Critical Conversations in African Philosophy

In this edited collection contributors examine key themes, sources and methods in contemporary African Philosophy,-building on äwide-ranging understanding of what constitutes African philosophy, and drawing from a variety of both oral and written texts of different genres.

Alena Rettová is Professor of African and Afrophone Philosophies, University of Bayreuth, Germany. Benedetta Lanfranchi is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Bayreuth, Germany. Miriam Pahl has a PhD from SOAS University of London and has worked for DAAD in Nairobi.

Introduction. African Philosophy from the Things Themselves Part I: Themes Chapter 1: Technology as Domination or Liberation? An Analysis of the Philosophy of Technology in Relation to African Philosophy and Development Initiatives, Aviv Milgram Chapter 2: Epistemic pragmatism and the problem of relativism: implications of comparisons between epistemic concepts in Yorùbá and English language analytic epistemology, Yola West-Dennis Chapter 3: Euphrase Kezilahabi's thinking poetry: his philosophy, his poetics and Kerewe oral poetry. Roberto Gaudioso Chapter 4: Absurditea: The Unity of Being, the Absurd, and the Importance of the Circle in Euphrase Kezilahabi's "Chai ya Jioni" Tom Jelpke Chapter 5: Mbiti Revisited: Acknowledging the affinity between the philosophies of time of John S. Mbiti and Edmund Husserl and asserting the importance of an inclusive philosophy of the afterlife, Claire Amaladoss Chapter 6: African versus Western Time or Philosophies of Time? Exploring the Possibilities of Philosophical Dialogue across African and Western Traditions of Thought, Benedetta Lanfranchi Part II: Sources Chapter 7: Philosophising by proxy: a hermeneutic critique of African philosophical literature from the twin imaginaries of collective or individual thought, and the divisibility of culture and philosophy, Brett Pollack Chapter 8: Found in Translation: Multilingualism and Philosoph, Ella Hiesmayr Chapter 9: Epistemology and literature: Positivism, indeterminacy, holism, and relativism in the Swahili novel, Alena Rettová Chapter 10: "If we knew the reality of things, we would be the masters of our own lives." Reflections of a West African Diviner, Louis Brenner Chapter 11: Clarity through comparative philosophy, Becca Stacey