Hountondji P.J. African Philosophy: Myth and Reality

Indiana University Press, 1996. — 248 p. — African Systems of Thought. — ISBN 978-0253210968."Hountondji... writes not as an 'African' philosopher but as a philosopher on Africa... Hountondji's deep understanding of any civilization as necessarily pluralistic, and often even self-contradicting as it evolves, is simply magisterial... This is a precious gem of a book for anyone who wishes to reflect on civilization and culture." ―Choice
In this incisive, original exploration of the nature and future of African philosophy, Paulin J. Hountondji attacks a myth popularized by ethnophilosophers such as Placide Tempels and Alexis Kagame that there is an indigenous, collective African philosophy separate and distinct from the Western philosophical tradition. Hountondji contends that ideological manifestations of this view that stress the uniqueness of the African experience are protonationalist reactions against colonialism conducted, paradoxically, in the terms of colonialist discourse. Hountondji argues that a genuine African philosophy must assimilate and transcend the theoretical heritage of Western philosophy and must reflect a rigorous process of independent scientific inquiry. This edition is updated with a new preface in which Hountondji responds to his critics and clarifies misunderstandings about the book's conceptual framework.Introduction by Abiola Irele
Part One: Arguments
An Alienated Literature
History of a Myth
African Philosophy, Myth and Reality
Philosophy and Its Revolutions
Part Two: Analyses
An African philosopher in Germany in the Eighteenth Century: Anton-Wilhelm Amo
The End of 'Nkrumaism' and the (Re)birth of Nkrumah
The Idea of Philosophy in Nkrumah's Consciencism
True and False Pluralism
Postscript
Notes and References
Index