RE-CONCEPTUALISING AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY AS DEVELOPMENTAL TOOL IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISATION

Abstract

This paper problematises the definition challenge for African philosophy and attempts an analytical reconceptualization of African Philosophy. Attempts will thus be made to examine some of the approaches bothering on the ideation and definition of African Philosophy. The aim of such examination is to show that these approaches or discernible senses of African Philosophy are influenced by the tripartite factors of identity, method, and relevance. The view of this paper is that an exposition of the various senses of African Philosophy vis-à-vis the tripartite factors is essential for the conceptualization of a working definition of African Philosophy based on the complementary interplay of the subjective and objective dimension of philosophy. This analytical reconceptualization enhances the frontiers of African philosophy to be more opens in meeting the contemporary demand for Africa's development in the age globalization.