Trends in African philosophy: A case for eclectism

In the contention of Oladipo (2006), the debate on the idea of African philosophy which has been divided into trends or schools, dates back to the 1960's and 70's, which constitute the modern epoch of African philosophy, when some African thinkers began to question the perspective that traditional African beliefs and worldviews, as embedded in pre-colonial African cultures, constituted African philosophy. This question bordering on the parameters of African philosophy sprang from and was weaved around the idea, promoted by both western and African thinkers that Africans do not have a philosophy. And if they do have, who are they? And if there are, what ideas from within their community of thought constitute African philosophy? As significant as this enquiry might have been in the historical evolution of African philosophy, with the work of Makinde (2010) on African Philosophy: The Demise of a Controversy, African Philosophy has moved beyond the question of whether there is an African philosophy or not. When Onyewuenyi (1994) wrote on The African origin of Greek Philosophy: An Exercise in Afrocentricism he gives African philosophy an age, such that to question the existence of African philosophy is to negate the being of western philosophy. This piece goes beyond the question of whether there is an African philosophy or not, to study the development of the different trends that have emerged from the study of the history of African philosophy. It moves beyond the conventional limits of the study of the trends or schools of African philosophy tied to the 1960's and 70s to the contemporary developments in the study of African philosophy.