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1. Introduction
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Segun (1995) had also criticized this view on the basis of its
definition of African philosophy in terms that are traditional. He
argues that it would follow that contemporary African philosophy is
not philosophy. African philosophy evolves and cannot be traditional
all the time. If philosophy addresses issues at all times, it then should
be creative, dynamic and not static. He further criticises this view on
the grounds that it takes a position that assumes that once we have
identified these authentic traditional ideas, we need only report them
without criticism. Even here again Segun’s arguments cannot be
sustained. There is no piece in which the particularist school have
said that philosophy is traditional thoughts reported without
criticism. Segun takes on the emphasis of the particularist school as
though it were all they have said. Worthy of note is that the idea of
traditional often used by the particularist school is not limited to
myths, proverbs, legend, lore, folklores, etc., of the African people;
it also implies a philosophical style passed from one generation to
another. In this case, Segun’s argument that modern African
philosophy cannot be regarded as African philosophy because of the
new context it address, is not true; for even though they were not
reflecting on African myths, proverbs, legend, folklores, they carried
with them the Igwebuike underlining principle of African
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d. Sage Philosophy
Sage Philosophy was Henry Odera Oruka (1944–1995), the Kenyan
philosopher’s contribution to the development of African
Philosophy. Through interviews with sages from traditional groups,
he identified philosophical sages in different cultures who were more
of the repositories of cultural wisdom. He divided them into two
groups; the first he called Folk Sages, who embodied community
wisdom; the second he called Philosophical Sages, who held a
critical stand towards that wisdom. From his findings, especially as
to philosophical sages, he concluded that the West and Hountondji
were wrong in saying that Africa has no philosophy, for his research
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e. Literary/Artistic Philosophy
The literary or artistic school of African philosophy focuses on
African thinkers who through their literary or artistic works made
reflections that are philosophical. These artists include: Chinua
Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Okot p’Bitek, Taban lo
Liyong, etc. For instance, in the Things Fall Apart by Chinua
Achebe, he reflected on the Igbo-African philosophy of life, kinship,
death, the afterlife, ancestors, etc. For instance, in Achebe’s work on
the Things Fall Apart, the essence of the Igbo-African philosophy of
belongingness comes to light:
We do not ask for wealth because he that has health
and children will also have wealth. We do not pray
to have more money but to have more kinsmen. We
are better than animals because we have kinsmen.
An animal rubs its itching flank against a tree, a
man asks his kinsman to scratch him. (p. 132)
After the feast, when one of the eldest men of the umunna rose to
thank Okonkwo, the foundation of the Igbo-African philosophy of
belongingness is unveiled:
A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do
so to save them from starving. They all have food in
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f. Hermeneutic Philosophy
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4. Conclusion
From the foregoing, this piece has studied the schools of African
philosophy in such a way that it goes beyond the conventional
limits of the study of these trends traditionally tied to the 1960’s
and 70s, to the contemporary developments in the study of African
philosophy. This study moves further to include the literary and
hermeneutic schools as trends in the historical development of
African philosophy. The researcher adopts the eclectic school of
African philosophy as the most credible and productive school of
African philosophy and considers any form of particularization as
a philosophical pride, which must be avoided in every sincere
philosophical enquiry. The eclectic trend spoken of here by the
researcher moves beyond the conventional eclectic trend which
harbours only the universalist and particularist schools, to include
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References
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