Tempels systematized Bantu thought through Western categorical frameworks.

Evidence

If one looks at the context in which Bantu Philosophy was formulated, Tempels can be praised for his efforts to promote African philosophy in the West. His objective with Bantu Philosophy was to stimulate an understanding of African thinking and, in that way, a dialogue. However, Tempels’s (1959: 21) method of interpretation was an analysis based on the logic of Western categories: “It is our task to trace out the elements of this thought, to classify them and to systematise them according to the ordered systems and intellectual disciplines of the Western world.” — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 1016

Categorization

• XREF: The critique of applying Western categories to non-Western thought echoes the reader’s broader interest in how analytical frameworks distort their subjects (e.g., communication theory, close reading of representation).