IGWEBUIKE AS A TREND IN AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

The debate on what constitutes African philosophy, which has been divided into trends or schools dates back to the 1960s and 70s. This was a time when African thinkers began to question the perspective that traditional African beliefs and worldviews, as embedded in pre-colonial African cultures constituted African philosophy. From the arguments of these African thinkers emerged the Universalist trend, Particularist trend, National-Ideological trend, sage philosophy, Literary Philosophy and Hermeneutic trend. This notwithstanding, with the new developments in the area of African philosophy, this piece argues that there is the need for another trend of African philosophy that is multidimensional in character and which reflects the ontological character of the African worldview. The multidimensional approach would be employed in this study. Igwebuike as a trend would, therefore, be a central point or a point of convergence for all the trends of African philosophy. With Igwebuike it is hoped that the tension between particularity and university would be balanced.