Module PLS1502
IMBO
How is African philosophy to be defined /|cS.O. Imbo / p. 34-67; 3-7; 43-50
SUMMARRY
Philosophy begins with the sense of wonder that pushes us to understand our own life and our
place in the universe. Because reality is unique to every individual, our experiences can only be
made intelligible against the background of the culture and environment from where our
experiences take place. Therefore, the variety found within philosophy is because of the variety of
cultures that exist within humanity.
Different races, cultures and nations do not have their own mentalities, but rather the below
categories do not define, but influence the attitudes and type of philosophy (the questions
difference cultures ask). The universal branches of philosophy which are a group of different
questions pertaining to life experiences are;
• Philosophy ethics (right and wrong, duties and obligations),
• Epistemology (theories of knowledge, opinions, how we can be certain of anything in our
quest for truth),
• Metaphysics (the difference between reality and the appearance of things changing)
• Logic (distinguishing valid forms of argument from invalid ones, sound vs unsound
reasoning),
• Social and political philosophy (legitimacy of government, our obligations towards those
around us, and how to design just laws)
It must be noted that the above categories cannot be viewed alone as solving or questioning one
area will always require that we look at the other areas of human lives as well. There is then, no
single school of thought/type of philosophy that can be ascribed to, nor is it a fixed discipline.
Philosophy is an ever-evolving understanding and process of placing fresh ideas onto recurring
problems.
The problems that philosophy addresses, will be influenced by the specific historical, cultural and
geographical factors of those seeking to find answers. For philosophy to be beneficial to society it
must exhibit the following:
• Open-mindedness (willingness to listen to all realities),
• Scepticism (of opinions and status quo),
• A systematic approach (showing connections between different parts),
• A basis in justifying reasons (to convince informed people),
• Universality (the methods will remain the same but the interpretations and application will
differ from place to place).
The debate around African philosophy begins whether it even exists, and if it does, it is viewed as
unequal to other world philosophies. One of the suppositions for this belief is that in the past a
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