PLS1502 EXAM PACK
,FINAL EXAMINATION
20 November 2021
PLS 1502
Introduction to African Philosophy
100 Marks
Duration: 4 Hours
1st Examiner : Dr N Dladla
2nd Examiner: Ms M Khosi
This paper consists of 2 pages including this cover page.
Instructions:
Your exam consists of 2 sections and a total of 6 mandatory questions
SECTION A which consists of FOUR SHORT QUESTIONS is COMPULSORY and counts 40
marks
You can choose to answer ANY TWO of the THREE QUESTIONS under SECTION B
All 6 answers must be submitted as part of A SINGLE word file/ text
DOCUMENT.
Good luck and all of the best.
, SECTION A [40 marks]
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
