Tempels claims Western philosophy is needed to articulate Bantu thought

Evidence

It would be instructive to note that Tempels is not only advocating for a Bantu mode of thought. He is also attempting to reconcile both Europe and Africa at the level of spirituality and, subsequently, of mind. He argues, “It is our job to proceed to such systematic development. It is we who will be able to tell them in precise terms, what their inmost concept of being is” (Tempels, 1959, p. 36). — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 529

In his 1946 book, Bantu Philosophy, Rev. Fr. Placide Tempels tries to reconstruct an “African philosophy” or a “Bantu philosophy”, whose foundation is the language, grammar and proverbs of the Baluba society. The question that Tempels pursues, Is there an African ontology?, is an intellectual curiosity deliberately framed to address the discursive knowledge hegemony of a Western audience that believed in the non-existence of an African philosophy. The question maintains high epistemic value and provides a befitting starting point for generating counter-hegemonic discourses that can give back value to an African way of life that has survived years of colonial denigration. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 891

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 529; Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 891