On the contemporary African experience: Towards a humanistic mode of philosophy for Africa

pages: 229-238

Abstract

There is no doubt that Africa today is confronted with many economic, political, social, and developmental problems. The big question and the basic challenge is therefore how best we can tackle these problems especially as we begin and forge ahead in the third millennium. This paper attempts to elucidate a fundamental role that philosophy can play in this regard. It holds that philosophy, as a discipline in the humanities, can help shape fresh ideas that are humanistic in nature in the sense that they encourage free enquiry and social agreement which are vital pillars for a fair and prosperous society; for a society without such genuine humanistic values will show many of the symptoms which are present in contemporary African societies. Keywords: Humanism, Africa, philosophy, free inquiry, social agreement