Lindokuhle Shabane

African Philosophy as a Site of Contradictions

When one approaches the history of African philosophy two trends become apparent: The first is non-Africans claiming, ‘unilaterally the right to speak on behalf of the Africans and to define the meaning of experience and truth for them’. The second is Africans resisting and contesting their self-appointed biographers. It is from these two experiences that modern African philosophy was born ( Masolo, 1994). The conditions around the birth of African philosophy can be studied as a site of contradictions, and the philosophical output of African philosophers may be looked at as attempts to liberate themselves from these contradictions. I seek to look at the forms of knowledges that emerged from this narrowly construed intellectual horizon, and its attendant contradictions that shaped African philosophy.