African Philosophy

Addis Ababa University, College of Social Sciences, Dept.
of
Philosophy
Richard H. Bell: Understanding African Philosophy from

Non-African Point of View
Getahun Belay, GSR/7511/15

Submitted To; Professor Bekele Gutema
1
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
A Procedure for Understanding Africa for non-African Perspective...........................................................3
The Study of African Religious Practices, Characters and Philosophy........................................................6
Aesthetic Consciousness, Art and Cross Cultural Understanding..............................................................10
Criticisms..................................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................16
References.................................................................................................................................................17
2
Introduction
Richard H. Bell has vision of how and why non-Africans should genuinely attempt to
understand and see African philosophy and African cultures.1 He objects to relativistic and
theory biased explanation of African rituals, festivals and religious practices.2 He proposes
aesthetic procedures for understanding for African culture by non-African starts by knowing his
own culture.3 Then detailed and crystalline description of the other’s peoples cultural practices
and behaviours and find analogous cultural practices within one’s own culture that resemble the
attributed emotions and feelings associated with the cultural practices of the people ones seeks to
understand.4 In addition for Bell art and other related cultural artefacts are the second major
routes in one’s pursuit to understand other (African) people and their philosophy.5 In this essay, I
will argue that while Bells procedure has immediate appeal and might be successful in aiding
non-African or a stranger to understand African culture, but it might not help bridge some
fundamental gaps in one’s understanding of African culture particularly in practices that are
radically different and in activities that elicit extreme reactions.
In the first section of this essay I will overview the Richard H. Bell’s procedure of cross
cultural understanding. Next I will present his views that outline what the study of African
religion, character and philosophy show non Africans. On the third section of this essay I will
present aesthetic artefacts value in cross culture understanding and then will raise some possible
limitations of Bell’s Procedure for cross cultural understanding and the drawbacks of his
preference for universalistic African discourses.
An Aesthetic Procedure for Understanding Africa from non-

African Perspective
1
Richard H. Bell “Understanding African Philosophy from Non-African Point of View”, In Postcolonial Philosophy: A
Critical Reader ed. Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze (MA: Blackwell Publishers,1997),
2
Bell, ”Understanding AP from NFPV”,196 & 197
3
Bell, ”Understanding AP from NFPV”,198
4
Bell, ”Understanding AP from NFPV”,199 & 200
5
Bell, ”Understanding AP from NFPV”, 208
3
Richard Bell starts with Wittgenstein’s comment on Frazer’s idea that “every view has its
charm”.6 Bell adds citing Wittgenstein who thought that it is rather should be said, “Every view
is significant for him who sees it so”.7 To him philosophy is an exercise of trying “to see things
as they are”.8 Overcoming the challenge of philosophical insight in cultural spheres needs first
for one to see one’s native culture “as it is”.9 Citing Clifford Geertz Bell claims that although one
cannot understand others’ cultures perfectly as they are seen by the natives one can have an
adequate understanding of other cultures, its practices and its people thought.10 Understanding
another culture for Bell resembles Wittgenstein’s formulation of meaning of a term as “going up
to someone” in one’s own culture.11 In addition understanding another culture’s artefacts, rituals
and festivals is also similar to the way react and process to cultural artefacts and ritual in one’s
own culture.12 As such for non-African to understand African people and African philosophy, he
or she needs to go through several steps:
(1) Engage the discussion an African intellectuals about features of their

own self-understanding; relationship to our own self-understanding;
(2) Listen to the oral narratives, lived-texts of African peoples; and
(3) Attend to the iconic traditions of its visual art, ritual drama, literature,
and religious practices.13
According to Wittgenstein understanding the meaning of a stranger’s thought isn’t easy.

That is, seeing face to face or eye to eye might not achievable because we don’t take the time,
give proper attention and feel tense and shy to listen and converse with that stranger.14 But he
adds that rather than circumventing such difficulties and say that the other has different form of
thinking or rationality; it is better to acknowledge the difficult gaps that exist from reaching such
form of mutual understanding.15 Bell adds that Wittgenstein observed in Frazer’s The Golden
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
4
Bough the author doesn’t give enough attention to the strangeness of Shilluk people of Sudan
enacting ritual of regicide to western stranger like him.16 Failing to deliberate on the prima facie
bleakness of such ritual, He rather goes on to give an abstract rational explanation that might be
easy to his and his audiences sensibility.17 Such epistemological moves from the daily activities
of human beings of foreign culture to abstract and theoretical understanding fails to grasp what
those rites are doing in the life world of that strangers’ culture.18
Wittgenstein add that it is evident that the killing of old king or burning people stirs in
them strong emotions and it is only their attention to such unsettling experience that can open the
door for them to genuinely see and hear the people of that culture rather than a theory which
illustrates the origin of such rites and rituals.19 Such understanding starts when we observe the
character of the people that participate in the ritual and describe their behaviour in their day to
day contexts.20 This will help them to see that whatever dark traits that might be found in such
kind of people are among features of that people.21 But it also gives us an opportunity to seek
kinds of activities in one’s life that mirror such dark natures and enable him to see them (people
of strange culture rituals) in his own culture’s life.22
The process of such understanding of another culture starts with what Wittgenstein called
“perspicuous presentation” that aims to deliver a lucid description of the people and their
standing relation to their rituals.23 The power of such thick descriptions is that they reveal how
rituals deeply connect with larger social, biological and environmental life events that permeate
all human beings’ life and preoccupations.24
Bell wonders if Wittgenstein’s “perspicuous presentation” is adequate to the task.25 That

is, whether it can enable one to cross the river that separate his culture sense of God and a
stranger’s culture sense of god.26 Again Wittgenstein answers that it is only through looking
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
5
inwards for parallels in our own cultural contexts that trigger guilt, horror, anxiety, peace and
satisfaction; and in coming to terms with them, we might successfully able to infer and ascribe
the profound and dark dimension of the cultures of foreign people.27
Attempts to find ourselves in another peoples is an act that is both universal and
particular.28 It is universal in the sense that such understanding is tied with internal experiences
and actions of both the people seeking to understand and the people that are the object of
understanding.29 It is particular because the phenomena of psychological understanding itself is
inexorably linked with the particularities of a community’s language, culture, status, gender and
other related factors.30 As result Wittgenstein thought that the attempt of Seeing Eye to eye might
not be successful.31 That is, there might be gaps in their understanding of the other culture’s
hospitality, rituals and festival.32 But this failure to see what is important to lives of other cultures
will in turn give them an insight into discontinuities and deficiency in their own self
understanding of their identity.33
The Study of African Religious Practices, Characters and

Philosophy
A study of another culture and religion in particular African culture according to Bell is
invaluable for them/ western culture/ to realise that they are after similar things. 34 That is, the
pursuit of trying to find oneself in other’s cultural rituals and enactments through experiences
and actions that resonate with one’s own culture will lead one to discover the universal and
natural human responses and reactions to the common facts of life in this world.35 Bell says;
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
6
“Character and spirit are features of human life that connect men and women everywhere”. 36
Human character which encompasses preference towards pleasurable things and
dislike/avoidance of harmful things is found not only the family and communal structure of
every society but also in every member of each society activities and pursuits.37 Bell adds that
spirit is also something we find in every culture attempt to fulfil its yearning for the supernatural
or God.38 Religion and its spirit both for the western and non-western are not rational
apprehension of the nature and existence but it is formed from reactions and internal experiences
that respond to the carving effects of the world.39 As such spiritual activities are grounded in
fundamental events of human life like birth, sexuality and death and associated emotions of deep
joy, desire and misery.40 It is these shared fundamental and universal experiences and events that
are the base of divergent philosophies, cultures and gods of different societies.41
If the above is true, Bell asks that, and then what are the character contemporary African
communities and their religious practices that can help non-African to understand it. 42 In order to
do this we must overcome the naïve notion that Africa is homogenous unit that can be contrasted
with white western culture.43 Though most share black skin, it is constituted by diverse
characters and spirits that animate their disparate cultures.44 While seeing Africans and
descendent of Africans people through the lens of race and colour is one trap that prevent one’s
attempt to understand African people, taking African religions to be unitarily animistic is another
false narrative that should be avoided.45 Most of Africa’s population are Christian and Muslim
religion followers who have been so since the earliest period of the respective religions. 46 In
addition traditional religions of Africa that are practiced by the smaller portion of its people are
many and distinct from one another.47 That is, some traditional religions like that of Kuria people
in east Africa are naturalistic and ritual oriented without any significant notion of God, others
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
7
like Samburu and Dinka people practice monotheistic traditional religions.48 Dogon people of
Burkina Faso and Mali, on other hand, have complex cosmic religion that gives systematic
account and order for every sphere of their life.49 Despite such diversity, there is shared belief
system and life pattern that unites African people as whole and this makes it possible seeing one
another in their day to day life easier than the attempts of non-African people.50
According to Bell, Communalism which is the priority of community identity over

individual identity is one of the better ways to see African people in contrast the individualism of
western culture.51 The other is religion and while the concept God or divinity might not present
in every traditional African religion, it is not a marginal or foreign concept to most of African
communities. 52As result, African human practices, in which the concept of God is integral, are
one of key ways for non-African to find him or herself in African life.53 Bell adds “There is
simply not an Africa that is "Other" than "we are" or the “West is”” and the added qualifier “less
developed” is just economical term that reflects exploitative nature of western capitalism rather
than an indicator of difference in rationality and understanding capacity between African and
western people. These facts deny any ground for those who might fancy seeing Africa as
different “other”. 54
But Africans have to also overcome the temptation to see itself as homogenous one unit
that is against the domineering one west which reflects dichotomous division the “Self and
Other”.55 In addition, the experience, exposure and intermingling with west means there is no
untainted pure African identity that doesn’t carry the mark of such history.56 As result
epistemological relativism that makes it impossible for African and non-African to talk to each
other or hegemonic race narrative that pits self-versus the other which preclude us from seeing
our shared humanity and reciprocal influence on one another are the shortcuts that we (both
African and non-African) have to strive to avoid.57 Rather we have to seek to understand the
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
8
common humanity we have.58 This, citing Appiah, Bell adds that, is done for moral and practical
reasons.59 By the former he is meaning is it is only when understand and see the humanity of one
another we can have respect to one another and by the latter he means that life in contemporary
world is globalized and interconnected which demands mutual interrogation. 60
Bell notes the shift in African discourse from its focus earlier in nationalistic, essential
separateness of African identity and liberation from western imperialism towards the poverty and
suffering of African people in their post-colonial states.61 Such discourses point us towards
universal concerns of human beings who feel wronged and thwarted in all circumstances where
evil (natural and human) and suffering prevails.62 That is, such discourses and sentiments surface
over the entire world where economic agency and political freedom of people is endangered and
they are subjected to poverty misery, war and other similar evils.63
The other discourse that came latter were discourses of forgiveness, hope and
reconciliation which came out of the long endured suffering and oppression experienced by
African people as means to overcome the blinding effect of it.64 That is, rather than giving into
the gnawing hell of racial hatred, they aimed to transcend it in love to all human beings as
Nelson Mandela did exemplarily in South Africa.65 According to Bell for non-African to see
through such experiences, it might be helpful to take sermon of the mount of Jesus in New
Testament that teaches one to love those who prosecute him or her, since western non-African
tend to have no significant experience of suffering and prosecution.66 To come to terms with such
scripture teaching might help see non-African people the difficulty involved in such profound
moves towards forgiveness and reconciliation by South African people.67
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
Bell, ”Understanding AP from NFPV”, 207& 208
67
9
Aesthetic Consciousness, Art and Cross Cultural Understanding
If understanding African culture starts with “perspicuous description” of its culture; that
is followed by searching for analogous feelings and acts which are found in non-African cultural
contexts and with the recognition of some short comings and failures in finding oneself in
African people experiences.68 The next step involves encounter with various African narratives,
arts and pictures which will show the non-African the mutual perpetual wonder, surprise and
innocence that is found in such kinds of artefacts both in him and in the African people.69 Both in
narrative and philosophy our inborn and shared innocent curiosity and inquisitive attitude find
themselves wrestling with the world in order to make some sense of it.70 To every human being
whether he is local priest, artist, scientist, farmer or teacher, he or she is dumbfounded, horrified,
bored or pleased by the same world.71 From where we are and from where we see and hear will
lead us to see the different aspect of this world.72 And this will come with different emotional
responses with which human beings construct diverse sets of narrative and pictures.73 Citing
Wittgenstein’s picture ideas of proposition, Bell exhorts to take pictures seriously in
philosopher’s pursuit of understanding other cultures.74 Narratives, films, and drama like picture
tell us something about the world in their wondrous struggle to hold the different contexts of the
world.75 The reader in turn can contemplate and link the context and attempt of the narratives
with his own context and narrative so as to enable him/her/ seeing one culture in another.76
Reiterating the relativistic and the postmodern traps of cross cultural understanding of artefacts,
Bell cites Appiah who said that such relativistic attitudes are devices to further marginalize and
localize the aesthetic view of African people in comparison to the multifaceted and the hyper
rational western aesthetic taste.77 As result it prevents genuine cross cultural understanding
through medium of narratives, pictures, music and drama.78
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
10
Bell citing Soyinka comments that contemporary African fiction play significant role in
the contemporary life of African people.79 It reflects on the ground reality of African life and
embodies their deepest anguish, anger and hopes that flow from such harsh predicament. 80
Contemporary African art work which Soyinka calls “iconic traditions” contain imprints of the
struggle for liberation and the aforementioned value expressions mirroring the realities of
African life.81 These iconic traditions of narrative of various sorts are deliberately reflective and
cohering structures that are the primary mode of life review for African people.82 In addition
these iconic artefacts of a culture aren’t out of the blue utterances of feelings but they are a result
of critical consciousness in the life of a community in its time.83 As such they are fundamentally
philosophical in their objective.84 Iconic traditions embody aesthetic consciousness that order the
immediate experiences in day to day life to evoke the fullness and the hope of humanity. 85 Even
when it only orders the suffering and the anguish of life it is to indicate the deficiency and
incompleteness of the existing life of Africans.86 Such aesthetic consciousness will enable us to
capture the concrete significant details of experience as it enabled William James in his study of
religious life.87 To Soyinka the moral consciousness of narratives and images should also open
possibilities of persistence of what calls “deeper values” and re-evaluations for others. 88
On other hand citing Bessie Head Bell writes that storytellers through their fictive
narratives and images enable both African and non-African to broaden his scope from a life in
his locality into wider realm.89 She says;
Each human society is a narrow world, trapped to death in paltry evils and jealousies,
and for people to know that there are thoughts and generosities wider and freer than
their own can only be enrichment to their lives.90
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
11
In her stories she shows the attempt of African characters to transcend their ubiquitous
predicament of poverty through virtues that are born out of their search to keep their dignity and
humanity.91 Similarly, In Namibian constitution Bell finds this notion of human dignity as the
founding statement.92 That is, the achievement of each human being so as to gain the respect of
other members rather than western ideas like individual rights or freedom of speech is the most
important virtue of that land.93
But Bell again adds that we should resist the persistent traps of bifurcating world life views into
western and African; and listen to the narratives of stories that show us how limited is our view. 94
We should also give our ears to their exhortation towards the universal themes of love, the perils
of poverty and dignity.95 Bell illustrates the iconic significance of two events both for the African
and non-African alike.96 The first is from art exhibition co curated by James Baldwin who
selected sculpture titled “Yoruba Man with a Bicycle”.97 Citing Appiah Bell concurs with
Baldwin about the freeing and refreshing effect of the sculpture compared to other
traditional/stereotypic/ themed pieces in the exhibitions.98 It surprises and unsettles both the
African and the non-African viewers.99 Appiah further adds on the sculpture:
A figure as rightly Baldwin saw polyglot speaking Yoruba and English, probably some
Hausa and a little French for his trip into Cameron ‘someone whose clothes doesn’t fit
him well’. It matters little who it was made for; what we should learn from it is the
imagination that produced it. The Man with a Bicycle is produced by someone who does
not care that the bicycle is the white man's invention - it is not there to be other to the
Yoruba Self.100
It captures contemporary African life and identity in its varied colours and flavours.101
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
12
The second exemplary iconic event is the Malian singer Salif Kieta’s concert held in
Namibia to which Bell was an attendee.102 Kieta’s band members are origin of Africa, Latin
America and Europe. 103He is ousted albino musician from aristocrat family of Muslim majority
country and his concert is to a Christina majority south of the continent country, Namibia. 104 His
music song is in English, French, Portuguese, Bambara and his sound is composed of Cuban
jazz, African, Islam and western elements.105 The attending audience were equally enthusiastic
mix white and black people.106 It embodies the contemporary emerging, over-determined African
identity and exemplifies an occasion of seeing each other between Africans and non-Africans. 107
Criticisms
I have some doubts to what extent Richard Bell’s procedure for cross cultural
understanding will be successful in non-Africans endeavour to understand African’s culture. My
criticism is based on my understanding about the psychological structures that are needed for
successful achievement of Seeing Eye to eye between people of different cultures. That is, Bell
assumes what in psychological literature are called “empathy” and “mentalization” in carrying
out the procedures for mutual understanding. Empathy is the process of putting oneself in other
shoes in order to vicariously understand and infer what others might feel and think; mentalization
on other hand is to see others’ and one’s behaviours and actions in terms of intentional states
with recognition that they might differ from one another.108 While these psychological capacities
usually facilitate understanding and resonance between different people they have important
limitations that have bearing for Bell’s proposal.
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
APA Dictionary of Psychology, Empathy, https://dictionary.apa.org/empathy & Mentalization,
https://dictionary.apa.org/mentalization/ Accessed May 24, 2023
13
One’s empathy to other people depends on the extent ones feels close affinity with
people that are the subject of his empathy.109 To the extent one can see resemblance with other
people, with their particular circumstances and their action he can see himself in them. 110 But
when the people, their “life world” and philosophy are seen as radically different then empathic
capacity to vicariously simulate and see the thought and emotions, and find the analogous
cultural contexts in oneself will fail. That is, empathy facilitates in understanding between people
that belong in similar cultural contexts, shared past and identity but not when they perceive they
are different and feel lack minimum shared contexts, assumptions and identities. Thus to expect
according to Bell’s expectation of an understanding of the ritual regicide of Sudan people by
non-African western people is not to see the limit and the shortcoming of the psychological
structures that underlie aesthetic mode of understanding. As result the valued gaps and obstacles
of mutual understanding might be too many to be useful in further informing them about
discontinuities of themselves, in spite of their shared humanity with other people.
Mentalization on other hand works to extent on can deliberate and reflect on his and
other mental states.111 Such capacities are impaired when people feel overwhelming emotions for
various reasons. In this context to assume that non-African can deliberate and reflect in African
ritual, festivals, religious and cultural practices which in the Wittgenstein word “stirs deep roots”
is to assume one can mentalize even when is experiencing overwhelming reactions and feelings.
But such suppositions are obviously false. As result we might remain forever puzzled and
foreign at least to certain elements other people’s culture.
My second main objection regards with Richard H. Bell’s preference for universalistic
themes of in African philosophy and discourses compared to those that emphasize African
unique identity and contexts. In addition his too quick celebration of the multipleness or
“polyglot” in African identity miss to investigate whether it is a genuine and an authentic
multiplicity of identity or a confusion of identity.112 In the former case whiles the universal
themes of suffering, evil, hope and Joy are something we find in every people life and
109
Diana Kwon, “The Limits of Empathy” ,The British Psychological Society, November 24, 2016,
https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/limits-empathy /Accessed May 24, 2023
110
Kwon, “The Limits of Empathy”
111
Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy, Handbook of Mentalizing in Mental Health Practice, (Washington, DC:
American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2019)
112
14
philosophy, it is colonialism and its residual effects that are defining reason of African people
suffering. As such African philosophy needs to inquire the unique burden and legacy of
colonialism and its aftermaths in order to understand and solve the African’s people
predicament.113 And For non-African in order to understand African people he or she has to
inquire into African philosophy that emphasise the locality of colonialism on its people. There no
short cut to understand African people without coming to terms with the legacy of colonialism in
the economic, political, education and linguistic fabric of African people. As result it is through
African philosophy that attempts such tasks by which non-African will have a chance to
understand Africa not through philosophies that universalizes consequences evil and poverty.
The multiplicity of African identity as illustrated by the “Yoruba Man with a Bicycle “and
Salif Keita concert is too cheerful celebration of multiplicity of identity without interrogating if it
is an authentic identity or a confused identity that shows one face of western colonialism and its
remaining structures. We learn in schools and universities that use western languages as medium
of instruction; we read, hear and watch western music, films and books, we wear clothes made
by western industries; and we import every major technological product we use from western
companies, such patterns indicate an alienated identity and colonized mind than an authentic
identity and if African people is going to find themselves, they have to overcome such confused
multiplicities of identity.
Conclusion
Bell ends by reminding his readers the basic architecture of what he proposed in a fruitful
project of cross cultural understanding between African and non-Africans. It starts with
“perspicuous presentation” of the concrete, mundane and day to day of their existence; rituals,
festival and religious life that evade the temptation to theory based explanations. And subsequent
search of non-African cultural contexts that trigger similar internal experiences and feeling that
are attributed to the African contexts. The study of African character, religious practices and
113
Tsenay Serqueberahn ,Ed, African Philosophy: the essential readings,(New York: Paragon House, 1991), 9
15
African discourses can help see non Africans the shared humanity, the universal contexts that
elicit suffering, injustice and poverty; and the fundamental events of life and death to which we
respond in various ways. Narrative, pictures and music are the other major reservoirs which hold
the African aesthetic, moral and philosophical consciousness that provide opportunity for
understanding of African people by non-Africans.
While I agree that Bell’s process for cross cultural understanding is intuitive appeal and
might be the only one we got I am sceptical to what extent it can bridge the gaps in
understanding between people of radically different cultures and “life review”. That is, the
perquisite psychological structures of empathy and mentalization work well in group contexts
and in practices that doesn’t trigger extreme reactions and emotions from people seeking
understanding of the practices of other cultures. On other hand escaping into African
philosophies that focus on universality of humanity and human condition is to for non-African
from seeing the local and unique legacy of colonialism on African people predicament and their
identity.
References
American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, Empathy,

https://dictionary.apa.org/empathy/ Accessed May 24, 2023
American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, Mentalization,

https://dictionary.apa.org./mentalization/ Accessed May 24, 2023
Bell, Richard H., “Understanding African Philosophy from Non-African Point of View”, In
Postcolonial Philosophy: A Critical Reader ed. Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, 197-217. MA:
Blackwell Publishers, 1997
Kwon, Diana, The Limit of Empathy, British Psychological Society,

https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/limits-empathy/ Accessed May 24, 2023
Bateman, Anthony and Fonagy, Peter, Handbook of Mentalization in Mental Health Practice,
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2019
Serqueberahn, Tsenay, Ed, African Philosophy: the essential readings. New York: Paragon
House, 1991.
16
17

African Philosophy

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

African Philosophy

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Addis Ababa University, College of Social Sciences, Dept.

Richard H. Bell: Understanding African Philosophy from

Getahun Belay, GSR/7511/15

An Aesthetic Procedure for Understanding Africa from non-

(1) Engage the discussion an African intellectuals about features of their

(2) Listen to the oral narratives, lived-texts of African peoples; and

According to Wittgenstein understanding the meaning of a stranger’s thought isn’t easy.

Bell wonders if Wittgenstein’s “perspicuous presentation” is adequate to the task.25 That

The Study of African Religious Practices, Characters and

According to Bell, Communalism which is the priority of community identity over

American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, Empathy,

American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, Mentalization,

Kwon, Diana, The Limit of Empathy, British Psychological Society,

You might also like