•  3
    Henry Odera Oruka was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century African philosophy. During the early years of the decolonization of African countries, as universities worked to redefine themselves, Odera drove changes to curricula and research. A tireless advocate for democracy and human rights in Africa, he repeatedly intervened in the political debates of his time. This is the first critical biography of both the man himself and African philosophy in the context of changing times, ta…Read more
  •  21
    “Gandhi’s Encounter with the British Suffrage Movement: Lessons Learned"
    In Veena Howard & Falon Kartch (eds.), Gandhi's Global Legacy: Moral Methods and Modern Challenges, Lexington Books / Rowman and Littlefield. pp. 87-106. 2023.
    Most accounts of the influences on Gandhi's philosophy and tactics of nonviolent action do not give enough credit to the role that women in the British suffrage movement played in inspiring and guiding him. The article explains how, despite his specifically mentioning on occasion that he is NOT copying their tactics, he actually does repeat many of them in his 1913 satyagraha campaign in South Africa. And on many occasions he does credit them with inspiring him and his movement. In the early ye…Read more
  •  10
    Ubuntu, or humanness, has been theorized as a uniquely African contribution to the world. At the same time, others insist that it is a universal ethical principle. This paper particularly wants to look at a sub-theme of ubuntu studies, regarding how some of the authors and researchers have wanted to apply it to business, even suggesting that ubuntu can provide a model for ethical management principles that can also result in better outcomes for businesses. To approach business with an ethical em…Read more
  •  5
    Since Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963, women’s rights in the country have made slow gains and suffered some setbacks. However, the rights of women and their guaranteed participation in politics was outlined in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution. This paper will survey some of those gains as well as describe the social backlash experienced by women leaders who have been trailblazers in post-colonial Kenyan politics.
  •  15
    “Bukusu and Amazonian Perspectives on Harmonious Relations with the Other"
    Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture 23 (1): 1-54. 2019.
    The article follows the theme of dealing with adversaries and conflict resolution. As an exercise in intercultural philosophy, the paper explores the philosophies of two different regions, the Amazon of South America (Jivaro and Yanesha/Amuesha people of Peru) and Western Province of Kenya, East Africa (with a focus on the Bukusu people). Exploring the insights of other researchers as well as drawing upon interviews by the author, the article explains each group’s philosophy of conflict resol…Read more
  •  7
    The challenges of building community based on a common identity that also respects differences has two different kinds of chasms to cross. There is the division of ethnic groups, and there is also the generational gap. Given recent problems of ethnic violence that broke out during the December 2007 elections, can contemporary Kenyans build community, coming to common understanding with others on issues such as value and identity? This is not a new problem. It has often been expressed as the need…Read more
  •  1
    Who Counts as a Sage. Problems in the Future Implementation of Sage Philosophy
    Quest - and African Journal of Philosophy 11 (1-2): 53-68. 1997.
  •  154
    Crisis, Dispossession, and Activism to Reclaim Detroit
    In and Konstantinos D. Koskeridis Helen Karabatzaki Vasiliki Solomou-Papanikolaou Golfo Maggini (ed.), Philosophy and Crisis: Responding to the Challenges to Ways of Life in the Contemporary World, Volume One. pp. 121-129. 2017.
    The paper discusses the concept of "crisis" in the context of the city of Detroit's bankruptcy under the rule of the Governor-appointed Emergency Manager. In their recent book, Judith Butler and Athena Athanasiou discuss the concept of dispossession in all its complexity, in the context of enforced austerity measures in Europe and a global Occupy movement. The concept of “dispossession” clarifies how we actually depend on others in a sustained social world, that in fact the self is social. I wi…Read more
  •  312
    Odera Oruka on Culture Philosophy and its role in the S.M. Otieno Burial Trial
    In Reginald M. J. Oduor, Oriare Nyarwath & Francis E. A. Owakah (eds.), Odera Oruka in the Twenty-first Century, The Council For Research in Values and Philosophy. pp. 99-118. 2017.
    This paper focuses on evaluating Odera Oruka’s role as an expert witness in customary law for the Luo community during the Nairobi, Kenya-based trial in 1987 to decide on the place of the burial of S.M. Otieno. During that trial, an understanding of Luo burial and widow guardianship (ter) practices was essential. Odera Oruka described the practices carefully and defended them against misunderstanding and stereotype. He revisited related topics in several delivered papers, published articles, and…Read more
  •  18
    This book addresses the relative absence of the voices and ideas of African women in philosophy. Most of the authors (who are mostly African men) bemoan the fact that many voices are missing. Each contributes what they can to highlight the importance of the gap or to address the gap. The co-editors suggest that from its start, African philosophy intended to be egalitarian, emancipatory, and revolutionary, and so the current marginalization of African women should be a prominent concern. The rev…Read more
  •  4
    “Fanon on the Role of Violence in Liberation: A Comparison to Gandhi and Mandela.”
    In Lewis Gordon, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting & Renee White (eds.), Frantz Fanon: A Critical Reader. pp. 282-296. 1996.
    Both Gandhi and Fanon used divergent medical models to come up with their analogies for political action. For Gandhi, non-invasive medicine (such as fasting), prayer, and vigil took a key role in his response to individual illness of the body. He counseled similar tactics to challenge ‘illness” or error in the body politic. Fanon, a psychiatrist trained also in medicine referred to colonialism as a gangrene germ that threatened the life of the body politic, and therefore needed to be amputated o…Read more
  • The paper explores the role of sage philosophy, founded by Prof. H. Odera Oruka of Kenya, within African philosophy and philosophy in general. The focus on wise sages raises the larger issue of the relationship of wisdom to philosophy. An early literature of wisdom philosophy, dealing with the art of living, has been marginalized by modern philosophy, where concerns for wisdom are peripheral. Kekes and Blanshard argue, however, that the reflectiveness and judgment involved in wisdom are key phil…Read more
  •  16
    “Odera Oruka and Mohandas Gandhi on Reconciliation"
    Polylog: Forum Für Interkulturelles Philosophieren 35 (2): 187-208. 2015.
    Trudy Govier worked closely with Wilhelm Verwoerd and Desmond Tutu in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This paper shares her insights regarding the meaning and importance of concepts such as acknowledgment, apology, forgiveness and reconciliation. The paper goes on to focus on the topic of reconciliation in the works of two philosophers. Kenyan philosopher Henry Odera Oruka had a great concern for reconciliation and restorative justice. He critiqued criminal justice systems th…Read more
  •  1
    Sage Philosophy and Critical Thinking
    International Journal of Philosophical Practice 2 (1): 1-13. 2004.
    In critical thinking we learn the importance of being fair, and opening up closed and biased minds. In practical philosophy we must learn how to find our happiness in a world where others act with evil intentions. In contemporary Kenya one major challenge is how to react to those who might use witchcraft to try to harm oneself or one’s family. Regardless of whether witchcraft is “real” or not, it is possible to discern the root cause of witchcraft practices as due to jealousy and selfishness. By…Read more
  •  377
    Azaransky's work highlights the theological contributions of Howard Thurman, Benjamin Mays, William Stuart Nelson, Pauli Murray and Bayard Rustin. She makes a compelling case that each of these thinker-activists needs to be better appreciated for their cutting-edge theological insights based on their thought and life experience with Mohandas Gandhi and his spiritual activism. Each reinterprets their own Christian views based on this larger worldwide experience that they have gained through study…Read more
  • Evaluating the Legacy of Nonviolence in South Africa
    Peace and Change 31 (2): 141-174. 2006.
    This paper engages an important debate going on in the literature regarding the efficacy of nonviolence in confronting unjust regimes. I will focus on the commentators who have claimed that nonviolence, if adhered to more resolutely, would have ended South African apartheid sooner. I will contrast them to Mandela’s account that both violence and nonviolence working in tandem were needed to bring a speedy and just resolution to South Africa’s crisis of racist governance. To consider South Africa …Read more
  •  523
    The IMF, World Bank, and former colonial powers have put pressure on African countries to adopt multiparty democracy. Because of this pressure, many formerly one‐party states as well as some military dictatorships have embraced Western and Parliamentarian democratic forms. But does this mean that democracy has succeeded in Africa? Ernest Wamba‐dia‐Wamba of the University of Dar‐es‐Saalam and CODESRIA argues that embracing Western paradigms in an unthinking fashion will not bring real democracy, …Read more
  •  385
    Soon after taking power, three leaders of nonviolent African independence movements, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia immediately turned to violent means to suppress internal opposition. The paper examines the reasons for the success of their Gandhian nonviolent tactics in ousting British colonial governments and argues that these new heads of state lost confidence in nonviolence due to a mixture of self-serving expediency, a lack of understanding …Read more
  •  579
    This article provides an overview of the contributions to philosophy of Nigerian philosopher Sophie Bọ´sẹ`dé Olúwọlé. The first woman to earn a philosophy PhD in Nigeria, Olúwọlé headed the Department of Philosophy at the University of Lagos before retiring to found and run the Centre for African Culture and Development. She devoted her career to studying Yoruba philosophy, translating the ancient Yoruba Ifá canon, which embodies the teachings of Orunmila, a philosopher revered as an Óríṣá in th…Read more
  •  178
    Ways in Which Oral Philosophy is Superior to Written Philosophy: A Look at Odera Oruka’s Rural Sages
    APA Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience 1996 (Fall): 6-10. 1996.
    The paper is about H. Odera Oruka's Sage Philosophy project. Oruka interviewed rural sages of Kenya, saying that like Socrates, these wise elders had been philosophizing without writing anything down. Paulin Hountondji (at the time) criticized efforts of oral philosophizing, saying that Africa needed a written tradition of philosophizing. Some philosophers were representatives of an "individualist" position which says that philosophical ideas must be attributed to specific named individuals. Kwa…Read more
  •  4
    Antón Donoso, in memorium (1932-2018)
    Inter-American Journal of Philosophy 9 (1). 2018.
    Antón Donoso was a teacher and scholar devoted to studying North American, Latin American and Iberian philosophy, along with Marxism from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He explored the works of Jose Ortega y Gasset, Julian Marais, John Dewey, Miguel de Unamuno and others. He was active in philosophical societies that promoted the study of Latin American philosophy, and often wrote review articles that introduced English-speakers to the key new ideas from Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. In a …Read more
  • Review of Economic and Political Reform in Africa: Anthropological Perspectives (review)
    Ethique and Economique Ethics and Economics 13 94-95. 2016.
  •  23
    In Memory: The Significance of Claude Sumner. SJ’s Contribution to African Philosophy
    with George McLean
    In African Philosophy in Ethiopia: Ethiopian Philosophical Studies, II.. 2013.
    The paper surveys the lifetime achievements of Claude Sumner, S.J., a Canadian Jesuit who lived for 45 years in Ethiopia and devoted his life's work to collecting, documenting and evaluating Ethiopian philosophical texts and oral literature.
  •  1
    Should Women love 'Wisdom'?
    In African Philosophy in Ethiopia: Ethiopian Philosophical Studies, II.. pp. 139-158. 2013.
  •  18
    Teaching about Racism and Sexism in Introduction to Philosophy Classes
    Apa Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy 7 (2): 5-13. 2008.
    The paper contains pedagogical suggestions for addressing issues of racism and sexism in the classroom, in the context of an introductory philosophy survey. It draws on the ideas of Charles Mills, Laurence Thomas, Peggy McIntosh and others.
  •  24
    Teaching ‘Philosophy of Feminism’ from a Global Perspective
    Apa Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy 12 (1): 4-9. 2012.
    The paper points out ways in which philosophy can be taught from a global feminist perspective without falling into typical Eurocentric pitfalls. For example, African women's practices of cliterodectomy can be studied thoughtfully and in context, with attention to both sides of the issue, instead of covering the topic for its shock value as a strategy to convince students that relativism is wrong. The paper covers a reading list and topics that both cover feminist critiques of the prevalent male…Read more
  •  11
    National unity is important in Kenya, since ethnic divisions have sometimes become deadly. The imposed Coalition government and the recent new Constitution in 2010 were attempts to overcome division. But cultural divisions among the generations are just as much of a challenge as ethnic divisions, as the youth sometimes sideline the practices and worldviews of their elders, leaving people to wonder what binds people to each other as Kenyans? The idea of “national culture” has its pitfalls, bit se…Read more