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An African Theory of Knowledge

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Themes, Issues and Problems in African Philosophy

Abstract

A theory of knowledge is about the way we come to understand reality. It consists in how we acquire, articulate and justify our knowledge claims about reality. Against the notion that knowledge consists in the mind’s ability to accurately represent reality as espoused by traditional Western epistemology, the African theory of knowledge postulates a cultural and situated notion of knowledge. This postulation rests on the African ontological notion of reality as a continuum in which both the subject, as the cognitive agent, and the object, as the cognized phenomenon, are part and parcel of the same reality. Thus, cognition goes beyond the object of cognition imposing itself on the consciousness of the cognitive agent; other variables, like environmental and social factors as well as the dispositions of the cognitive agent, play a role in the process of cognition or knowing. This paper describes research into the notion of African epistemology as that which is firmly based on the African ontological conception of reality, and it examines critically how African epistemology justifies epistemic claims. The aim is to outline an African theory of knowledge. It is both expository and evaluative.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    L.M. Brown, “Understanding and Ontology in Traditional African Thought” in Lee M. Brown, (ed.), African Philosophy: New and Traditional Perspectives, (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004), p. 160.

  2. 2.

    Ibid., p. 158.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., p. 159.

  4. 4.

    Ibid.

  5. 5.

    Ibid., pp. 159–160.

  6. 6.

    Cf. A. Udefi, “Theoretical Foundations for an African Epistemology” in R. A. Akanmidu (ed.), Footprints in Philosophy, (Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2005), pp. 74–75.

  7. 7.

    Ibid., p. 74.

  8. 8.

    M. K. Asante, The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient Voices from Imhotep to Akhenatem, (Chicago, Illinois: African American Images, 2000), p. 2.

  9. 9.

    D. N. Kaphagawani and J. G. Malherbe, “African Epistemology” in P. H. Coetzee and A. P. J. Roux, (ed.), The African Philosophy Reader, (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 207.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., 210.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.

  12. 12.

    Cf. P. Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, (Paris: Presence Africaine 1969), p. 73.

  13. 13.

    E. A. Ruch and K. C. Anyanwu,African Philosophy: An Introduction to the Main Philosophical Trends in Contemporary Africa, (Rome: Catholic Book Agency – OfficiumLibriCatholicum, 1984), p. 77.

  14. 14.

    Cf. Z. ‘b Nasseem, “African Heritage and Contemporary Life: An Experience of Epistemological Change”, in http”/www.crvp.org/book/series02/11-2/chapter_i.htm, Retrieved on 28/05/2012.

  15. 15.

    E. A. Ruch and K. C. Anyanwu, Op. Cit., p. 87.

  16. 16.

    E. Aja, Elements of Theory of Knowledge, Enugu: Auto-Century Publishing Co. Ltd., 1993), p. 75.

  17. 17.

    E. A. Ruch and K. C. Anyanwu, Op. Cit., p. 94.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    Z. ‘b Nasseem, Op. Cit.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Cf. I. C. Jarvie, Concepts and Society, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972), p. 44.

  23. 23.

    Cf. G. Sogolo, Foundations of African Philosophy: A Definitive Analysis of Conceptual Issues in African Thought, (Ibadan: University Press, 1993), p. 81.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., p. 84.

  25. 25.

    J. A. Aigbodioh, “Imperatives of Human Knowledge Illustrated with Epistemological Conceptions in African Thought” in Ibadan Journal of Humanistic Studies, no.7, Oct. 1997, pp. 17–34, p. 20.

  26. 26.

    Ibid.

  27. 27.

    Cf. M. Hollis and S. Lukes (ed.) (1983), “Introduction” in Rationality and Relativism, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983), pp. 7–8.

  28. 28.

    A. K. Jimoh, Certitude and Doubt: A Study Guide in Epistemology, (Ibadan: Ebony Books and Kreations, 2013), p. 213.

  29. 29.

    Cf. J. A. Aigbodioh, Op. Cit., p. 22.

  30. 30.

    A. K. Jimoh, An Introduction to Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Hermeneutics, (Ibadan: Ebony Books and Kreations, 2014), pp. 85–92.

  31. 31.

    Cf. J. A. Aigbodioh, Op. Cit., p. 30.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, SS. Peter and Paul Seminary, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Anselm Kole Jimoh

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  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

    Isaac E. Ukpokolo

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Jimoh, A.K. (2017). An African Theory of Knowledge. In: Ukpokolo, I. (eds) Themes, Issues and Problems in African Philosophy . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40796-8_8

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