African Philosophy and the Universalist Thesis |
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| Authors: | Jay M. van Hook |
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| Affiliation: | Philosophy Department, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49401, USA |
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| Abstract: | This article examines the contention, frequently defended by contemporary African philosophers, that philosophy is universal. Examples of the thesis are cited; various interpretations of its meaning are analyzed; and arguments against it by other African philosophers are presented. The article argues that the universalist thesis, however interpreted, contributes nothing to African philosophy and should be abandoned. |
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| Keywords: | African philosophy universalism particularism ethnophilosophy philosophic sagacity logocentrism H. Odera Oruka Paulin Hountondji K. Anthony Appiah Lucius Outlaw |
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