- Background
On 10 September 2015 at the African Philosophy: Past, Present and Future Conference held
at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg Dr E Etieyibo and Dr J Chimakonam
presented the results of an informal, empirical study they had conducted into the state of
African philosophy in Africa, with a focus on the nature and extent of: African philosophy in
curricula, the dissemination of African philosophical research, and forms of collaboration
such as student exchanges and academic projects.
Their presentations can be found here [insert link].
A panel responded to the Drs Etieyibo’s and Chimakonam’s presentations, members of the
audience then weighed in, panel members had the opportunity to make a further round of
contributions, and finally closing statements were made by the presenters. The general tone
of the panel’s and audience’s reaction to Drs Etieyibo’s and Chimakonam’s findings was to
bemoan the difficulties they had encountered in acquiring information, on the one hand,
and, where information had been acquired, to lament the poor representation of African
philosophy in courses, in journals, in popular media and the like, on the other.
The following is meant to be a record of comments subsequent to Drs Etieyibo’s and Drs
Chimakonam’s presentations, with a strict focus on suggestions about, first, how they might
improve their research into the state of African philosophy in Africa, and, second, what
members of the field might do to improve the nature and reach of African philosophy.
The order roughly follows the chronology of the contributions made, and is not meant to
indicate importance or the like.
- Improving Research into the State of African Philosophy in Africa.
- Electronic resources should not be the exclusive means of acquiring information; the
post and telephone might also be used.
- Seek out grants, e.g., from UNESCO, to fund a more thorough study.
- Don’t forget the actual and potential contributions of scholars in the diaspora to the
study of philosophy in Africa.
- Be sure to include Francophone, Arabic and Lusophone African philosophers and
traditions.
- Be sure to include non-literate expressions of African philosophical ideas, say, in the
form of oral contributions or lived experience.
- Work with a broad conception of ‘philosophy’ as potentially including other fields
that might not use the term ‘philosophy’.
- Indicate when African philosophy was introduced into courses.
- Consider how women’s studies were studied in the North, and learn from their
methods.
- Improving the Nature and Reach of African Philosophy with regard to Curricula,
Dissemination of Research and Collaborations.
- A recurrent theme was ‘Don’t stop!’; participants must continue to engage on these
issues, and ideally in a formal way, by creating a council/steering committee that
would drive these issues.
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- Another recurrent theme was ‘catch ‘em when they’re young’, meaning not merely
enticing undergraduates, but also introducing children/adolescents to African
philosophy.
- Still another recurrent theme was to make African philosophy relevant, either to
people’s self-conceptions (it must ‘speak to’ people’s identities), or to pressing social
controversies and dilemmas, or (at least for pragmatic reasons) even to issues of
economics, jobs.
- Develop journals that are clearly committed to quality and professionalism (and do
not serve as a mere opportunity for increasing numbers of publications).
- Ensure that journals are widely accessible, e.g., by being online and open.
- Strive to make African philosophical ideas part of ‘service’ courses outside of
philosophy majors or even part of the general requirement for an undergraduate
(e.g., BA) degree.
- Aim to disseminate African philosophical ideas not merely in books/journals, but also
in popular media such as the radio, TV, newspapers, public lectures.
- Work to improve the amount of funding devoted to African philosophy; many
problems can be traced back to lack of resources.
- Create and distribute potential curricula in African philosophy, taking notice of the
contribution from Prof Oguejiofor developed as far back as 2002, which is available
here [insert link].
- Be more committed to the field, e.g., by attending conferences and enabling
graduate students to attend them.
- Consider how qualified current instructors of African philosophy are.
- Develop libraries when it comes to their stock of African philosophical texts and
other resources.
- Consider developing an African philosophical bookshop, one that would feature any
and all books published in the field.
- Strive to make contributions to public policy and morality; African philosophers are
often in a position to serve as public intellectuals.
- Consider how the Chinese have successfully embodied their philosophy (esp.
Confucianism—ed.) into public policy.
- Follow up these sessions with a conference devoted to the topic of the state of
African philosophy in Africa.
Minutes prepared by Thaddaeus Metz
Professor of Philosophy, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
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