Victor Nweke

In this paper, we argue that among the three basic human needs, namely, food (air and water), shelter and clothing; food is the most significant. This is the case because food is a necessary requirement for the preservation of human life. We argue that if food is a prerequisite for human life, the right to life suggests the right to food security. And since the right to life is a fundamental human right, food security should therefore be a fundamental human right. By food security we specifically refer to equal access to the necessary qualitative food for proper human flourishing. We adopt the critical and argumentative methods of philosophy to buttress our claim. Accordingly, we present a critical analysis of the relationship between food security and the right to life. We also expose the relationship between food security and crime in some African states. Using Nigeria as a point of reference, we maintain that there is food insecurity in many contemporary African countries. And that it is orchestrated by poverty—the lack of economic and financial resources needed to access quality food in its right proportion. We demonstrate how food insecurity leads to crime in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan African states. We conclude by suggesting that food insecurity can be confronted if the government can invest more in agriculture and also create more employments with reasonable income level.

I contend that if theories of justice are often constructed from a specific understanding of the nature of humans, then Ubuntu can serve as a base for a normative theory of justice from an African context. The underlying claim here is that Ubuntu encapsulates a prevalent view in the intellectual heritage of Africa about the nature of human beings. I buttress this position by following the research imperative of conversational philosophy which posits that critical and creative engagement with extant perspectives is a necessary prelude that makes the articulation of a more profound proposal possible. My focus is mainly on the approach to Ubuntu as a theory of personhood−an Africa-inspired philosophical anthropology. One basic objection that one faces in this approach is the view that Ubuntu is an exclusivist theory of personhood. And if Ubuntu is inherently and irredeemably exclusivne, then it cannot be a plausible base for a theory of justice in a diverse society inhabited by those it excludes. Contrary to this, my conversational engagement with some of the prominent works on the nature of Ubuntu suggests that Ubuntu is inherently an inclusive theory of personhood. The said exclusivist sense of Ubuntu is a distortion that often emerges from attempts to arrive at a fixed definition of Ubuntu that is absolute, complete and eternal independent of its social and historical affinities.

The basic thesis of this essay is that the progressive development of any discipline is propelled by incessant constructive criticisms, creative emendation and articulate reconstruction of established positions and received opinions in the discipline. Accordingly, the essay argues that the method and canons of Conversational Philosophy are very significant to the progressive development of African philosophy. This is because they are fundamentally articulated to promote the constructive criticism, creative emendation, and articulate reconstruction of established positions or received opinions in African philosophy. Itbuttresses this point using Mesembe Edet’s conversation with Innocent Onyewuenyi on the question of the African belief on reincarnation. This choice stems from the explicit admittance of Edet that his conversation with Onyewuenyi adopts the method of conversationalism and the method of conversationalism is undergirded by the canons of CP. Specifically, this essay explicates how the conscious adoption of conversationalism and adherence to the canons of CP enabled Edet to engage Onyewuenyi in a very critical and creative conversation on the African belief in reincarnation which eventually led to a novel reconceptualization of reincarnation in African philosophy. It unveils the significance of conversationalism and the canons of CP in practice. It is therefore a conversational, expository and argumentative essay.

The basic thesis of this essay is that the progressive development of any discipline is propelled by incessant constructive criticisms, creative emendation and articulate reconstruction of established positions and received opinions in the discipline. Accordingly, the essay argues that the method and canons of Conversational Philosophy are very significant to the progressive development of African philosophy. This is because they are fundamentally articulated to promote the constructive criticism, creative emendation, and articulate reconstruction of established positions or received opinions in African philosophy. It buttresses this point using Mesembe Edet’s conversation with Innocent Onyewuenyi on the question of the African belief on reincarnation. This choice stems from the explicit admittance of Edet that his conversation with Onyewuenyi adopts the method of conversationalism and the method of conversationalism is undergirded by the canons of CP. Specifically, this essay explicates how the conscious adoption of conversationalism and adherence to the canons of CP enabled Edet to engage Onyewuenyi in a very critical and creative conversation on the African belief in reincarnation which eventually led to a novel reconceptualization of reincarnation in African philosophy. It unveils the significance of conversationalism and the canons of CP in practice. It is therefore a conversational, expository and argumentative essay. Keywords : Conversationlism, Conversational Philosophy, Interrogative theory, Onyewuenyi, Reincarnation.

In this short conversation, I will engage Jonathan Chimakonam’s essay entitled “The knowledge Question in African Philosophy: A Case for Cogno-Normative Epistemology” published as the chapter four of [Atuolu Omalu: Some Unanswered Questions in Contemporary African Philosophy]. I will identify the major submissions of the essay and engage them critically with the aim of opening new vistas of thought. My method will be conversationalim. Keywords : Conversational philosophy, Jonathan Chimakonam, African philosophy, epistemology, cogno-normative

Nous soutenons que l’enseignement de la philosophie à travers le monde est encore hanté par une «politique» de marginalisation des traditions moins favorisées comme la philosophie africaine. Des travaux renommés montrent que le programme classique de philosophie utilisé dans les établissements d’enseignement à travers le monde est principalement occidental et, en tant que tel, très colonial. Nous soutenons que cela équivaut à une sorte d’«injustice épistémique» qui porte préjudice à la production de la connaissance. Nous affirmons en particulier que cette «politique» doit être interrompue. Nous proposons comme alternative la tradition conversationnelle, à partir de laquelle une programme de philosophie compréhensif et inconciliable avec la politique d’exclusion pourrait être mis au point.