International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2020

An analysis of contemporary African philosophical schools: disagreements and consensus

(Abstract)

Anshan Li

Through a survey of African philosophy, this paper suggests African philosophy should be divided into three schools, namely, cultural philosophy, critical philosophy and political philosophy. Cultural philosophy is “philosophy without philosophers” or “popular philosophy”. Critical philosophy can be termed as “philosophy of philosophers” or “professional philosophy”. Political philosophy is “philosophy of fighters” or philosophy of revolutionaries”. Although the three schools have different ideas and methods, they have reached consensus in three aspects. First, they all offer an affirmative answer to the question “Is there a philosophy in Africa?” Second, they all believe that African philosophy has its own characteristics, although some consider it is unwise to emphasize them. Third, all their aims are: the liberation of the African people and the revival of the African civilisation.