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PLS1502 EXAM PACK 2024
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QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS PLS1502 EXAM PACK
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[Date]QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
, The question in this section is compulsory.
1. “African philosophy” (you may refer to etymology, periods, movements, figures,
branches and problems) [10 marks]
2. “Ethnophilosophy” (you may refer to relevant sub-branches, problems/concerns and
figures in the course of answering this question) [10 marks]
3. “Nationalistic-ideologico philosophy” (you may refer to relevant sub-branches,
problems/concerns and figures in the course of answering this question) [10 marks]
4. “ Professional African Philosophy” (you may refer to relevant sub-branches, problems,
methods and figures in the course of answering this question) [10marks]
SECTION B [60 marks]
Choose any 2 questions in this section.
1. What does Ramose mean by , “The struggle for reason in Africa” in his essay
of the same title and what does this struggle have to do with African philosophy
according to him ? [30 marks] [maximum 700 words]
[30 marks]
2. Dladla’s essay Racism and the Marginality of African philosophy suggests there is a
general link between the marginalisation of Africans in general society and the
marginalisation of their philosophy in the universities. Do you agree with this claim?
(Support your answer whether affirmative or negative by providing a concise summary
of the essay’s basic arguments which you judge to support your choice)
[30 marks] [maximum 700 words]
3. Write an essay {maximum 1000 words} in which in light of your studies this semester,
provide a detailed answer to the following interrelated questions (which must form the
main sections of your essay). (i) What is African philosophy? (ii) What value, if any, can it
in your opinion contribute to South African society? [in answering this question, you are
encouraged to make recourse to etymology, branches, history as well as figures and
schools or movements within the history of African philosophy
[30 marks] [maximum 700 words]
TOTAL [100 MARKS]
PLS1502 EXAM
,Section A
1 “African philosophy”
African philosophy refers to the philosophical discourse which originated from indigenous
Africans and their progenies including African Americans. Africa is at the very least the
descriptor of a geographical location, a continent of various peoples and the undisputed birth
place of human civilisation. There are numerous interesting debates in relation to the cultural
unity of Africa itself. Whereas theoreticians like Diop, Obenga and Chami maintain that
despite the various so described ethnic and linguistic groups, there nevertheless
subsists throughout the African continent a unity both linguistic and cultural which makes it
meaningful to describe its people and their philosophical tradition as “African
philosophy”.
The branches of African Philosophy include, black existentialism, double consciousness,
black theology, and womanism. African Philosophy has four periods, the early period
which an era of the movement called cultural excavation aimed at retrieving and
reconstructing African identity. There are ancient, mediaeval, modern and contemporary
periods in the history of African philosophy, each period consisting of its various problems,
concerns and figures. The schools that emerged and thrived in this period were
ethnophilosophy and nationalist schools. The second is the middle period, then the later
period which heralds the emergence of the movements which can be called Critical
Reconstructionism and Afro-Eclecticism and finally the new era which begun in the late
90s. The four main movements that can be identified in the history of African Philosophy
include excavation, afro-constructionism, critical reconstructionism, and
converstionalism.
2. “Ethnophilosophy”
Ethnophilosophy is the study of indigenous philosophical systems. The implicit concept is
that a specific culture can have a philosophy that is not applicable and accessible to all
peoples and cultures in the world. The most notable characteristic of the ethnophilosophy
school was its characterization of philosophy as a kind of collective narrative.
Ethnophilosophers treated African philosophy as a narrative whose content is revealed
through various codes, such as myth, symbolic systems and religious and ordinary
language. Ethno-philosophy is just like Western philosophy, as it is based on a recognized
, form of reasoning, namely inductive reasoning, packaged in proverbs, riddles and other
cultural resources.
Ethnophilosophy involves the recording of the beliefs found in African cultures. Such an
approach treats African philosophy as consisting in a set of shared beliefs, a shared
world-view an item of communal property rather than an activity for the individual.
Ethnophilosophers attempt to show that African philosophy is distinctive by treading
heavily on the ‘African’ and almost losing the ‘philosophy’, that is, by making clear the
differentiation between African and European philosophy.
Ethnophilosophy swaps logic and individuality with emotion and community. In this way the
community as a whole is responsible for the philosophy and it is accepted by everyone as
truth. The philosophies are based on dance, African customs, poems, taboos, religion,
etcetera, and so African philosophy is identified with folk philosophy. The whole
community as a group can philosophise. One of the greatest inadequacies of
ethnophilosophy is that it is derived from the uncritical aspects of African philosophy.
Where the critical parts are works of individual man, and women, philosophers, poets,
etcetera, and the uncritical parts constitutes of beliefs and activities found in religion,
legend, folk tales, customs, superstition etcetera.
3. “Philosophical Sagacity”
Philosophic sagacity is a version of ethnophilosophy where the focus is more on
individuals, in which one records the beliefs of certain special members of a community.
Philosophic sagacity is a concept developed by Odera Oruka, a Kenyan philosopher.
Oruka used the term to explain that there were logical and critical African individuals in pre-
colonial Africa, and because of the depth of their reasoning, they were philosophers and
their reflections philosophical. philosophic sagacity “implicitly rejects the holistic
approach to African philosophy” that characterizes ethno-philosophy. Philosophic sagacity
does not encourage looking at the general worldviews, customs, folktales and beliefs of
people. Instead, it is “that philosophy that is derived from the thinking or the thought of wise
persons.” The premise here is that, although most societies demand some degree of
conformity of belief and behavior from their members, a certain few of those members reach
a particularly high level of knowledge and understanding of their cultures’ world-view. There
are two ways of approaching philosophic sagacity. First, the professional philosopher can
visit the rural areas and identify people reputed for their wisdom and knowledge of African
culture. The second approach that was used by Odera Oruka and his team. They recorded
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