African philosophy and the method of ordinary language philosophy.
Journal of Pan African Studies › Vol. 2 Nbr. 3, March 2008
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African philosophy and the method of ordinary language philosophy.
Introduction
The debate on the existence of African philosophy, which is of central concern to most philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries, Africans and non-African alike, is according to Makinde, unnecessary. What is necessary is, if African philosophy exists, we should show it, do it and write it rather than talking about it, or engaging in endless talks about it. (i) As evident in the debate, what is expected to be shown, done and written is philosophy tailored along the stereotyped and paradigmatic sense peculiar to Western philosophy? However, Barry Hallen argues that using the method of ordinary language philosophy, African philosophy is philosophy per se, and should be recognised as such. The focus of this paper is to analyse what Hallen refers to as ordinary language philosophy and explain how it authenticates African philosophy as unique 'species' of philosophy. In what follows, I explore the use of language as a tool to understand the epistemological, metaphysical, ethical, social and political beliefs and world-views of a human society. Language; A Tool for Understanding Human Society One of the peculiar and essential features that distinguish human beings from other species of beings that exist in the universe is language. 'Language is the product of a well-engineered biological instinct'. It is through it that human beings 'can shape events in each other's brain with exquisite precision ... simply by making 'noises' with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's mind'. (ii) Different kinds of people, with different languages, cause their speakers to construe reality in different ways. Hence, as many as there are different kinds of human beings, there are different kinds of languages through which reality is being construed. It is in this respect that language, as a tool in the formation of metaphysical and epistemological ideas, developing social and moral consciousness of a people, becomes important. However, given the nature of language as 'a complex, specialized skill, which develops in the child spontaneously, without conscious effort or formal instruction, (and) i...See the full content of this document
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