosophy is therefore the activities of African people in this respect. “It
is the rational, critical, systematic reflection or inquiry on African
experience and our interpretation of the perceived and conceived experience”[1].
African philosophy as an activity is built on the spirit of metaphysical and
spiritual orientation, which is more of co-existence with nature rather than
conquest, more of collectivism rather than individualism.
LANGUAGE/HERMENEUTICS: A challenge to African
philosophy
Language
is the tool and primary medium of philosophical expression, it is the vehicle
of the philosopher’s thought and it plays an important role in the way people
know and understand. Language
is one of the trails that direct thinking back into the region of its source.
The language of a people is said to be the principle feature that marks them
off from other people; it is their essence and authenticity. However, I can say
that language is a social and cultural phenomenon used in communication. It is
a mode of communication by which a group of people conceptualize and verbalize
their perception of reality in a certain way. The idea of African philosophy
has given rise to the problem of language. The argument here is that for a
philosophy to be truly African, the language and form in which it is expressed
must be African. A great deal of African experience of language or African philosophy is orally
expressed, and it finds its full expression in some of their proverbs and
folklores which are at the deposal of few Africans. The language of proverbs
brings man into the mainstream of the tradition and the community, where it
holds sway: so language is an indispensible part of philosophy.
I
charge the so-called Western philosophers with the offence of raping our
indigenous African languages, yet, claiming that Africans have no philosophy
because they have no culture. Now, an average Igbo-African cannot express
himself in his native language for hours without the inclusion of English
language. But our languages are not totally lost: it is there that we find the indispensible
philosophical assumptions. It is the indigenous languages that really take care
of issues of identity, feelings, empathy and meaning. Hence, a genuine African
philosophy should be expressed in African language. No wonder why some
philosophers, in telling the experiences of their world, hold tenaciously,
their native languages. Heidegger is an example; he kept using the Greek “logos” in his work “On The Way To Language” because he could
not tolerate any language-aberration that distorts any meaning he was passing
on. He understood that “logos” has
more meaning than the conception of any ordinary man.
Be it as it may, a non-African finds it
difficult in understanding the assumptions of African philosophy because he
finds it difficult understanding their (African) languages. Here comes the
problem of Hermeneutics (the theory of
interpretation), if one uses a language that does not make sense to the
international scholars, the meaning he ought to communicate would surely be
misinterpreted. This has been one of the fundamental problems African
philosophy encounters. Nevertheless, the
so-called classical philosophers should be conscientious in the matters of
African philosophy, realizing the fact that Africans should philosophize in
their native languages, no matter what. I also think that Africans have failed
to a great extent, when they failed to encourage the use of African languages
as the official means of instruction in their educational system; it has
constituted a lot of damages to African philosophy. Perhaps, I am not without
the knowledge that Africa is a continent of multiple languages: Nigerian alone
has more than 500 living languages. So to have a lingua franca in Nigeria,
practically seems impossible, not to talk of Africa.
COLONIALISM: A Problem to African
Philosophy
African
philosophy is at the root of the African’s authentic presence (African
experience) in the universe. The African experience of the world is itself the African
culture because culture is the people’s way of life; their beliefs, values,
norms, principles and the likes. Thus, a distortion of African culture is
itself, a distortion of African philosophy. This is because without culture,
there will not be philosophy and no wonder why Hegel would first say that
Africans have no culture, before he said that they (Africans) have no
philosophy.
It
is pitiable that what the so-called African-colonialism holds for Africans is
the imposition of a new political and economic order, the planting of
Christianity, and the result of this whole process of forceful imposition and
infusion of alien cultural modes and forms was the tragic infliction of all
sorts of conflicts. This entails the acculturation, not enculturation of the
African cultures by the colonizers: we Africans have almost lost our ancient
communities and have had a rape of our moral values and beliefs (our way of
life) by which our philosophy is transmitted from generation to generation. The
African colonizers set out to destroy the African self-confidence; they dinned
into the African mind with the idea that we were primitive, backward and
degraded. African native languages were called barbaric and our children were punished
in the school for speaking their own language. Now colonialism has rewired the
“brain-box” of many Africans that they now hold western ideas, scientific innovations,
etc. superior to theirs, and for this, Many, if not all Africans have not yet
developed a mature trust on made-in Africa products. This is how African
culture that is tied with African philosophy is almost in its graveyard (God
save us). It is clear that colonialism is guilty of being one of the causes of
the problems in African philosophy for we cannot have an African philosophy if
we have no culture.
EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
Prior
to this time, the African colonial masters believed that Africans do not
rationalize, but we have known that human being cannot live without reason:
without reason, man cannot have an organized speech. Africans have languages,
they go to work, marry, do politics, live in communities (socialization), and
are faced with the same problem of death and what the ultimate reality
consists. So our colonial masters were wrong. Since man by nature have the
inquisitiveness to know, consequently, to philosophize is natural to man, and
Africans are no exception. Wherever there is reflection on the fundamental
question about man or about the universe, there is philosophy. Therefore, we
have an African philosophy, and it is expressed in our cultural heritages, both
material and immaterial. I think that the claim of the western philosophers
against African philosophy should arouse the ire of every African so that we may
begin to pick up the fragments of our disintegrated cultures for a better proof
of who we are.
Areji, T.
Unpublished note on African
Philosophy, Spiritan School of Philosophy, Isienu, 2014.
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M. On
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Okolo,
C. B. Problems of African Philosophy. Enugu: CECTA Limited, 1990.
Omoregbe,
J. I. African philosophy: Yesterday and Today. Ile-Ife: University of Ife
Press, 1985.
Parrinder,
G. African
Traditional Religion. London:
Sheldon, 1962.
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