Understanding African Philosophy

Richard H. Bell is Professor of Philosophy at the College of Wooster. He is the author of several books including Simone Weil: The Way of Justice as Compassion (1998), co-author of Seeds of the Spirit: Wisdom of the TwentiethCentury (1995) and editor of Simone Weil's Philosophy ofCulture (1993).

"...this philosophy has substance, is collegial, is modest and above all is wise...Splendid! A book to think with!" -- Malcolm Ruel, recently retired from Cambridge University"Understanding African Philosophy is a fluid, scholarly work with postmodern appeal to young researchers in African philosophy." -- Muyiwa Falaiye and Oscar Odiboh"For Bell, 'cross-cultural understanding' is itself an interdisciplinary project that draws on different disciplines in order to position the reader 'to see' and 'to understand' the other's world. Bell deserves credit for his appreciation of this requirement and for bringing it to our attention." -- Segun Gbadegesin, Howard University/ Signs

• Preface Acknowledgements 1. Understanding Another Culture Understanding Others and Ourselves A Procedure from an Aesthetic Point of View Found in Translation 2. Foundations of Modern African Philosophy Ethnophilosophy and the Negritude Movement Critical, Scientific Philosophy Sage Philosophy 3. Liberation and Postcolonial African Philosophy African Humanism and Socialism Postcolonial African Thought The Question of Race 4. African Moral Philosophy I: Community and Justice Persons, Individualism and Communalism Suffering and Injustice Poverty and Human Development 5. African Moral Philosophy II: Truth and Reconciliation Linking Communalism, Ubuntu and Restorative Justice Understanding the Grammar of Justice after Apartheid Not All Storytelling Heals: Criticisms of the TRC Process Justice and Political Transformation 6. Narrative in African Philosophy: Orality, and Icons The Philosophical Significance of Oral Narratives Rational Dialogue, Democracy and the Village Palaver Finding Pictures and Fictitious Narratives Surprising Iconic Forms and the Aesthetic Consciousness Revisited 7. Some Concluding Remarks Notes Bibliography Index