African Philosophy for Tanzanian Youth Pitfalls and Prospects

1
African Philosophy for Tanzanian
YouthPitfalls and Prospects

• Chambi Chachage

2

Introduction This is Philosophy Is it?

• Loving (Philo) of Wisdom (Sophia) Of Greek
  Origin(?)
• Thinking about Thinking A Layman/woman
  Definition(?)
• Analytic Philosophy vs
  Continental Philosophy(?)
• Argument Rhetoric
• Science Literature Art
• Analysis Speculation
• Clear Obscure
• Precise Vague
• Logic Metaphysics
• Reason Passion
• (Source The Edinburgh Dictionary of Continental
  Philosophy)

3
African Philosophy A Myth or Reality?

• I am not asking whether African Philosophy
  exists, whether it is a myth or a reality. I
  observe that it does exist, by the same right and
  in the same mode as all the philosophies of the
  world in the form of literature Paulin J.
  Hountondji on African Philosophy Myth and
  Reality (1976 55)
• - Which same mode - Analytical or/and
  Continental? (Or?)
• - Which form of Literature Oral and/or
  Written? (Or?)
• Oral Literature is still the most widespread
  and with which the vast majority of Africans,
  even today, are in constant touch, and it
  represents that form of expression to which
  African sensibilities are most readily attuned
  F. Abiola Irele on The African Imagination
  Literature in Africa and the Black Diaspora
  (2001 31)

4
African Philosophy or African Philosophies?

• 1. Ethnophilosophy (Bantu Philosophy) the
  re-appropriation of African
• Cultures by colonial agents for colonial use
  and Neo-colonial use?
• 2. Africanism (African Civilization, Negritude,
  Pan Africanism, African Socialism, African
  Humanism, Authenticity etcetera) a protest
  against Eurocentrism and a celebration of the
  African Personality and against
  Neo-Liberalism?
• 3. Theory of African Revolution (Associated with
  Fanon, Nkrumah Cabral) a search for a
  radical break with the West and a refoundation
  of African history and herstory?
• 4. Professional Philosophy (Associated with
  Non-Marxists) a critique of Ethnophilosophy and
  advocacy for an intellectual renaissance as a
  basis
• of any meaningful development and for an
  African Renaissance?
• 5. Critiques of Professional Philosophy
  Criticisms of elitist idealistic thesis of
  renaissance by intellectuals and by vanguards?
• (Source Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage on
  Discourse on Development among African
  Philosophers in Ulf Himmelstrand, Kabiru
  Kinyanjui
• Edward Mburugus (Eds.) African Perspectives on
  Development (1994 51)

5
Who are African Philosophers in Tanzania?

• By African Philosophy I mean a set of texts,
  specifically the set of texts written by Africans
  and described as philosophical by their authors
  themselves Paulin J. Hountondji on An
  Alienated Literature (Ibid 33)
• Shabaan Roberts Kusadikika and Kufikirika (?)
• Julius K. Nyereres A New Synthesis of Man and
  Society (?)
• Aniceti Kiterezas Bwana Myombekere na Bibi
  Bugonoka, Ntulanwalo na Bulihwali (Written in
  1945, Published in 1981 Translated in 2002) (?)
• Kiterezas story told of the pre-colonial
  Kerewe society at its most unadulterated stage,
  showing the modes of production, the gods and
  modes of worship, aesthetics, commitment to work,
  ethics, forms of authority, and punishment and
  the roles of the leaders, priests, medicinemen
  sic and rainmakers, the sense of community,
  philosophy of life, social organization and the
  forms of division of labour Chachage Seithy
  Loth Chachage on The Return to the Countryside
  Theme in Tanzanian Literature (1986 9)

6
Young Philosophers Trailblazers or Followers?

• Pitfall 1Tanzanian scholars and institutions are
  latecomers in the grand debate(s) that
  introduced African Philosophy in
  post-independence Africa by way of affirming
  its existence and preoccupation(s).
• Pitfall 2 Young Tanzanian scholars have to first
  deal with the legacy and baggage of this lack
  of scholarly engagements with African Philosophy
  among senior scholars before they break new
  philosophical grounds.
• The specificity of African philosophy relies
  also in the content of the issues philosophized
  upon Ernest Wamba dia Wamba On the State of
  African Philosophy and Development (2003).

7
Philosophy for Youth New Wine in Old Bottles?

• Prospect 1In the absence of a given
  philosophical school of thought inherited from
  senior philosophers in the country Tanzanian
  Youth are in a relative better position to
  determine the content of the issues to
  philosophize upon without resorting to
  discipleship.
• Prospects 2 The Global crisis of Neo-liberalism
  offers a rare opportunity for Tanzanian Youth to
  boldly revisit, rethink reclaim the
  political-philosophical strand of/on A Theory
  of Revolution.
• Today, contemporary debate on African
  Philosophy has seen a marked shift both with the
  kind of questions and the manner in which they
  are articulated. This shift seems to focus on
  more essence-oriented and theme related questions
  concerning methodology, content, types,
  authorship etc. Maurice M. Makumba on An
  Introduction to African Philosophy Past and
  Present (2007 21).

8
What Philosophical Issues Concern Youth?

• 1. Identity Who am I? Who are We? (Below 24 or
  35 Years Old?)
• 2. Sexuality Whose Body is it Anyway?
  (Individual or Collective?)
• 3. Poverty Why is Tanzania still Poor 48 Years
  after Independence?
• 4. Morality What can I/We do to Combat
  Corruption in the Country?
• 5. Security Where can I get security of tenure
  and employment?
• (Cf. Views of the People 2007 63 of the Youth
  concerned about Finding Work)
• Our present schools of initiation for keeping
  ones head above water have failed to give
  reasons why one should behave that way. Is man
  sic an attribute of technology or is it
  technology the attribute of man sic? Are the
  Internet café and the cellphone emancipating
  public and individual consciousness? The
  devastating presence of HIV/AIDS has not made the
  encounter of love impossible. Are African
  philosophers mere witnesses to those obscure
  happenings? Ernest Wamba dia Wamba On the
  State of African Philosophy and Development
  (2003).

9
If Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom and Thinking
about Thinking then surely there must be a Love
for Tanzanian Wisdom and Thinking about Tanzanian
Thinking, that is, a Tanzanian PhilosophyTiti
La Mama Li Tamu Ingawa La Mbwa Shabaan Robert
on the Importance of Kiswahili Language as a Tool
of (Philosophical?) ExpressionMy final prayer
O my body, make of me always a man who
questions! Frantz Fanon on Black Skin White
Mask
Conclusion What about Tanzanian Philosophy?