Henry Odera Oruka
Tradycyjne społeczności afrykańskie mają własnych krytycznych myślicieli, mądre jednostki, których refleksje są prawdziwą filozofią, a nie tylko wspólnym folklorem.
Umiejscowienie
Kenijski filozof „filozofii mędrców”: wywiady z wiejskimi mędrcami ukazują krytyczną, indywidualną refleksję w tradycyjnych społecznościach afrykańskich – ani zbiorową etnofilozofię, ani importowaną myśl akademicką.
Kluczowe idee
- Filozofia mędrców
- Cztery nurty filozofii afrykańskiej
- Krytyka etnofilozofii
Wpływ
Pod wpływem 1
Julius Nyerere
pod wpływem sporne
Odera Oruka counted Nyerere’s ujamaa in the ‘nationalist-ideological’ trend of African philosophy (‘Four Trends in Current African Philosophy’, 1981); whether Nyerere shaped his sage philosophy is uncertain. H. Odera Oruka, “Four Trends in Current African Philosophy”, in A. Diemer (ed.), Philosophy in the Present Situation of Africa (1981); Sage Philosophy (1990); J. K. Nyerere, Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism (1968)
Źródło: szkic AI
Julius Nyerere › 1922–1999
Krytyka
Krytykuje 3
Placide Tempels
krytykuje
Odera Oruka took Tempels’ Bantu Philosophy as the model of ethnophilosophy, a communal worldview presented as philosophy, unlike the critical thought of individual sages (Sage Philosophy, 1990). H. Odera Oruka, “Four Trends in Current African Philosophy” (1978; publ. 1981); Sage Philosophy (1990), introduction
Źródło: szkic AI
Placide Tempels › 1906–1977
John S. Mbiti
krytykuje
Odera Oruka placed Mbiti’s African Religions and Philosophy (1969) under ‘ethnophilosophy’, a description of collective beliefs rather than critical reflection by individual thinkers. H. Odera Oruka, “Four Trends in Current African Philosophy” (1978; publ. 1981); Sage Philosophy (1990), introduction
Źródło: szkic AI
John S. Mbiti › 1931–2019
Paulin Hountondji
krytykuje
Against Hountondji’s tie between philosophy and writing, Odera Oruka held that sages in oral cultures reflect critically as individuals: ‘philosophic sagacity’ (Sage Philosophy, 1990). H. Odera Oruka, “Sagacity in African Philosophy”, International Philosophical Quarterly 23 (1983); Sage Philosophy (1990), introduction
Źródło: szkic AI
Paulin Hountondji › 1942–2024
Dzieła
Rozmowy z kenijskimi mędrcami dokumentujące indywidualnych krytycznych myślicieli w tradycyjnych społecznościach.
Stanowisko
Odera Oruka distinguished four trends in African philosophy: ethnophilosophy, philosophic sagacity, nationalist-ideological philosophy and professional philosophy; he later added two more. Against the claim that traditional Africa knew only a collective, unanimous worldview, he recorded conversations with Kenyan sages who had little or no schooling. Some were folk sages, voicing shared wisdom; others were philosophic sages, who examined that wisdom critically and argued for their own views. This showed individual, rational reflection within oral cultures. Critics asked how far the sages’ answers were shaped by the academic interviewer. He also wrote on punishment, liberty, the right to a minimum of material welfare and environmental ethics.
Życie i kontekst
Henry Odera Oruka was born in Kenya in 1944. He studied in Sweden at Uppsala and in the United States at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he earned his doctorate. From around 1970 he taught at the University of Nairobi, where he long led the department of philosophy and in the mid-1970s began his sage philosophy project. He died in Nairobi in 1995 after being struck by a car.
Dalsze główne dzieła
- Punishment and Terrorism in Africa (1976)
- The Philosophy of Liberty (1991)
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