FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY VERSUS YORUBA ETHNO-EPISTEMOLOGY: ADDRESSING AN UNWARRANTED EPISTEMIC DICHOTOMY

Abstract

It is no longer news that the birth of feminist epistemology brought about a serious challenge to the Western traditional epistemic account and proposed a reconfiguration of the entire epistemic edifice. Upholdingthat the hitherto existing epistemic realities and narratives only portray knowledge claims and justifications from an androcentric perspective,it consequently contends for a comprehensive epistemic account arising from both male and female social standpoints. This work however points out the fact that the feminist epistemic account has only succeeded in producing an unwarranted epistemic dichotomy. It is albeit worthy of note that turning to Yoruba ethno-epistemology, one finds a more inclusive account of knowledge where a pluralistic mode of knowing,which is void of gender demarcation, is presented. To this end, this work shall examine feminist epistemology as a critique of the Western traditional account of knowledge whilst Yoruba ethno-epistemology shall be employed to salvage the subsequent needless epistemic dichotomy evolving from it