-
158The “ethnophilosophy” problem: How the idea of “social imaginaries” may remedy itPhilosophical Forum 55 (1): 71-86. 2024.The work argues that engaging Africa's cultural and epistemic resources as social imaginaries, and not as metaphysical or ontological “essences,” could help practitioners of African philosophy overcome the cluster of shortcomings and undesirable features associated with “ethnophilosophy.” A number of points are outlined to buttress this claim. First, the framework of social imaginaries does not operate with the false assumption that Africa's cultural forms and epistemic resources are static and …Read more
-
227The Sense of Interconnectedness in African Thought-Patterns: In Search of a More Useful Philosophical Idiom." Philosophy Today 66 (4): 707 - 723 (review, 4th ed.)Philosophy Today 66 (4): 707-723. 2022.The sense of interconnectedness is perhaps one of the most celebrated features of African thought. It has been theorized under different philosophical idi- oms among African philosophers. It has appeared variously as African metaphysics, ontology, socialism and even religion—all in a bid to underline the basic idea that aspects of reality are inextricably interconnected and mutually impact one another in a seemingly universal web of interaction. While each of the idioms used to express this idea…Read more
-
29The Sense of Interconnectedness in African Thought-PatternsPhilosophy Today 66 (4): 707-723. 2022.The sense of interconnectedness is perhaps one of the most celebrated features of African thought. It has been theorized under different philosophical idioms among African philosophers. It has appeared variously as African metaphysics, ontology, socialism and even religion—all in a bid to underline the basic idea that aspects of reality are inextricably interconnected and mutually impact one another in a seemingly universal web of interaction. While each of the idioms used to express this idea h…Read more
-
46The Sense of Interconnectedness in African Thought-PatternsPhilosophy Today 66 (4): 707-723. 2022.The sense of interconnectedness is perhaps one of the most celebrated features of African thought. It has been theorized under different philosophical idioms among African philosophers. It has appeared variously as African metaphysics, ontology, socialism and even religion—all in a bid to underline the basic idea that aspects of reality are inextricably interconnected and mutually impact one another in a seemingly universal web of interaction. While each of the idioms used to express this idea h…Read more
-
156Coloniality, Epistemic Imbalance, and Africa’s Emigration CrisisTheory, Culture and Society 39 (6): 3-19. 2022.The paper has two complementary objectives. First, it sustains an analysis of the concept of ‘coloniality’ that accounts for the epistemic imbalance in the modern world, demonstrating precisely how Africa is adversely affected, having been caught up in the throes of coloniality and its epistemic implications. Second – and complementarily – the paper attempts to bring this very concept of ‘coloniality’ into the discourse on Africa’s emigration crisis, arguing that Africa’s emigration crisis is tr…Read more
-
13Modernity and the Igbo Lifeworld: Theorizing the Modernization Dynamics of the Igbo World from the Habermasian FrameworkPhilosophia Africana 20 (2): 129-152. 2021.This article theorizes the modernization dynamics of the Igbo world, using the Habermasian framework. Drawing on Habermas, it argues that Igbo modernity or, more precisely, the transformations associated with Igbo modernization, may be understood in terms of the “uncoupling” of systems from the Igbo lifeworld. Relatedly, it further argues that the crises and pathologies that attend modernity in Igboland owe largely to the “colonization” of the Igbo lifeworld by systems of modernity consequent up…Read more
-
16Are Igbo (African) thoughts on death Heideggerian? Some critical insightsSouth African Journal of Philosophy 42 (1): 1-12. 2023.This article primarily sets out to investigate whether Igbo (African) thoughts on death might be considered Heideggerian or not. It does so by analysing and juxtaposing five key elements of Heidegger’s existentialist analysis of Dasein’s death with some important features of Igbo (African) thoughts on death. This is aimed at challenging an identifiable attempt by scholars like Chukwuelobe and Onwuanibe to couch the Igbo metaphysics of death in Heideggerian terms. Therefore, the main argument of …Read more
-
13“Cunning of Reason” and the Igbo concept of Chi: Towards a philosophical rapprochement with HegelSouth African Journal of Philosophy 40 (1): 34-45. 2021.The central argument of this article is that there is a remarkable conceptual parallel between Hegel’s famous notion of the “cunning of Reason” and the philosophically profound concept of Chi in Igbo metaphysics. By way of establishing this parallel, the article advances the following subsidiary but complementary points: Chi is also “cunning” in its dynamics; both principles (i.e. Chi and Reason/Spirit) are non-deterministic because they try to maintain a dialectic balance between destiny and in…Read more
-
3Book Reviews (review)Theoria 69 (170): 114-123. 2022.Douglas L. Berger, Indian and Intercultural Philosophy: Personhood, Consciousness and Causality. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021, 240 pp.Joseph C. A. Agbakoba, Development and Modernity in Africa: An Intercultural Philosophical Perspective, Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 2019, 405 pp.Adekeye Adebajo, The Pan-African Pantheon: Prophets, Poets and Philosophers, Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2020. 655 pp.