APA Newsletters

Spring 2001
Volume 00, Number 2

Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience

Course Syllabi

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Syllabus for an African Philosophy and Culture Course

Gail M. Presbey
University of Detroit Mercy

I found myself re-thinking the way that I had taught African Philosophy when I got to a new university. Here, philosophy majors were few, and most students were taking a course entitled "African Philosophy and Culture" as one of their options to fill a general core requirement in philosophy. The course was also trying to fill gaps left by the lack of other courses on African cultures. While African History and African Politics were offered once every two to three years, and while courses on African American religion and history often included a background section on African culture, there was no course devoted fully to the topic. However, since there is a growing body of writing in philosophy that discusses issues related to the philosophy of culture, it was not difficult to construct a syllabus with readings that would fill this dual purpose.

Since many of my students do not have much background in African studies (many on the first day confess to knowing nothing about Africa at all, while others know the headline problems of Africa such as political instability, hunger, and the AIDS crisis), I decided to use two novels of Chinua Achebe as introductions to African society, and to form of background of vicarious experience upon which to draw when discussing specific topics in African philosophy. I also divided the course into three rough sections: pre-colonial Africa; colonial conquest of Africa and the fight against colonialism; and contemporary Africa.

Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart, up to chapter 14, serves as the introduction to the first section, since in that part of the novel, Igboland prior to European colonialism is illustrated in a way that makes the students feel like they live there with the characters. As Abiola Irele notes in his recent article on the book, however, we must remember that however realistic and authentic the book seems, it is still written by a contemporary African who has been Christianized, and the author's viewpoint shows up subtly in the way in which that pre-colonial society is portrayed.1 So I must carefully explain to students that, when we speak of "pre-colonial Africa," we depend largely on oral or colonial sources, or in other ways the experience is mediated through our contemporary, often Westernized, consciousness. We can't turn back the clock, but in many ways the pre-colonial beliefs and philosophies endure to this day, sometimes mixing with other ideas, and always changing in some way. Also, pre-colonial society itself was changing and varied from community to community across Africa. The presence of critics internal to pre-colonial society is shown by Achebe's inclusion of the character Obierika in the novel.
Starting with chapter 15 of Things Fall Apart to its concluding chapter, we have a compelling description of how Christian missionaries, and later colonial rulers, affect the equilibrium of pre-colonial African societies. This helps to introduce topics by Mudimbe and others, who ask how our conceptions of Africa have been shaped by the violence of this colonial encounter. I next go to the point of the fight against colonialism. I rely in part on Basil Davidson's account of the tension between the more traditional chiefs who wanted to emphasize continuity with the past by their taking over the rulership of Africa (by being handed the power by departing colonialists), in contrast to the younger nationalists who wanted to take charge instead, in order to made modern nations (influenced by ideas of democracy and/or socialism) . Focusing on this tension also serves as a turning point between the values of the old and the new in Africa. While a short course like this cannot do justice to the immense details of history, we can at least sample some philosopher's writings who are responding to this historical situation.

The third part of the course is introduced by another Achebe novel, No Longer At Ease. Here the characters, decedents of the earlier Umuofia characters, grapple with acquiring Western education and working in Western-style government bureaucracies, all the while being called upon to uphold African community traditions as well. This novel serves as an experiential entrance point into some of the biggest problems facing contemporary Africa. It is followed by readings from African philosophers who are tackling such issues in their writings.
There are shortcomings to a tripartite historical division whose terminology makes European colonialism a pivotal point, which then marks all events in Africa as having come before or after it. One could certainly devise a course otherwise, which began in Egypt and then marched forward throughout time in a linear fashion. However, the course would not then be able to begin with Achebe's novel. Another shortcoming of the course is that by focusing on themes connected to Achebe, the focus is on West Africa, with possible parallels to East Africa (which I stressed due to my background familiarity with East Africa), while North and South Africa are relatively ignored. While this is certainly a shortcoming, there are always limits to how much one can do in one course. I encourage students who are interested in Egyptian or Ethiopian philosophy, or in North or South African issues, to pursue those as topics for their research papers.

On the other hand, there are also strengths to devising the course in this way, in that a course in African philosophy might otherwise err in sticking to the pre-colonial or "traditional," while ignoring (or being in denial of) the ways that Africa has changed. It is also dangerous to think of Africa in a romanticized past sense. By dividing the course into three, it is certain that the issues of colonialism and fight against colonialism get their coverage. The course also focuses on the current problems and crises facing the continent, something that recent African philosophers of some note have exhorted the community of African philosophers to address. For example, Dismas Masolo, near the end of his substantive book on the history of African philosophy, argues that African philosophers should spend more time studying corruption, nepotism, tribalism, mismanagement, authoritarianism, oppression, and population growth.2 Achebe's novel introduces many of these concerns, and the authors that follow add their analysis.

My experience from 1995 to 2000 of teaching African Philosophy at University of Nairobi3 had led me to embrace a standard syllabus in use at that time of charting the "four trends" of African Philosophy, based on Odera Oruka, who identified these four trends in the early 1980's: ethnophilosophy (the now-discredited approach of Tempels), sage philosophy (Odera Oruka's own project), nationalist-ideological philosophy (Nkrumah and Nyerere), and professional philosophy (Wiredu's analytic approach, or Hountondji's scientific Marxist approach). Odera Oruka later added the hermeneutic and literary trends.4 The basic purpose of the "four trends" setup was to show how ethnophilosophy was an erroneous approach (and, coincidentally, how Oruka's own project of sage philosophy was preferable to ethnophilosophy). D.A. Masolo's book, African Philosophy in Search of Identity exhibits the influence of the Orukan framework popular in Kenya. It devotes four of eight chapters to early ethnophilosophers Tempels, Griaule, Kagame and Mbiti, who are then resoundingly debunked as practitioners of a fatally flawed ethnophilosophy.5

While the "four trends" are helpful to a certain extent, I feel that at this point they have become ossified. Many teachers overlooked that Oruka himself modified them; others like Sophie Oluwole have charted many more trends than that. Oluwole added negritude, Egyptologists and "the historical group," "critical traditionalists," "the universalists," those who want to deconstruct the myth of inferiority, and the socialists who think philosophy is meant to change the world. She describes the group of "critical traditionalists" of whom she considers herself a part (along with Makinde, Gyekye, and Sodipo) as engaged in critically exploring concepts such as witchcraft, reincarnation, destiny, truth, and God.6 So why was University of Nairobi teaching African philosophy according to four trends for the past twenty years, without great change?

A repetition of the same course syllabi, modified only in a minor way or no way at all, is not that unusual in many academic contexts, even here in the U.S. where opportunities to do so are not so constrained; and it is understandable in a situation such as the one that University of Nairobi finds itself, with a faculty that is overworked by an academic calendar that includes no breaks except for Easter and Christmas, where salaries are so low that all who have the chance teach in the newly introduced evening college (called the "parallel program,"), where the lack of current philosophy journals prevents faculty from keeping up on the debates, and the lack of computers also encourages faculty to use last year's syllabus instead of retyping. Nevertheless, when visiting Canadian philosopher Bruce Janz and myself were invited to co-teach African Philosophy at the graduate level, we kept the same familiar "four trends" framework, while trying to update the material used to support the framework.7

I also found it to be very interesting when the department of philosophy at UON was asked to re-work its graduate course offerings, faculty there decided to offer four courses instead of one in African philosophy, conveniently naming each course after one of the four trends. This tendency began to frustrate me. (As it is, the department was also "frustrated" but for different reasons: a curriculum committee reviewing their suggestions thought that some of the trends made funny-sounding or confusing course titles). Weren't the four trends meant to be a temporary mapping of a philosophical movement, and hasn't that map changed over time? There have been books in the U.S. which also followed the four trends framework, such as English and Kalumba's introductory text. However, this text is soon to be out of print; perhaps that is a signal that it is time to look for a new framework.8

Focusing on the "four trends" also keeps metaphilosophical issues at the forefront. Each person's philosophy is seen as an illustration of what philosophy should or should not be. While such an approach makes sense in certain contexts, such as a graduate-level course or an upper-division undergraduate course attended by many philosophy majors, I am no longer convinced that it is the best approach for students taking one course on Africa (and one elective in philosophy). After all, who insists that students' one course in Ethics must focus primarily on issues of metaethics?9 Such approaches in African Philosophy were criticized many years ago. Tsenay Serequeberhan's text, African Philosophy: The Essential Readings was criticized by some at the time for focusing too single-mindedly on the metaphilosophical issues while giving those issues the title of "essential." Serequeberhan himself began his book listing the strengths and shortcomings of relying on Oruka's "four trends" as an outline for an African philosophy study. For example, the four trends are not distinct; there is a lot of overlap between them. He noted that the task of African philosophers was ultimately "the concrete resurrection of Africa" which requires, among other things, "the revitalization of the broken and suppressed indigenous African heritage." His subsequent books gave shorter indulgence to the topic of the nature of African philosophy, and focused instead on its liberation.10

Several authors have complained recently that it is time to leave aside the debate over whether there is an African philosophy or not, and instead proceed directly to the practice of African philosophy. While there is danger in neglecting or giving short shrift to important theoretical issues, the sentiment here seems to be that the point has been over-proved to the point of being obvious. Safro Kwame, in a recent article in Philosophy Now, clearly gives the impression that continuing to press the question of African philosophy's existence at this late date gives rise to feelings of pain and insult.11 The recent Blackwell Companion to World Philosophies contains two articles by African scholars. While D.A. Masolo's article on the history of African philosophy comes at the beginning, covering the details of where African philosophy has been so far (and in this way Masolo plays a key role as chronicler in this field, because he keeps intact a detailed memory of where the intellectual discussion has been so far), Segun Gbadegesin's article comes at the end, where he charts a course for current and future studies of African philosophy.12

I have used Gbadegesin's article as the springboard for my selections in the course I have structured. Still influenced by this paradigm of "four trends," but now updated, he charts four ways in which African philosophy can proceed fruitfully. First, while agreeing with the charges against ethnophilosophy, he nevertheless defends the possibility, and importance, of a "critical culture philosophy" which studies the philosophies held by cultural groups. As early as 1991 in his book, African Philosophy: Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities (Peter Lang, 1991:9), Gbadegesin asserted that the idea that philosophical positions could only be held by individuals, was in fact a philosophical position held in common by a group of European and American philosophers. Since this group of European and American philosophers were then caught in a performative contradiction, they would have to give up their narrow definition of philosophy. Kwame Gyekye as early as 1987 devoted the first several chapters of his book, An Essay on African Philosophy: The Akan Conceptual Scheme to showing that the project of discerning a group's philosophy from their oral literature, artwork, and rituals, was not to be abandoned as obsolete. Gbadegesin and Gyekye as well as Wiredu therefore want to rehabilitate the practice of culture philosophy, with the stipulation that we avoid mere description and practice critical evaluation of any group's philosophy, jettisoning what is irrational or outdated to come up with a vibrant contemporary resource, enabling us to reject the options of wholesale discarding of traditional ideas for the embrace of a foreign paradigm.13

After critical culture philosophy, the next current trend of importance with which Gbadegesin concerns himself is sage philosophy. In this case, one of Oruka's "four trends" continues to hold its same position in Gbadegesin's schema. Gbadegesin is not alone in continuing to insist on the importance of sage philosophy studies. Olesegun Oladipo states in his 1998 article, "Emerging Issues in African Philosophy," that Oruka's sage philosophy project is an attempt "to promote cultural self-understanding in Africa."14 Safro Kwame, in his 2000 article, "What's New in African Philosophy," notes that Odera Oruka has been one of the most active East African philosophers, and that his passing away in 1995 is depriving Africa of one of its most influential African philosophers.15 In my own work in this area, I have explained at length what I think are the strengths and shortcomings of this trend, and in what form it can and should go forward.16

Nevertheless, while Gbadegesin supports the continued work in sage philosophy, he criticizes what he thinks are Odera Oruka's attempts to distance sage philosophy from critical culture philosophy, by the emphasis on the individual and the seeming denigration of those who still uphold the communal views of their communities. I agree with Gbadegesin that sage philosophy and critical culture philosophy are better seen as in partnership rather than in opposition to each other. I could also point out the ways in which Oruka's project as he himself conceived and implemented it supported efforts in culture philosophy.17

The first two trends of Gbadegesin, "critical culture philosophy" and "sage philosophy," along with the category that Sophie Oluwole says needs still to be invented and practiced, "feminist African philosophy," makes up the subject matter for the first third of my course. I include feminist critique in part one because, as Irele points out in his article, the theme of relations between men and women is central to Things Fall Apart. When students notice Okonkwo beating his multiple wives, the issue of women's rights is immediately raised by the students. Luckily there are several African women scholars who address the issue in the context of the "traditional" African home, without capitulating to Western feminist issues and understandings of the situation.

Oluwole had argued, however, that feminist African philosophy did not yet exist; that what had been written on African women so far was sociological and anthropological, belonging to "women's studies" and not African feminist philosophy. She argues that for a work to be feminist philosophy, it is not good enough for it to just describe sexism. Instead, it "must challenge basic African assumptions about the nature of reality, man, woman, and knowledge such that they can critically examine the intellectual edifice on which African types of sexism are or were based."18 However, she does hint at the development of some scholars who are looking to songs, liturgies, proverbs, stories and aphorisms in order to find texts that can be approached hermeneutically to develop an African feminist philosophy. While she does not name a single African feminist philosopher in her article on the topic, I have included essays in my course that accomplish, at least to some extent, what Oluwole said must be done.19

Gbadegesin's third and fourth trends are found in the second and third sections. In addition to his third trend, contemporary African political philosophy (Nyerere's arguments for one-party democracy, for example), Gbadegesin includes as well "critical philosophy of Africa," a field which studies the meaning of the concept of Africa (inspired by Mudimbe, Appiah and others).20 These last two trends, albeit under different names, are also singled out by Olesegun Oladipo, as central to the future project of African philosophy. The first of Oladipo's categories is the quest for African self-definition in the contemporary world. Here he speaks of the tension between the "traditionalists" and the "modernists," and the need for "cultural syncretism," in which one extracts the best from all of the multiple influences on Africa, to construct an identity which is most conducive to human flourishing. This chosen identity would be in contrast to the usual trend in the past, of having African identity formed by influences beyond the control of Africans themselves. Oladipo considers the "particularist studies" of Gyekye, Wiredu, Hallen and Sodipo, as well as Oruka's sage philosophy project, as part of this necessary work of studying African traditions, to combat the tendency of uncritical assimilation of foreign conceptual schemes. These themes are found across the different parts of the course.

Still, for Oladipo, there are two additional areas of engagement for contemporary African philosophy. The second concerns how to acquire and apply both scientific knowledge and wisdom. As he explains, there is an urgent need to widen the horizons of African philosophy and make it interdisciplinary. Thirdly, there is the need to discuss African institutions, to bring about order and social control (without which the first two goals will be hampered). In order to reconstruct society, he explains, there is a need to appeal to principles; discerning those principles is a goal for philosophy.21 I see Gbadegesin's and Oladipo's visions of the future of African philosophy as complementary. For example, Oladipo's third trend is compatible with what Gbadegesin describes as contemporary African political philosophy, and together they serve as the basis for especially the third part of the course.
This course is based on a model of meeting twice a week for 14 weeks, so it is modeled to fit in 28 sessions. The sessions would follow this schedule of readings and topics. For each section I list in addition other related articles that would also be excellent regarding the topics covered in the section. Limitations of time and assessment of what students could keep up with encouraged me to draw the line as regarding the reading list. If you think your students can cover more material more quickly, you may want to assign the optional readings as well.

African Philosophy and Culture

Required Texts: (available in University Bookstore)
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (abbreviated as TFA)
Chinua Achebe, No Longer at Ease (abbreviated as NLE)
Kwame Gyekye, An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme.
Articles on reserve, as stated below.

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE: To give a broad introduction to African philosophy and culture. We will read key texts which describe the field of African philosophy today. We will read texts, hear lectures, and watch video excerpts that will supply the background in African history, politics, economics, and culture that is needed in order to understand African philosophy in its context. Required reading, lecture and discussion will form the basis of our shared knowledge, while each student, through additional research, will study a particular topic in-depth.

Outline of Course Topics and Readings

The course is divided into three broad sections:
1) Pre-Colonial Africa
2) Colonial Africa and the struggle against colonialism
3) Post-colonial or contemporary Africa

For each section, we will first read chapters from Achebe's novels that describe these eras in Africa. Then we will look at articles that philosophically reflect upon and analyze this aspect of African experience and culture.

READING AND TOPIC SCHEDULE:

1: Introduction of each other, review of syllabus, discussion, "What is African Philosophy?"

SECTION 1: PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

2: Segun Gbadegesin, "Current Trends and Perspectives in African Philosophy."
3: Achebe, TFA chapters 1-5. Kwame Gyekye, An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme, Temple U. Press, 1995, chapters 1 and 2, "On the denial of traditional thought as philosophy" and "Philosophy and Culture," pp. 3-43
4: Achebe, TFA chapters 6-10. . Gyekye, chapter 7, "Destiny, free will, and responsibility." pp. 104-128.
5: Achebe, TFA chapters 11-14. Gyekye continued, chapter 8, "Foundations of Ethics," and chapter 9, "Ethics and Character," pp. 129-153.
6: Concluding discussion of Achebe up to ch. 14, related to Gyekye, chapter 10, "The individual and the Social Order," pp. 154-162. Abiola Irele, "The Crisis of Cultural Memory in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart."
7: Sage Philosophy. Chapter 2, "Sage Philosophy: The Basic Questions and Methodology," from H. Odera Oruka, ed., Sage Philosophy: Indigenous Thinkers and Modern Debate on African Philosophy. ACTS Press, 1991, pp. 33-44. Oriare Nyarwath, "Sagacity and Freedom," in Sagacious Reasoning: Henry Odera Oruka in memoriam, eds. Kai Kresse and Anke Graness, Perter Lang, 1997, 211-218.
8: Women in "traditional" Africa. Adefioye Oyesakin, "Women as Agents of Indiscipline in Yoruba Traditional Poetry," in Nigeria Magazine, vol. 53, no. 3, July-Sept. 1985, pp. 38-43. Amba Oduyoye, "The Asante Woman: Socialization Through Proverbs." In African Notes: Bulletin of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, vol. VIII, no. 1, 1979, pp. 5-11.
9: Articles on women cont. David William Cohen and E.S. Atieno Odhimabo, "Pim's Work" in Siaya: The Historical Anthropology of an African Landscape, Ohio U. Press, 1989, pp. 92-95. Florence Dolphyne, "Polygamy and the Emancipation of Women," in Safro Kwame, ed., Readings in African Philosophy: An Akan Collection." U. Press of America, 1995, pp. 242-247.
10: First exam

Comments for the teacher, on part one:

I realize that the novel is set in Igboland in Nigeria while Gyekye's book is about the Akan of Ghana. Nevertheless, after cautioning students against imagining that all Africans have the same beliefs and ideas, I ask them if they can nevertheless see any parallels between what Gyekye is speaking of, and what we encounter in the novel. There are plenty of parallels. A good supplement to chapters 1 and 2 of Gyekye are two articles by N.K. Dzobo called "Knowledge and Truth: Ewe and Akan Conceptions" and "African Symbols and Proverbs as Sources of Knowledge and Truth," both found in K. Wiredu and K. Gyekye, eds. Person and Community: Ghanian Philosophical Studies, I published by Washington, D.C.: The Council for Research and Values in Philosophy, 1992, pp. 73-100. One can find these two articles on line at: However, the online version does not have the illustrations for Dzobo's article, which is a real drawback.

There is much longer and more complicated version of the topics which Gyekye treats in his chapter 10, in a later work of his called Tradition and Modernity: Philosophical Reflections on the African Experience (Temple U. Press, 1997). See especially pp. 35-76 and 252-260. A good background on the idea of African reincarnation is provided by Innocent Onyewuenyi, "A Philosophical Reappraisal of African Belief in Reincarnation," International Philosophical Quarterly 22 (September 1982): 157-168. Kwame Anthony Appiah has a good (albeit controversial) chapter on the issue of African religious practices (from a skeptical point of view) called "Old Gods, New Worlds," in his book In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture. However, the argument there depends on the reader's familiarity with recent (demythologizing) theologians, as Appiah argues that in contrast, old fashioned religion (whether in Africa or the U.S.) tries to do what we think science does. It does raise issues of self-understanding when, for example, the egwugwu appear to judge their cases: do they knowingly engage in a theatrical psycho-drama (as Gyekye, and maybe Achebe as well, hints at in his treatment of ethics) with real behavioral results, or are they convinced of their causal agency in a more direct way (scientific or spiritual)? Mosley's text in African Philosophy has an entire section devoted to Magic, Witchcraft, and Science," bringing together several authors with diverse positions. Masolo's chapter 6 is also helpful on this topic.

There are several good videos that can be used with these topics, especially regarding women's issues. Ali Marzrui's series The Africans: A Triple Heritage has a video entitled Legacy of Lifestyles that is good at showing the clash of ideas regarding polygamy and monogamy in contemporary Africa. The Disappearing World series has a video entitled Maasai Women that shows the role women occupy compared to men. It shows that women can own no property (cattle), that they must get married and have children in order to survive, and that marriage entails leaving the home in which they grew up to join their husband's home. It is filled with interesting passages where Maasai women state enthusiastically that they like polygamy and insist upon practicing female circumcision. Another video series, Millennium: Tribal Wisdom for the Modern World has an episode called Strange Relations, where a polyandrous community in Nepal (where a woman is married by a family of brothers) is contrasted with the polygynous community of the Woodabe in Niger (who have a yearly ceremony during which wives can leave their husbands and run off with other men) and the Canadian monogamous couple that had earlier married, divorced, and is now marrying again. It does raise questions about what is considered "normal" marriage (since most students will presume monogamy is best, a point that Dolphyne challenges).

SECTION 2: Colonial Africa and the struggle against colonialism

11: Achebe, TFA, chapters 15-19.
12: Achebe, TFA chapters 20-25.
13: V.Y. Mudimbe, Chapter 1, "Discourse of Power and Knowledge of Otherness," in The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge. Indiana U. Press, 1988, pp. 1-16.
14: Mudimbe, continued, Chapter 3: "The Power of Speech," pp. 44-63.
15: Okot p'Bitek, Chapters 8-12, "Convert from What?" etc., from Artist the Ruler: Essays on Art, Culture and Values. EAEP, Nairobi, 1986, pp. 56-90.
16: Leopold Senghor, "On Negrohood: Psychology of the African Negro," in Mosely, A. ed., African Philosophy: Selected Readings, Prentice Hall, 1995, pp. 116-127. Critique of negritude and Senghor by Al Mosely, same book, "Negritude, Nationalism, and Nativism: Racists or Racialists?" excerpt pp. 217-226.
17: Tsenay Serequeberhan, Chapter 3, "Colonialism and the Colonized: Violence and Counter-Violence," in The Hermeneutics of African Philosophy: Horizon and Discourse. Routledge, 1994, pp. 55-85.
18: Basil Davidson, excerpt from Chapter 4, "Tribalism and the New Nationalism," The Black Man' Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation State, James Currey, 1992, pp. 102-114.
19: Second Exam

Comments for the teacher, regarding part two:

Another good source for an example of the effect of colonialism on the rural communities is Cohen and Adhiambo's book Siaya, the chapter on "The Hunger of Obalo," pp. 61-84. Of course, if one only had the time, it would be good to cover Serequeberhan's whole book, and/or to cover Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth as a primary text rather than rely on Serequeberhan's analysis. Lewis Gordon has also written extensively on Fanon. Also, Basil Davidson's book has sections which explain how colonialism distorted the economy and government in such a way that the pattern continued through to independent (or neo-colonial) Africa; see chapters 6, 7, and 8, pp. 166-265. Davidson also had helpful videotapes covering this period of history in his series Africa: The Study of a Continent, especially episodes 5 "The Bible and the Gun," and 6 "The magnificent African cake." Episode 7 covers the independence movements and elections of Nkrumah and Nyerere and others. The old series on religions, The Long Search, has an episode called "Zulu Zion" which covers many of the syncretic religions in southern Africa, and might go well with the Okot p'Bitek readings.

SECTION 3: Post-colonial or contemporary Africa

20: Achebe, NLE chapters 1-9
21: Achebe, NLE chapters 10-18
22: Research papers due. Olufemi Taiwo, "On The Misadventures of National Consciousness: A Retrospect on Frantz Fanon's Gift of Prophecy." in Fanon: A Critical Reader. Edited by Lewis Gordon, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Renee White, Blackwell 1996, pp. 255-272. Segun Gbadegesin, "On National Culture" in his African Philosophy pp. 171-187.
23: Odera Oruka, Chapter 7, "Freedom, Independence, and Development: The First Three Decades," in The Philosophy of Liberty: An Essay on Political Philosophy, STGP Nairobi, revised ed., 1996, pp. 87-110. Steven Metz, "In Lieu of Orthodoxy: the Socialist Theories of Nkrumah and Nyerere," The Journal of Modern African Studies, 20/3, 1982, pp. 377-392.
24: Paulin Hountondji, "Daily Life in Black Africa," in The Surreptitious Speech: Presence Africaine and the Politics of Otherness, edited by V. Y. Mudimbe, U of Chicago Press, 1992, pp. 344-364. Also, Kihumbu Thairu, Chapter 10, "Attitude Toward Foreigners," in The African Civilization, Kenya Literature Bureau, 1985, pp. 113-123.
25: Kwame Gyekye, "Political Corruption: A Moral Pollution," in Tradition and Modernity , pp. 192-216.
26: Judith Abwunza, Chapter 8, "Silika: To Make our Lives Shine," from Women's Voices, Women's Power: Dialogues of Resistance from East Africa, Broadview, 1997, pp. 157-176.
27: Kwasi Wiredu, "Democracy and Consensus in African Traditional Politics: A Plea for a Non-party polity," in Emmanuel Eze, ed, Postcolonial African Philosophy: A Critical Reader. Blackwell, 1997, pp. 303-312.
28: Emmanuel Eze, "Toward a Critical Theory of Postcolonial African Identities." In E. Eze, ed., Postcolonial African Philosophy., pp. 339-344. Concluding discussion and review for final exam.

Comments to the teacher regarding Section Three:

There are some good videos from the Mazrui series The Africans about "development" projects gone awry, including Tools of Exploitation and A Garden of Eden in Decay; and regarding political instability and military coups, there is The Search for Stability, although the tapes might be a little outdated by now. A recent edited collection called The Post Development Reader compiled by Majid Rahnema and Victoria Bawtree (Zed Books, 1997) is filled with examples of misguided concepts of development, and books like Famine Crimes and others like it give a good background about misguided and failed "aid" attempts. Kwame Gyekye's book Tradition and Modernity is a sustained effort at philosophical reflection regarding a host of political problems confronting the African continent today. Regarding Wiredu's argument above, an issue of an online journal called Polylog: Forum for Intercultural Philosophizing (v.1, 2000, 2) posts Wiredu's argument and several replies. See . My reply to his and Gyekye's ideas can be found in "Akan Chiefs and Queen Mothers in Contemporary Ghana: Examples of Democracy, or accountable authority?" International Journal of African Studies, Special Issue on "Africa and the Challenge of Globalization," 2/2, Fall 2000, 63-83. Also criticizing multiparty politics while upholding democracy are two articles by Ernest Wamba-dia-Wamba: "Democracy, Multipartyism and Emancipative Politics in Africa: The case of Zaire" in Africa Development 18/4, 1993, 95-118; and "Beyond Elite Politics of Democracy in Africa" in Quest: Philosophical Discussions 6/1, June 1992, 29-42. See my analysis of Wamba-dia-Wamba in "Criticisms of Multiparty Democracy: Parallels Between Wamba-dia-Wamba and Arendt," New Political Science, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1998, 35-52. A good complement to Oruka's book chapter is an article he wrote in 1979, "On Philosophy and Humanism in Africa," Philosophy and Social Action V (1-2), pp. 7-13, where he criticizes African governments for their repressive and inhumane practices. A recent book filled with interviews of Africans who had taken part in the liberation struggles of their countries is written by Bill Sutherland and Matt Meyer, Guns and Gandhi in Africa: Pan African Insights on Nonviolence, Armed Struggle and Liberation in Africa (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2000).

The entire book by Judith Abwunza is very good, and can be recommended to those who are interested in women's issues in Africa today. It gives a detailed account which will help students experience contemporary rural life for African women. It's true that it is a social studies approach rather than a philosophical one, but the situation of women in Africa today can be discussed by reference to ideas of equality, human rights, and justice, for example. California Newsreel has been marketing a video made in Mali called Finzan, which shows women struggling with abusive husbands, against practices of wife inheritance, and against female excision. (Not all of my male students have enjoyed it, despite the fact that in a subplot, men get to challenge corrupt government officials.) There is an article by Marie Pauline Eboh called "The Woman Question: African and Western Perspectives" in a collection edited by Herta Nagl-Docekal and Franz Wimmer, called Postcoloniales Philosophieren: Afrika (Vienna and Munich: Wiener Reihe, Oldenbourg Verlag, 1992), 206-213, which gives a brief contrast between Western feminist and Africanist approaches. There is a recent collection called Sisterhood, Feminisms, and Power: From Africa to the Diaspora, ed. Obioma Nnaemeka (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1998) which addresses some of the issues raised regarding women in Africa from many disciplines. There is also an article available in African Studies Quarterly over the internet, entitled "Women's Human Rights in Africa: Beyond the Debate over the Universality or Relativity of Human Rights," by Diana J. Fox. The web address is: http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v2/v2i3a2.htm

Grading:

The grade is divided into five parts, with a total of 100 points possible.
1) First exam, 20 points
2) Second exam, 20 points
3) Third/final exam, 20 points
4) Research paper, 20 points
5) Reading quizzes, unannounced, of various sizes, total 20 points.

Further descriptions of the above assignments:

Exams:

Each is worth 20 points. Each exam is divided clearly into two parts.

Part One: There will be a series of short questions, true and false, multiple choice, matching, short answer, and/or fill in the blank questions that make up 10 points of the exam. These questions will test your retention of key information covered in the class. This is an in-class exam, no notes are allowed.

Part Two: There will also be an essay question worth ten points. This will test your ability to make links, synthesize, and/or critically evaluate the course material. You will receive the essay questions (2 or 3 options) ahead of time, and you must choose one. This is a take-home exam, due on the same day as the exam. You must type your answers. Answers should be 3 pp. typed double spaced.

Research Paper

By the end of our second month, you will submit a paper topic to me, with a list of your sources for your paper. I will give you feedback on your topic. Your paper is due at the end of the third month. Papers should be 6-8 pp. typed and double spaced.

Reading Quizzes

On any class day I may decide to give a reading quiz. These quizzes will be brief, consisting of one or two questions that cover the reading due that period. Quizzes cannot be made up later; you must be present that day in order to complete the quiz.

Here are some examples of take home essay questions which can be used for section one of the course.

1. What are some of the key claims that Gyekye makes regarding Akan morality? Cover the major topics of whether morality is grounded in religion or not (and if so in what way), what are considered good or bad acts and why, and what kinds of sanctions are invoked, for what reasons. Choose aspects of his argument for which you can find illustrations, or counter-illustrations, in the novel, Things Fall Apart. After each point of Gyekye, cite your illustration with page numbers in parentheses, and summarize the action. Use quotes, but only sparingly, and always use quotation marks to surround your quotes. Do you think that the novel backs up Gyekye's ideas or not? What do you think of the Akan/ Igbo ideas of morality - are they different than, and/or better than, notions of morality that you grew up with, that our society endorses, or that you hold today? Explain.

2. Describe the relationship between men and women as it is illustrated in Things Fall Apart. Refer to specific passages. Drawing upon at least two of our other authors in our course who address issues of the roles of men and women in traditional African society, what would some of our other authors say about women's roles and treatment of women by men as described in the episodes in the book? Then compare the situation with out own contemporary society. In what ways might women in Africa be better off than women in our own society today, and in what ways do you think they might be worse off? Explain your views.

In closing, let me state that I offer this course outline as only one possible suggestion for a course in African philosophy. I am sure that there are many different ways, equally valid in importance to the way in which I have stated it here. It would be wonderful to have even more syllabi posted to this newsletter in the future. More importantly, I want to encourage faculty who have never yet tried to teach African philosophy, to do so. Teaching these novels can be fun and it really grips the students' interests. The articles I have paired here will not be difficult for you to relate to the subject matter of the books. African philosophy is too important a subject matter to be neglected by most philosophy departments. Those of you who have read this far show the initial interest and commitment to begin teaching the course, if you have not already done so. To those of you who have been teaching it for years and years, I put forward these suggestions in case they may help you in your revision of your syllabus.

Endnotes

1. Abiola Irele, "The Crisis of Cultural Memory in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart" in African Studies Quarterly, 4/3 Fall 2000, web address:
2. D.A. Masolo, African Philosophy in Search of Identity (Bloomington: Indiana University press, 1994), p. 250.
3. I taught at University of Nairobi in the Philosophy Department from '95-'96 while on a sabbatical from Marist College, and again from '98-'00 while holding a two year J. William Fulbright Senior Scholar position.
4. Odera Oruka, H. "Four Trends in Current African Philosophy," in Filosofiska Tidschrift 1,2, pp. 31-7; reprinted in Trends in Contemporary African Philosophy, Nairobi: Shirikon Publishers, 1990.
5. D.A. Masolo, African Philosophy in Search of Identity. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1994. The book's publication by East African Educational Publishers in Nairobi made it an available and affordable text to assign students in Kenya, since most books published abroad are usually unavailable or unaffordable. For more on Masolo's text, please see my review essay on Masolo's book in African Philosophy,3/1, 2000, pp. 64-74. Ironically, an African Philosophy course devoted to covering the topics in Masolo's texts, would not also have time to pursue the topics of "corruption, nepotism, tribalism, mismanagement, oppression, authoritarianism, and population growth" that he insists at the end of the book must be covered by all those serious about African philosophy. It is only because of such time pressures that I dare to suggest here that skipping Tempels, Ogotommelli, Kagame, and Mbiti might be justified. However, the Gbadegesin article which opens the semester's readings gives a brief background of Levy-Bruhl and Tempels, so they are not entirely ommitted. The topic of the scoffers who did not believe Africans could philosophize, and the response to this, can be covered in the first day or two in a brief overview.
6. Sophie Oluwole, "Africa," in A Companion to Feminist Philosophy, ed. Alison M. Jaggar and Iris Marion Young, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, pp. 96-107.
7. That syllabus is posted on Bruce Janz's African Philosophy resources web page, at:
8. English, P. and Kalumba, K. African Philosophy: A Classical Approach (Prentice Hall, 1996), had modified the original four trends in a way that made more sense to them, for example, speaking of liberation philosophy rather than "nationalistic-ideological" philosophy. However, English and Kalumba's book going out of print is part of the evidence that there is not enough demand for textbooks in African philosophy. I have approached major publishers on display at the APA who have stated to me that African philosophy texts do not "sell." This points to a crisis, since even innovative new courses in African Philosophy will not easily be able to get textbooks published. One cure for this situation is to encourage more departments to offer African philosophy in their course listings. There are, however, other philosophy texts available that do not follow the "four trends" outline. There is Albert Mosley's African Philosophy: Selected Readings (Prentice Hall, 1995). Mosley's book does a fine job in emphasizing Pan-African issues and linking African-American interests in race with topics in African philosophy. There is P.H. Coetzee and A.P.J. Roux, Philosophy from Africa: A Text with Readings (Wadsworth/ International Thompson Publishers, 1998). Look for the future home of the second edition of that text at Oxford University Press. Also see Emmanuel Eze, African Philosophy: An Anthology (Blackwell).
9. While some history of ethics is necessary, some teachers choose to cover the history of ethical theory in the first half, to move onto applied contexts in the second half.
10. Tsenay Serequeberhan, African Philosophy: The Essential Readings (Paragon House, 1991), quote p. 23. His second book, The Hermeneutics of African Philosophy: Horizon and Discourse. New York: Routledge, 1994.
11. Safro Kwame, "What's New in African Philosophy," Philosophy Now, August/September 2000, pp. 24-27. Kwame had earlier published an African philosophy textbook, Readings in African Philosophy: An Akan Collection (University Press of America, 1995), which incorporated the writings of several Akan authors from Ghana, grappling with philosophical issues such as philosophy in traditional societies, metaphysics, logic and epistemology, as well as moral and political philosophy.
12. D.A. Masolo, "African Philosophy: An Historical Overview," pp. 63-77, and Segun Gbadegesin, "Current Trends and Perspectives in African Philosophy," pp. 548-563, in A Companion to World Philosophies, ed. Eliot Deutsch and Ron Bontekoe, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
13. Gyekye's recent book focuses on this theme, and is called Tradition and Modernity Philosophical Reflections on the African Experience (Temple U. Press, 1997).
14. Olesegun Oladipo, "Emerging Issues in African Philosophy," in International Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 38, No. 1 Issue No. 149 (March 1998), pp. 67-75. Specific reference, p. 71.
15. Safro Kwame, "What's New in African Philosophy."
16. "On a Moral Mission to Improve Society: H. Odera Oruka and the Socratic Paradigm," International Journal of Applied Philosophy, 14/2, Fall 2000, pp. 225-240. "The Wisdom of African Sages," New Political Science 21/ 1, 1999, pp. 89-102. "Who Counts as a Sage? Problems in the Further Implementation of Sage Philosophy," Quest: Philosophical Discussions, Vol. XI, Nos. 1 and 2, 1997, pp. 53-65. "Ways in Which Oral Philosophy is Superior to Written Philosophy: A Look at Odera Oruka's Rural Sages" in APA Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience, Fall 1996, pp. 6-10. "African Sage-Philosophers in Action: H. Odera Oruka's Challenges to The Narrowly Academic Role of the Philosopher," Essence: An International Journal of Philosophy (Nigeria), Vol. 1, No. 1, June 1996, pp. 29-41."Contemporary African Sages and Queen Mothers: Their Leadership Roles in Conflict Resolution," Judith Presler and Sally Scholz, eds., Peacemaking: Lessons from the Past, Visions for the Future. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000, pp. 231-245.
17. For example, Oruka clearly delineates ethnophilosophy from culture philosophy and argues that sage philosophy is closely related to (and dependent upon) culture philosophy; see Sage Philosophy, p. 6. Oruka himself writes a brief culture philosophy of the Luo, and describes Luo beliefs in Kenyan court at the S.M. Otieno burial trial. (Sage Philosophy, pp. 60-63 and 67-83). Also, he included "folk sages," those who know the communal wisdom of their communities, in his collection of sages. (Sage Philosophy pp. 87-108).
18. Sophie Oluwole, "Africa," quote pp. 105-6.
19. Of related interest might be my article, "Should Women Love 'Wisdom'? Evaluating the Ethiopian Wisdom Tradition," in Research in African Literatures,30/2, Summer 1999, 165-181.
20. Segun Gbadegesin, "Current Trends."
21. Olesegun Oladipo, "Emerging Issues in African Philosophy," in International Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 38, No. 1 Issue No. 149 (March 1998), pp. 67-75.

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APA Newsletters

Spring 2001 Volume 00, Number 2

Spring 2001
Volume 00, Number 2