Methodologies And Orientations Of Africa Philosophy.

ABSTRACT

This work is a critical discussion of the methods and orientations of Africans

and it centres on Africa reflections on the questions about the existence, knowledge , ethics and
other philosophical dilemma of the world. It debunks the erroneous view of the Eurocentric
scholars on Africans and their philosophy and provide methodologies of Africans reflections on
philosophy.

INTRODUCTION

Before now , The idea of Africa Philosophy has always be debunked by Eurocentric scholars and
believed that Africans have no philosophy . In 1830s , G. H. F. Hegel argued that Africa had no history
because history began with writing and thus with the arrival of the Europeans. For him, writing was the
only way to preserve and document history but he ignorantly forgot about the hieroglyphs of the
Egyptian which was one of the oldest ways of writings and was written on papyrus. But even at that,
The Africans have various ways of preserving their histories and Philosophies such as storytelling,
proverbs, folks, and myths.

Furthermore, The European argue that African were irrational and have infantile way of reasoning,
this Postulation have be argue down by so many Africa philosophers such as : Mbiti ,Kwasi
Wiredu ,Steve Biko, Chinua Achebe, Kwame Nkrumah and Valentin Mudimb among others. The
Postulation about the irrationality of Africans is erroneous because all homo sapiens are rational and
Africans are homo spiens therefore Africans is rational, this is a simple logic and it is fallacious for the
European to say that African are irrational.

On this ground we will be looking at the methodologies and orientations of Africans and how they solve
and answer the philosophical questions and dilemma that pondered in their minds.

1) Oral Tradition:

Much of African philosophy has been passed down through oral narratives, proverbs, and storytelling.
Wisdom is transmitted across generations, preserving the cultural heritage. The same way Africa history
is passed down from generations to generations. Oral tradition is an important means of the
transmission of knowledge in African traditional society. A tradition is oral if it has no written literature
or sacred scriptures.

According to Wiredu’s Classification, there are two types of African philosophy, the traditional and
contemporary African philosophy.

Traditional African philosophy has a communal as well as an individualised component. Access to it can
be gained through proverbs, maxims, tales, myths, lyrics, poetry, art and it's done orally.

This has been one of the oldest means of passing on knowledge from generations to generations in
Africa.

2) Sage Philosophy:

Wisdom and knowledge are often derived from revered elders or sages within the community who pass
down philosophical insights through teachings and guidance.

According to Oruka , the criticism of the European was unjust . for him ,''while the sayings of numerous
Greek sages such as Thales, Anaximander, Heraclitus, and other pre-Socratics, were regarded as
philosophical , those of traditional African sages were not.'' This bias arises out of the implicit belief that
philosophy is the privileged activity of certain races.

He believed that this unjustified belief had further led to the image of philosophy as the restricted
property of Greeks, or Europeans, and, even more exclusively, the property of white males.

He argued that the critics on the Sage philosophy of African philosophy generally shows that Africa is
having a late start in philosophy just because we have no written records of her past philosophical
activities is, wrongfully, to limit the sources from which we could detect traces of such activities .

3) Recognition of Spirituality:

Many African philosophical perspectives incorporate cosmological beliefs and spiritual dimensions,
recognizing the influence of ancestors and spirits in daily life.And also African philosophy engages with
questions about existence, identity, and the meaning of life, addressing fundamental human
experiences and concerns.

4) Ethnophilosophy:

Ethnophilosophy, a term coined by Paulin J. Hountondji in his book "African Philosophy: Myth and
Reality," refers to the study and interpretation of philosophical ideas and thought systems within
specific ethnic groups in Africa. The concept was introduced as a critical response to certain tendencies
in the study of African philosophy, particularly the essentialist and generalized portrayal of African
thought.

Ethnophilosophy
approach seeks to understand and interpret the philosophical beliefs and thought systems of various
ethnic groups in Africa, recognizing the diversity of philosophical perspectives on the continent.