Understanding African Philosophy: A Cross-Cultural Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues
Understanding African Philosophy serves as a critical guide to some of the most important issues in modern African philosophy. Richard Bell introduces readers to the complexity of Africa, the legacy of colonialism, the challenges of post independence Africa, and other recent developments in African Philosophy. Chapters discuss the value of African oral and written texts for philosophy, concepts of "negritude," "African socialism," and "race," as well as current discussions in international...
Search in google:
Understanding African Philosophy serves as a critical guide to some of the most important issues in modern African philosophy. Richard Bell introduces readers to the complexity of Africa, the legacy of colonialism, the challenges of post independence Africa, and other recent developments in African Philosophy. Chapters discuss the value of African oral and written texts for philosophy, concepts of "negritude," "African socialism," and "race," as well as current discussions in international development ethics connected to poverty and human suffering. Two chapters are focused on moral issues related to community, justice, and civic responsibility. Bell's sensitivity to and engagement with the complications of cross-cultural understandings help non-African readers connect with African culture and thought.
PrefaceAcknowledgments1Understanding Another Culture1Understanding Others and OurselvesA Procedure from an Aesthetic Point of View"Found in Translation"2Foundations of Modern African Philosophy21Ethnophilosophy and the "Negritude" MovementCritical, Scientific PhilosophySage Philosophy3Liberation and Postcolonial African Philosophy37African Humanism and SocialismPostcolonial African ThoughtThe Question of "Race"4African Moral Philosophy I: Community and Justice59Persons, Individualism, and CommunalismSuffering and InjusticePoverty and Human Development5African Moral Philosophy II: Truth and Reconciliation85Linking Communalism, Ubuntu, and Restorative JusticeUnderstanding the Grammar of Justice after Apartheid"Not All Storytelling Heals": Criticisms of the TRC ProcessJustice and Political Transformation6Narrative in African Philosophy: Orality and Icons109The Philosophical Significance of Oral NarrativesRational Dialogue, Democracy, and the Village PalaverFinding Pictures and Fictitious Narratives "Surprising"Iconic Forms and the Aesthetic Consciousness Revisited7Some Concluding Remarks135Notes139Bibliography171Index183
