African philosophy

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African philosophy is the philosophical discourse produced using indigenous African thought systems. African philosophers are found in the various academic fields of present philosophy, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy.^[1] It discusses substantive issues from an African perspective.

African philosophy before the 20th century was primarily conducted and transmitted orally as ideas by philosophers whose names have been lost to history. While early African intellectual history primarily focused on folklore, wise sayings, and religious ideas, it also included philosophical concepts, such as the Nguni Bantu concept of Ubuntu in moral philosophy.^[2] Ubuntu, often summarized by the phrase "I am because we are," emphasizes the interconnectedness of individuals within a community. It contrasts with Western individualism by prioritizing communal values and the well-being of the group over the individual, and is reminiscent of the wider phenomenon of African communalism found across the continent.

African philosophy includes but often differs from Africana philosophy in that African philosophy usually focuses on indigenous knowledge systems and philosophical traditions native to the African continent. In contrast, Africana philosophy addresses the philosophical concerns, experiences, and identities of Africans in the diaspora, particularly in regions outside Africa such as the Americas and the Caribbean.

One particular subject that several modern African philosophers have written about is on the subject of freedom and what it means to be free or to experience wholeness.^[3]

Philosophy in Africa has a rich and varied history, some of which has been lost over time.^[4] Some of the world's oldest philosophical texts have been produced in Ancient Egypt, written in Hieratic and on papyrus, c. 2200–1000 BCE. One of the earliest known African philosophers was Ptahhotep, an ancient Egyptian philosopher.

A philosophical tradition of Islamic scholarship emerged in medieval African kingdoms such as Mali, Ghana and Songhai.^[5] In the seventeenth century, a philosophical literature developed in Ethiopia in relation to theodicy, principle of ethics and psychology under the philosopher Zera Yacob, and that of his disciple Walda Heywat."^[6]

In the 21st century, research by Egyptologists has indicated that the word philosopher itself seems to stem from Egypt: "the founding Greek word philosophos, lover of wisdom, is itself a borrowing from and translation of the Egyptian concept mer-rekh (mr-rḫ) which literally means 'lover of wisdom,' or knowledge."^[7] In the early and mid-twentieth century, anti-colonial movements had a tremendous effect on the development of a distinct modern African political philosophy that had resonance on both the continent and in the African diaspora. One well-known example of the economic philosophical works emerging from this period was the African socialist philosophy of Ujamaa propounded in Tanzania and other parts of Southeast Africa. These African political and economic philosophical developments also had a notable impact on the anti-colonial movements of many non-African peoples around the world.