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Added by: Sara Peppe, Contributed by: Jonathan EgidPublisher’s Note:
What are the issues discussed today by African philosophers? Four important topics are identified here as important objects of philosophical reflection on the African continent. One is the question of ontology in relation to African religions and aesthetics. Another is the question of time and, in particular, of prospective thinking and development. A third issue is the task of reconstructing the intellectual history of the continent through the examination of the question of orality but also by taking into account the often neglected tradition of written erudition in Islamic centres of learning. Timbuktu is certainly the most important and most famous of such intellectual centres. The fourth question concerns political philosophy: the concept of African socialisms is revisited and the march that led to the adoption of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights is examined. All these important issues are also fundamental to understanding the question of African languages and translation.
Comment : This text is useful to deepen the theme of written erudition in the African philosophical context instead of focusing on oral tradition only. It is an introductory reading useful to build knowledge on the theme.Can’t find it?Contribute the texts you think should be here and we’ll add them soon!
Souleyman Bachir Diagne. The Ink of the Scholars: Reflections on Philosophy in Africa
2016, CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa)