Kt8

Introduction
The western world viewed Africans as naturally naive and irrational. They also accused
Africans to have contributed nothing in the history of civilization. These and many other
erroneous perceptions on Africans frustrated them for they believed that they were humans just
like the Europeans. The frustrations climaxed in the post-colonial period when the Europeans
made it clear that despite assimilating the European cultures, Africans were still not equal to
them. These frustrations generated angry questions, then responses and reactions among the
Africans, marking the beginning of the African philosophy.

The development of the African philosophy underwent different periods as I intend to

discuss in this paper. These periods are

1. Early period :1920s - 1960s

2. Middle Period: 1960s - 1980s

3. Later period: 1980s - 1990s

4. New (Contemporary) Era: 1990s to date

This periodization intends to highlight African philosophy as a system first began in the
late 1920s.
Early Period
This considered to be the period of cultural excavation, aimed at reconstructing the lost
African Identity. The Europeans had stamped out traditional African cultures considering them
to be inferior and useless. They introduced their cultures and education system in their colonies.
A good example is the French colonies where France assimilation method of colonization.
Despite receiving this new culture, Africans never gained the respect of their colonial masters.
This awakened the African Philosophers. They declared a move towards retrieving and
recreating the real and original identity of Africans.

Still after colonization, Africans were considered to have made no contribution in the
human history. They were considered to be backward and low of intelligence of culture. To
prove Africans contribution to the world, the African intellectuals worked to prove that Africa is
the source of the Ancient Greek Philosophy. The Greek philosophy was borrowed from the
Egyptian Philosophy but the Africans go uncredited. This proves how Africans are despised.

Other Philosophers of this period devoted themselves in proving the rationality of the
Africans. One of the remarkable Philosophers of this period is Temples. In his work the Bantu
Philosophy, he uses the Bantu Community to represent the rest of the African tribes. He proves
African rationality by explaining how they react to sufferings and pain. These reactions are not
different to that of the Europeans.

Africans applied different ways to restore their lost dignity. Different methods must be
put into practice.

John Mbiti argues that African identity is found in its communal and religious practices.
This calls for the need of an African to reenter his religion to find his Philosophy and community
to find his identity.

Others sought to reestablish Africa's lost identity through economic and political ways. This
approach is portrayed strongly by the founding fathers. They dedicated themselves to find