Hountondji defines African philosophy as written texts by Africans

Evidence

By African philosophy I mean a collection of writings and, to be precise, a collection of written texts made by Africans who qualify as philosophical by themselves. I want to point out, however, that such a definition does not imply any form of assertion of principle. The meaning of the qualifying term “philosophical” does not justify the issues discussed, let alone the pretension of having a right to such a qualification. I am only taking into consideration the fact that the authors themselves gave to “philosophy” that qualification, and always refer correctly to this term. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 278

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Hountondji’s controversial restriction of African philosophy to written texts by Africans, excluding oral tradition.
• QUESTION: Given the emphasis on oral tradition elsewhere in African thought, how does this definition hold up today?
• XREF: Connects to the written-versus-oral philosophy debate and criticisms leveled by oral-tradition philosophers.

Related

• Hountondji defines African philosophy procedurally by authorship rather than by content (similarity 0.94)
• The debate over African philosophy asks who is entitled to write it (similarity 0.92)
• Hountondji rejects ethnophilosophy for presenting African thought as static and unargued (similarity 0.85)
• African philosophy has been defined more by negation than by positive formulation (similarity 0.84)
• The criteria defining philosophy today are biased toward Western construals. (similarity 0.83)
• Bantu Philosophy endures because it spoke to Africans despite its flaws. (similarity 0.83)
• Western-biased criteria define what counts as philosophy worldwide (similarity 0.83)
• Bantu Philosophy stays canonical despite doubts about its philosophical status. (similarity 0.82)
• No African philosopher willingly accepts the label ethnophilosopher. (similarity 0.82)
• Hountondji and Towa did not actually coin the term ethnophilosophy (similarity 0.82)
• African philosophy debates still define themselves in relation to Tempels (similarity 0.81)
• African philosophy is formulated collectively rather than by named individuals (similarity 0.80)
• Bantu Philosophy still serves as a convergence point between African and other philosophical traditions. (similarity 0.80)
• African philosophy must grow from indigenous cultural resources to enrich humanity. (similarity 0.80)
• Ethnophilosophy wrongly reduces a society’s philosophy to its worldview (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Hountondji coined ethno-philosophy to mark collective thought as second-hand philosophy #expands (0.80)