The cultural expressions of African traditional civilization touch deep responsive chords in the people. This is owing to the fact that they draw on an authentic legacy to help define the shared image of self and community, resulting in a collectivity that is distinct from other human societies. 

This is because, regardless of race or color, a person’s worldview and environment forms and influences his thought pattern, which may be viewed as their own philosophy and thus defines their common values.

Consequently, the thought pattern or world view of a people constitutes their philosophy; thus, in layman’s terms, African philosophy can be defined as African way of thinking and rationalizing situations around them. This dynamic philosophy is as old as the African race and was acquired through years of migration, interaction, experience and environment. It is expressed in every sphere of their live, including but not limited to African value system, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, ethics and so on.

However, with the advent of western expansion, western-oriented manner of behavior and knowledge; Africans were denied of history, philosophy, religion, civilization, culture and a value system. Follon, in his view, dismisses African philosophy as little more than “that philosophy” which his colleagues, Placide Frans and Tempel, initiated [1]. In a poignant way, the foregoing remark highlights the relevance of African philosophy. In other words, if philosophy is not western-that is, if philosophy is not a study of European and American philosophies- it is considered “false” and “unreal” by western and some African researchers and is frequently categorized as part of African Traditional Religion. Therefore, while western philosophy is assumed to exemplify a “true” and “real” philosophy, African philosophy is denigrated as depicting a “false” and “unreal” brand of philosophy.

They elevate philosophy to the status of a solely western glory, symbolizing the pinnacle of logic. Africans on other hand are perceived as deficient in the kind of consciousness or mentality that promote intellectual growth [2], they see the African ideas as lacking in scientific knowledge that is founded on reasoning and reflection. This implies that Africans are not rational, which is embedded in their normative and value system, resulting in the denigration of everything African. This was followed by a resemblance process, which involved the reconstruction of the African cultural world in accordance with the colonial vision.

As such, tradition and modernity have been conceived as opposing concepts. Tradition is positioned in the cultural otherness of modernity and on a unilinear continuum in which modernity succeeds and replaces, if not completely destroys the traditional. This therefore, raised the following posers, what is African philosophy and value system? Is there something of global value in African philosophy and value system? What is the place of African Traditional values system amidst modernity?

This study therefore focuses on the place of African philosophy and value system amidst modernity. It adopts the modernization theory of Max Weber and Talcott Parsons, using the descriptive method. The study revealed that African philosophy, religion, value system and civilization have all been misinterpreted, misrepresented and completely misunderstood. The study argues that cultural features, worldviews and belief systems have a significant impact on science and technology, philosophy and values, priorities and ideas, skills and ethics. This implies that all societies, even the modern world, are traditional societies. As such, African worldview and thought pattern constitute their philosophy. The paper maintains that African philosophy must transcend abstract reflection. That is to say, now that African philosophy has attained global recognition, there is the need for scholars to apply its principles toward person-oriented development.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on modernization theory, which studies the process of societal evolution and the transformation of traditional societies to modern societies. This theory was developed in different fields, but sociologists probably had the most general version. Thus, modernization theory rested on the ideas of the German Sociologist Max Weber and later developed by the Harvard Sociologist Talcott Parsons.

Modernization theory emphasizes that the third world countries Africa, Asia and Latin America are underdeveloped because they lack inherent economic, psychological and cultural traits of growth. In other words, modernization theory analyzes traditional civilizations primarily in terms of cultural development constraints. Thus, Parsons [3], believed that developing countries were excessively enamored of old customs, rituals, practices and social structures, all of which he considered to be obstacles to progress. He was very critical of the extended kinship and tribal systems found in many traditional societies, which he claimed hampered geographical and social mobility, which he considered was necessary for a country’s development. This implies that the traditional ways of thinking, religion, culture and value system were both an expression and a cause of their backwardness and are the fundamental roadblocks to modernity. As such, traditional societies must overcome or reject ancient norms and systems in order to absorb Western-produced modern cultures.

By way of criticism, the modernization theory rested on its problematic demarcation and analytical categorization of the tradition (non-western) from the modern (western), indicating its normativity as primarily ethnocentric and a representation of western ideals. As Wolf [4], contends, by linking lack of development with African countries, modernization theory has denied them a meaningful and effective understanding of their relationship. It failed to recognize that these societies had histories, philosophies and value systems prior to European contact and that European engagement through ‘war’, conquest and colonial dominance needed to be taken into account in any attempt to address the nature and forms of social and political change within those countries. It also ignored the impact of external variables on the modernization process. As a result, this paradigm has the potential to completely destroy indigenous culture, philosophy and value system and replace it with a more western one.

Conceptual Framework

Modernity: The term “modernity” refers to a set of cultural, economic and ideological characteristics that contrast “pre-modern” times or societies and hence distinguishes events or things that are “recent; “up-to-date”, “new”, “fresh” or “fashionable”. The word modernity is derived from the Latin adjective ‘modernizes’, which is derived from the adverb ‘modo’ which means “presently; or just now.” A post-traditional and post-medieval time is typically classified as modernity or the modern age [5]. It encompasses the entire range of transition and radical transformations that a traditional society must go through in order to become modern [6].

In other words, modernity rhetoric is about increasing change. The changes in philosophy and lifestyles, values and social organization as well as artistic expression and technology styles, that have occurred as a result of modernization, industrialization, enlightenment, the rationalization of society, the secularization of political power and sciences, nationalization, market capitalism, the development of parliamentary democracy and so on, have been conceptualized in ways that underline modernity’s uniqueness in human history [7]. Thus, the shift in values, social interactions and pattern of social organization from personal relationship with loved ones far and near over the telephone and internet dating, to macro-economic activities such as e-banking, e-commerce, e-education/virtual learning and e-governance among others.

African Philosophy

There has been a debate among intellectuals and artists for decades about whether or not there exists an African philosophy and value system. This was not just about African philosophy and value system; it was also a search for identity. In other words, in the last 50 years, a considerable deal of scholarly attention has been paid to the nature and relevance of African philosophy and value system. Prominent among these are the works of Tempels, Jahn, Mbiti [8], Edeh, Gyekye [9], Oruka, Iroegbu, Masolo, Hountondji, Odlhiambo, Asouzu among others.

African philosophy is as old as the continent itself. This is due to the fact that humans in all civilizations have the ability or intrinsic potentials to formulate ideologies, think or rationalize. There is no part of the earth where human do not consider such fundamental issues such as human being or the physical environment [10]. It is the result of deliberate reflection and one’s belief, wandering at the nature of the universe-the stars, seas, birds, life, death, growth and decay and so on. African philosophy articulates and critically examines the way or ways in which Africans, for example, experience reality. As a result, African philosophy prioritizes values, among other things. It looks at how Africans see and understand nature, society, religion, human, God and human behavior in particular. Using the current logical and conceptual techniques, African philosophy strives to explain, clarify and evaluate every facet of the African experience. It examines traditional African thought such as myths, wise sayings, folklore, as well as the contemporary works of African philosophers trained in western philosophical tradition which deals with evaluation and analysis of contemporary issues that agitate the African mind, such as African socio-political philosophy.

African Traditional Value System

The African traditional value system is entwined with their worldview; it is mostly based on traditional religion and moral ideals that they hold dear. It refers to the rules or mores that are essentially unique to Africans and hence distinguishes African identity and religio-cultural heritage from other cultures. Sacredness of life, sense of hospitality, sense of good human relations, sense of respect for authorities and the elders and sense of communal life, sense of language and proverbs are all characteristics of the African traditional value system [11]. Material, spiritual, religious, socio-political, moral aesthetic, cultural, communal or individualistic values could be included. African traditional values, according to Sogolo [12], are a “collection of institutionalized ideas that govern and control the patterns of life of Africans.” In other words, these ideals have guided both individual and inter-communal relationships amongst people in peaceful coexistence, resulting to the stability of African society.

Western Textualisation of the Pre-Colonial Africa

In the western textualisation, there is this erroneous believe that Africans do not deserve any serious attention, because historically Africa does not exist. According to George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in his famous lectures on the philosophy of history delivered in the winter of 1830-31

At this point we leave Africa not to mention it again. For it is no historical part of the world, it has no movement or development to exhibit. Egypt will be considered in reference to the passage of the human mind from its eastern to its western phase, but it does not belong to the African spirit. What we properly understand by Africa, is the unhistorical, undeveloped spirit, still involved in the conditions of mere nature and which had to be presented here only as on the threshold of the world’s history [13].

Hegel [13], states in his philosophy of history, that the African proper is wild and untamed, outside the bounds of humanity proper, cannibalistic, godless or without a religion, interact-able and without history since they are incapable of historical development or culture. To Hegel [13], therefore, Africans are not human enough to deserve freedom and respect, because they lack a basic aspect of life, namely “rationality.”

In his well-known footnote of National Character [14], the Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume, insists that Negroes are congenitally inferior to whites. White are civilized, whereas Negroes are uncivilized, barbaric and primitive; whites are rational and scientific while Negroes are irrational and magical; only white he believed, had developed science or culture objects, but Negroes had no visible accomplishment to display. David Hume further writes:

I am apt to suspect the Negros and in general all the other species of man (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation. No ingenious manufacturers amongst them, no arts, no sciences… Not to mention our colonies, there NEGROE slaves dispersed all over EUROPE, of whom none ever discovered any symptoms of ingenuity; the low people, without education, will start up amongst us and distinguished themselves in every profession [15].

Hume’s influence can be seen in Kant’s observations in his The Feeling of the Beautiful Sublime [16], where he claims that despite the fact that many of the blacks who were transported elsewhere from their countries have been set free, none of them have ever produced anything great in art or science or any other praiseworthy quality, even though they are among the whites. The difference between the two races of humans is so basic and it appears to be as large in terms of mental capacities as in color [16]. For the enlightenment philosophers therefore, a person’s skin, (color) determines his/her rationality. By virtue of their blackness, black people are excluded from the realm of the rational and the civilized.

When Max Weber stated that all types of indices for civilization existed in Europe, namely arts, music, philosophy, technology, science religion, economics and politics; he was ensnared in this web of intellectual rascality. He claims that sciences and technology have only reached their zenith of evolution in Europe:

Which we acknowledge as legitimate. Empirical knowledge, as well as thought on issues concerning the universe and life. The deepest Philosophical and theological understanding… must be ascribed to Christianity under the influence of Hellenism for the full development of a systematic theology [17].

The oxford historian, Professor Hugh Trevor Roper added a notorious variant of this feeling in the West about Africa in 1962 when he writes:

Perhaps, in the future, there will be some African history to teach. But at present there is none; there is only the history of European in Africa. The rest is darkness… and darkness is not a subject of history.

In terms of economic development, Emile Durkheim is reported as saying that many African cultural practices are roadblocks because they represent non-rational, collective traditional ways of living that are incompatible with economic development. While Heynen divided the concept of development into three attitudes, the first refers to presence, which is the polar opposite of the past, the second is new, which is the polar opposite of the old and the third is the transient, which has the conflicting notion of no longer being a clearly defined past but rather an undefined perpetuation. In his 1960 book The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto, Rostow contended that industrialized countries go through stages growth. He classified the stages as follows

• The traditional society

• The preconditions to take-off

• The take-off 

• The drive to maturity

• The age of high mass-consumption. 

Traditional society according to Rostow is characterized by primitive technology, hierarchical social structures, production and trade based on custom and barter [18]. Consequently, for Africa to thrive economically, indigenous philosophy and value system, traditional institutions, social structures and cultural practices must be abandoned or replaced by imported western philosophical and beliefs structures that are compatible with economic expansion.

Another misconception propagated by western academics is that Africans have no knowledge of God, morality and governance. Kant [19], ascribed the presence or absence of “genius” to the assumed grades of race superiority and inferiority. Africans, in his opinion, lack “true” logical and moral character. According to Hegel [13], consciousness has not yet reached the degree of realizing any substantial objective such as, God or law in which man’s decision is implicated and in which he realizes his own being in the lives of Negroes. According to Hegel [13]:

This African in the uniform, undeveloped oneness of his existence has not yet attained; so that the knowledge of an absolute Being and other… Higher than his individual self, is entirely wanting. The Negro, as already observed exhibits the natural man in his completely wild untamed state [13].

He goes on to explain religion in three stages: 

• Natural religion 

• The religion of spiritual individual

• Absolute religion, placing Christianity in the third and final phase

Where God and humanity are united. The African Traditional Religion is classified as a natural religion, in which the spirit is bond to nature and exist first as a crude form of magic before passing into objective reality-substance, in which religion is pantheistic and culminating in the final stage of spiritual individuality, in which God is recognized as spiritual and personal, which is the level of Christianity. It was on these false premises that the eighteenth missionary enterprise was provided.

This inaccurate ahistorical stereotype had far-reaching implications for Africa’s status vis-à-vis philosophy as international enterprise. It has distorted the African image; putting African philosophy and value system in jeopardy, leaving Africans befuddled and constantly struggling to fit into western garb. In other words, African philosophy, religion, value system and civilisation have all been misinterpreted, misrepresented and completely misunderstood. As Mbiti points out, African philosophy, religion and value system were scorned, derided and discarded as primitive, superstition and undeveloped [8]. Horton in his comparison between African traditional thoughts and western science argued that the African thought systems have some elements that can be compared with western science [20]. For this reason, he said that western science is not the only thought system because there are also other thought systems that can be compared to the western theoretical science. To ascertain this, he raised the issue of African religious and spiritual thought system. At this point, the question that comes to mind is, if philosophy and science as an endeavor and phenomenon could be conceived in a cultural vacuum? It is obvious therefore, that science and technology, philosophy and values, priorities and ideas, skills and ethics are greatly influenced by their cultural traits, worldview and belief system. This implies that every society including the modern world is a traditional society.

Appreciating African Philosophy and Value System

Africans have the potential for critical thinking as well as the ability to control their intellectual destiny. This implies that the belief that there is no such thing as African philosophy is misguided and based on a misconception or inability to rationalize why there is such a thing as African philosophy; it was born out of ignorance or wrong orientation on the part of the west, which attempted to portray Africans as people incapable of philosophizing. Thus, the argument and controversies about whether or not there is an African philosophy are over.

Philosophy is associated with rational beings; when humans become amazed and wonder, they become philosophical. This wonder takes on a philosophy posture as people ponder and critically think on human experience. African philosophy, according to Okolo [21,22], is a critical and methodical study on African experience, perspectives and understandings of reality. It is a systematic, cogent exploration and exposure of their entire cosmos. K.C. Anyanwu agrees with this definition when he refers to African philosophy “as that which concerns itself with the way in which African people of the past and the present make sense of their existence and reality” [23]. Kanu, Ikechukwu Anthony divides African philosophical trends into six schools of thoughts. They are as follows:

• Universalist/professional trend

• Ethno-philosophy or particularistic trend

• Eclectic trend

• Natural ideological trend

• Sage philosophy

• Literary/Artistic philosophy [24]

There is also the hermeneutic, which is concerned with examining African language, texts, proverbs and saying, among others.

African Epistemology

Every human being has an inbuilt need to learn. As a result, epistemology is concerned with the nature, sources and reliability of knowledge. To put it another way, it is the discussion of knowledge and as such, it encompasses theories of perception, idea creation, the universal problem and many perspectives on the limit of knowledge.

Knowledge, according to western philosophers, is firmly linked to a universal truth. Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, Augustus Comte, David Hume, John Locke, Bishop George Berkeley and other Western thinkers have all sought ultimate certainty in knowledge. They regard everything they ‘clearly’ think of as knowledge to be indubitable and universal truth due to their fixation with perfect certainty. Significantly, the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century CE satisfied western thinkers’ profound need for certainty. Scientists like Francis Bacon (1561-1827) and Isaac Newton (1643–1727) emphasised on observation, experimentation and mathematical reasoning as the best methods of getting information about reality.

However, studies have revealed that reason is multifaceted. While grappling with the reality that people have diverse and opposing viewpoints on issues, Gyekye [25] correctly asserts that rationality is fundamentally cultural phenomenon that reflects people’s cultural experience and backgrounds. Ndubisi defined African epistemology as perceptional knowledge, common sense knowledge, old age knowledge, inferential knowledge, mystical knowledge, oral tradition and holistic knowledge, among others [26]. The Ogoni epistemological paradigm, on the other hand, goes beyond physical order of things, to include the metaphysical dimension.

In other words, Africans have a distinct style of seeing external objects and reality. Some proponents of African philosophy argue that African epistemology is distinct from and superior to western epistemology. Leopold Senghor is one of these proponents, claiming that “if European socialism thrives on the epistemological theory of dialectic, African socialism may lay its epistemological foundation on the African way of knowing” [27]. According to Senghor, there is no duality between the object and subject of knowledge; rather, both benefit from symbiotic and reciprocal contact. This leads to Senghor’s comprehensive concept of reality, which he summarizes as; “I feel, I dance the other, I am in contrast to Cartesian cogito: I think, therefore I am”. As a result, Sengho is considered to have done in African epistemology what Descartes achieved in Western epistemology. Mbiti’s formulations also convey this axiom of communalist self-consciousness. “I am because we are and since we are, therefore I am”. The following is a summary of Ruch and Anyanwu’s African epistemology:

Knowledge therefore comes from cooperation of all human faculties and experiences. He sees, feels, imagines reasons, or thinks and insults all at the same time. Only through this method does he claim to have the knowledge of the other. So the method through which the African arrive at trustworthy knowledge of reality is… intuitive and personal experience [28].

Consequently, scientific reasoning and experiments cannot be used to prove or disprove African claims to knowledge. This is due to the fact that the claims are not scientific hypothesis; for example, the epistemic claims among the Ogoni of Eastern Niger Delta Nigeria are an extension of their social values, interests and preferences. Customs and habits determine the validity of their beliefs and expertise. African philosophy, therefore, gives the epistemic approach that can be described as African. This epistemological approach is rooted from African conception of reality that is holistic, ontological and features a perspective from oral tradition.

African Logic

African logic is universal in nature. It refers to a field of philosophy concerned with the study of reasoning principles, the character or state of being rational, that is, possessing or exercising the ability to reason. In the history of western philosophy, rationality has frequently been mixed with philosophy, resulting in the fusion of philosophy and rationality into rationalism. From Aristotle through Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), most Western philosophers have held that reason, rather than emotion, sensory experience, authority, or spiritual experience, offers the sole legitimate basis for action and is the primary source of knowledge and spiritual truth. Other cultures are frequently assessed using the same standards of Western reason.

This must have influenced Robin Horton’s erroneous understanding of African philosophy and worldview. Instead of intuition and ideas, Horton [20], stated that Africa has a rich proliferation of magical thinking. Traditional Africa, according to Horton, “does not stop to examine what are the irreducibly basic processes of reasoning or how they may be justified.” “Situations that might raise such issues, simply do not arise" [20]. However, because logic is a component of philosophy and philosophy is culture bound, logic must be culture bound as well, implying the potential of an African logic. In attempt to correct such misconception held by Robin Horton and other Western scholars, this study contends that logic transcends regional, continental and racial barriers. Rene Descartes is quoted as having said:

The power to judge correctly and distinguishing truth from error, which is properly referred to as good sense or reason, is naturally equal in all men and that the diversity of opinions thus arises not from some being endowed with a greater share of reason than others, but solely from the fact that we conduct our thought in different ways and do not fix our attention on the same object.

Every language has its own logic and all ethnicities think logically. As a result, African logic is natural, reflective and co-existential; embracing the African people’s and cultures whole worldview. The ancient techniques and concepts used to differentiate good from bad reasoning are referred to as African logic. It is that science that “assists Africans to weighing the benefits and drawbacks of a course of action or decision.” It allows them to dig through the information before them rather than indulging in interminable tribal disputes [29]. African logic, thus, is concerned with solid, accurate and critical reasoning or arguments.

Among the Ogoni indigenous people of Eastern Niger Delta in Nigeria, logic is found in their language which is rich in idioms, proverbs, vast working vocabulary and great descriptive ability. A proverb highlights and analyses certain logical errors while analysing the nature of Ogoni philosophy and logic. There are brief formulae for abusing ad-hominum among the people; for example, bi bee si nee a ne bi (the excreta or waste matter really resembles the person that produced it). Thus, if someone is a notorious liar, whatever he says is false. This is known as the ad-hominum fallacy. Another appeal to authority error is Argumentum ad-varicundian. The phrase ue bee fura bee bia tor mene (the King’s voice is the ultimate plea) exemplifies this. In other words, a natural ruler never makes a mistake. As a result, it is possible to discuss logic and philosophy in an African setting. Logic or illogical, reasonable or unreasonable, rational or irrational can all be used to characterize someone’s behavior or attitude. This demonstrates that conduct is a factor in African logical reasoning.

African Metaphysics

Adronicus of Rhodes named the last part of Aristotle’s work “metaphysics” (after physics); he had no idea that he was naming what would later become a major feature of the field of philosophy. Metaphysics thus became the first and most important branch of philosophy, referring to “the science of the supersensible that is, of the universal and necessary concepts, causes and models of the visible world” [30].

African metaphysics focuses on how Africans perceive, understand and make sense of human interactions and reality in general [31]. It is an African perceptive of beings and reality that is holistic and interconnected. As a result, the focus of African metaphysics would be on how different African societies view beings, immortality of the soul, spirits, gods, substance, witchcraft, human person, reincarnation and in reality as a whole. The knowledge of existence and causality, as well as religious, supernatural, spiritual, mystical and mythical, or legendary elements, are at the heart of African metaphysic. As a result, Mbiti portrays Africans ontology as religious and anthropocentric, despite the fact that Africans are notoriously devout Mbiti, [32]. He said:

Africans have their own ontology, but it is a religious ontology and to understand their religion we must penetrate their ontology… This anthropocentric ontology is a complete unity or solidarity which nothing can break or destroy [32].

Ontologically, at the heart of the Ogoni metaphysics is the conception of a ranking or grading of being based on qualities and powers for which they are accorded greater status than other beings in the universe. In the Ogoni hierarchy of being, at the apex is the Kawaa-Bari or Kawa-adem (The Supreme Being) as the controller of the affairs of human. This followed by other bari (gods/deities) that demands reverence, the nama-te (ancestors) and ado (spirit) forms the first group. The second is Ne (Human Being). The third is Kanu-kue (Animal, tame and wild) the fourth is Nu (things) the fifth is Dee (space), the sixth is So (time), Nornu or Doonu (modality, manner or styles). Jenheinz Jahn discussion of the four categories of African philosophy is very similar with the categories of being in Ogoni ontology. He identifies them as:

• Muntu: Human Being

• Kintu: Thing

• Hantu: Place and Time

• Kuntu: Modality

In addition, the Ogoni indigenous people believe in the presence of two worlds; Bu-nyo-u le Bu-ado, which translates to “visible and invisible,” “physical and metaphysical,” and “sensible and supersensible.” In Ogoni-African philosophy there is no clear boundary between the sacred and the secular, material and spiritual, as previously stated [33]. Apart from that, the Ogoni do not appear to have a severe problem with the genesis of the physical universe, as seen by the statement, ere ba nu a ere bua t, ere kuma (what has a beginning will have an end). They watch things as they come and go. A child is born, grows old and eventually dies. Seeds germinate grow to maturity and later wither away. From the observance of the process of the coming to-be and ceasing-to-be of visible reality, Edeh derives the obvious conclusion from the observation of the process of visible reality’s coming to be and ceasing to be; whatever has a beginning has an end. Therefore, there is a beginning to the visible world. But, where does the beginning of what is (physical existence) begin?

African Ethics (Moral Philosophy)

This part will dispel the doubts of western ethnologists, sociologists, anthropologists and missionaries who said that Africans cannot tell the difference between good and evil and that even when they do; it is always barbaric in nature, a system that slashes morality to ribbons. Humans have always debated what constitutes a good life and how to live. In their varied activities, Africans understand that there is right way and a wrong way to do things and that there is a good method and an evil way of doing things. As such, African ethics is a branch of philosophy that is founded on traditional African perspectives, living and situations. It is the science that deals with the rightness and wrongness, the do’s and don’ts, the ought and the ought nots, all of which are founded on African traditional standards and codes of conduct. Mbiti expresses himself in this light:

There exist many laws set forms of behaviors, regulations, rules, observances and taboos constituting the moral code and ethics of a given community or society. Any breach of this code of behavior is considered evil, wrong or bad for it is an injury or destruction to the accepted social order and peace. As in all societies of the world, social order and peace essentially and sacred, where the sense of life is so deep [8].

African ethics is deeply personal, communal and religious in nature. It is personal in the sense that it is ingrained in a person’s being, impacting not only the mind but also the heart, body and spirit. Kunhiyop [34], noted that any attempt to draw a distinction between theoretical (or spiritual) ethics and practical morality is wrong headed and irrelevant to African ethics.

African ethics is communal in that it rarely considers individual ethical judgments that have no bearing on others. Whatever affects individuals also affects their immediate family and distant relatives, both alive and those who are still interested in the concerns of the living. The importance of this diverse group in comprehending African ethics cannot be overstated. It also implies that these ethics are developed in response to past, present and future events.

African ethics is quite religious as well. This is due to the fact that the African cosmos is governed by the spirit of harmony. The physical and spiritual worlds are in harmony and the human at the center of the African universe interacts with all of its dimensions. Mbiti expresses himself succinctly:

Wherever the African is, there is his religion. He carries it to the fields where he is sowing seeds or harvesting new crop, he takes it with him to a beer parlor or to attend a funeral ceremony; and if he is educated, he takes religion with him to the examination room at school or in the university; if he is a politician he takes it to the house of parliament [8].

As such, an action that is considered ontologically good is also considered morally good and an action that is considered ontologically evil is also considered morally bad. This means that morality is derived from religious considerations and religion is so ubiquitous in African civilizations that ethics and religion are inextricably linked. Religion and religious practices play a role in the development of ethics in this area. In other words, religion established moral obligations on community members.

However, Wiredu [35], Summer [36], Gyekye [9] and Oluwole [37], all disputed the above-mentioned relationship between ethics and religion. They claimed that African morality is based on rational consideration of what is beneficial to human wellbeing. The question that comes mind at this point is: what kind of morality do persons without a religious background properly hold unto? As such, such a perspective is not only foreign to a traditional African, but it also pushes African civilization toward secularism and atheistic philosophies, which has perplexed many young African minds.

African Philosophy and Value System

Traditional African culture values human life because it recognizes the dignity and integrity of human as God’s creatures. The philosophy of do ito or dum me i dum (live-and-let’s-live) becomes the driving premise of human connections among the Ogoni indigenous people. This posits inter-personal and inter-communal relationships between person and it emphasizes their value as human beings rather than what they acquire or get from one another. As such, African of hospitality is seen as an important component of life. 

In African society, visiting a distant relative or neighbor does not require an appointment or specific invitations. The presentations of Kolanut, traditional gin, palm wine, water, or coconut are some of the African symbolic means of showing welcome. The importance of communalism in traditional African societies is shown in the sharing of a common social life, commitment to the community’s social common good, appreciation of mutual obligations, care for others, independence and solidarity. As a member of the community one is expected to adhere to some common values, norms and goals that are for the good of individuals. This implies that whatever occurs to one person affect the entire community and whatever affects the community affects the individual. “I am, because we are and since we are, therefore I am,” the individual can only say [8]. This creates an ontological perspective that depicts existence as something that is relational as has mutual relationships. It also suggests that to be is to live in solidarity and complementarity and to live outside the boundaries is to suffer from alienation. 

Old age is cherished, celebrated and respected in Africa. Respect for elders has a practical influence on the preservation of custom and traditions. It is accompanied by a duty on the side of the elders and the receiving of such respect is contingent on the fulfillment of that obligation; it is founded on the reciprocal exercise of duties/rights, based on the old/young connections. The respect for elderly in Africa is deeply ingrained in the culture, with a fundamental principle requiring that one must respect one’s parents. There is also a high regard for legitimate and established authority, whether it is that of the head of the family, Gbene-Mene, Nyewali, Oba, Obi or Emir for example.

Africans also desire and place a great importance on personal and family wealth (clan). When private ownership coexists alongside public (community) ownership, the right to and value of private property are acknowledged in the traditional African economic system. Land is a significant component in all economic considerations, serving as both a source of riches and a source of poverty. Thus, the communalistic concept was brought into play in its distribution, particularly among the Ikwerre of Northern Niger Delta, Nigeria. This allows everyone to give their quotas without hesitation, ensuring that no one goes without land. This assumes a communal land tenure structure, with the community or family leader owing the land in trust for all members of the family, including the unborn. This distribution was made solely on the basis of need and the individual’s ability to improve.

In African culture, art serves both a functional and an aesthetic purpose. Beauty can be found not just in works of art and the human figure, but also in human behavior, in humanity and a person’s personality. Appropriateness and fittingness are two aesthetic value and evaluation criteria. Music, dancing and even attire must all be suited for the occasion.

The search for truth and reality concerning human, as well as the existence of things within and beyond human experience, has been on since the beginning of time. These questions and answers are not exclusive to certain group of people. They do, however, repeat themselves in every human culture from generation to generation. In other words, philosophy is not foreign to any people; rather the manner and level of philosophizing that differs from person to person and from generation to generation. A people’s philosophy can be documented, observed, or orally conveyed. As such, the thought pattern or world view of Africans constitutes their philosophy. African philosophical reflections and perspectives were preserved and transmitted through mythologies, wise-saying, traditional proverbs, storytelling and religion, among other informal avenues. African philosophers who passed these on to subsequent generations did not push these ideas and viewpoints without cause or without considering and pondering on the issue in question. Traditional African philosophers must have followed a process of observations, reasoning and reflections before arriving at the ideas, views or worldviews that they transmitted through the stated channels, even if they did not put their reasoning in the same way that Aristotle’s syllogism (logic) or Russell’s logical form did.

To a large extent, the profound shift that is currently taking place in Africa has resulted in a slew of beneficial and negative consequences. When western culture and values emerged with African culture and value systems, many changes occurred, affecting most African cultures and Africans, without doubt, lost their cultural values. Many works document the realities, including Things Fall Apart, which simply alludes to the disarray that the inhabitants of eastern Nigeria believed the Whiteman’s religion (Christianity) caused to their much-loved culture. Deezia compared the arrival of westernization to the opening of the Pandora’s Box on African cultural values, as it has adversely affected traditional cultures to the point where many traditional beliefs, customs and rituals, among other things, have been completely corrupted, bastardized, ignored and destroyed. As a result, whatever is western is thought to be admirable, while whatever is indigenous is thought to be devilish and humiliating, resulting in rejection and denial of who Africans truly are, turning Africans to indigenous strangers [11].

With African’s adoption of western culture, education and science, a sort of crass individualism appears to be creping in. the current state of Western civilization as we know it today promotes excessive individualism. This appears to be destroying the African value of communal belonging and togetherness. The value of African hospitality, which enabled them to keep an open door policy, has cost them dearly:

Many African have this both as Africans and even at the personal experience level. We opened our hearts in the spirit of fraternity, but they entered our hearts with pick axe, knife and Julius Berger oriented boots.

This implies that African hospitality has resulted in the speciation of Africans. New ideals were adopted, sanctified and embraced wholeheartedly. Ancestral moral uprightness and probity have been supplanted by these. Logic and legal cleverness, with their quibbling over world intricacies, have consigned truth and honesty to the annals of antiquarian values. For many Africans, fraud has become a way of life.

Infrastructure development; urban deterioration; economic reliance on western nations for financial help, loans, technical support and technological competence; foreign debts; misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement and financial mismanagement are among problems that Africans face. Ethnic majority chauvinism and religious intolerance, economic misfortunes, unemployment, underdevelopment, declining educational quality and collapsed university system, insecurity, political corruption, manipulation of electoral processes, disunity and failed policies among other things, have all contributed to the rise of intolerance and violence. This demonstrates how African politicians are also complicit in the continent’s underdevelopment.

As noted elsewhere, Lord Lugard is not to blamed in the case of Nigeri; rather the quality of leaders and the system that they have implemented after independence are to blame for the country’s current predicament. In other words, Nigeria’s problem is entirely due to a lack of leadership. 

Nigeria’s problem is its leaders’ refusal or incapacity to take on the personal duty of leading by example, which is the hallmark of true leadership. To put it in another way, the problem is that Nigerians are unwilling to think. They pay more attention to trivialities and the blunders made by the white men. This emphasizes the rise of thinkers as leaders. For until philosophers become leaders, the ethnic majority Chauvinism fight and “our turn” syndrome will persist.

In other words, the future of philosophy everywhere is to investigate the intellectual foundations of human life, utilizing the best accessible modalities of knowledge and reflection for human well-being. As such, African philosophy should provide some sort of redemption, particularly from dogmatism and narrow-mindedness. In the light of African requirements at any given period, African philosophy should be able to discern through critical examination which aspects of African culture to promote and which to considered antiquated. Furthermore, Africans live in world with a diverse set of values, both positive and negative. The task of African philosophy is to guide individuals down the road of right values. African philosophy should provide the best definition of concepts such as justice, goodness, right, honor, human dignity, common good, equality, knowledge, truth, freedom, law, mutual respect, tolerance, peace etc, on which the good governance of African states is based, African philosophy should also awaken people’s awareness, particularly regarding the centrality of the African value system. Also, value questions about the advancement of science technology and artificial intelligence (AI). The paper finally maintains that African philosophy must transcend abstract reflection. That is to say, now that African philosophy has risen above the level of heated debate, it must consider how it can best be used to person-oriented development.

1. Asiegbu, M.F. “African philosophy and crises of relevance: Issues and perspectives.” From Footmarks to Landmarks on African Philosophy, edited by Adrew F. Uduigwomen, 2nd ed., Lagos, Obaroh and Ogbinaka Publishers Ltd., 2009.

2. Sanderson, G.N. “British informal empire, imperial ambitions, defensive strategies and the Anglo-Portuguese treaty of february 1884.” Bismarck, Europe and Africa: The Berlin African Conference 1884–1885 and the Onset of Partition, edited by S. Foster, W.J. Mommsen and R. Robinson, Oxford University Press, 1988.

3. Parsons, T. “Evolutionary universals in society.” American Sociological Review, vol. 29, no. 3, 1969, pp. 339–357.

4. Wolf, E.R. Europe and the People Without History. University of California Press, 1982.

5. Heidegger, M. The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Translated by William Lovitt, Harper and Row, 1977.

6. Hussain, A. and K. Tribe. Marxism and the Agrarian Question: German Social Democracy and the Peasantry 1890–1900. Macmillan Press Ltd., 1981.

7. Anttonen, P. Tradition through Modernity: Postmodernism and the Nation-State in Folklore Scholarship. Finnish Literature Society, 2005.

8. Mbiti, J.S. African Religion and Philosophy. Heinemann, 1969.

9. Gyekye, K. An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme. Cambridge University Press, 1987.

10. Kanu, M.A. “The history of African philosophy: A reconciliation.” From Footmarks to Landmarks on African Philosophy, edited by Adrew F. Uduigwomen, 2nd ed., Lagos, Obaroh and Ogbinaka Publishers Ltd., 2009.

11. Deezia, B.S. “Westernization: The opening of the pandora’s box on African cultural value system.” Religion in Historical Perspective: Essays in Honor of Professor E.S. Akama, edited by W.O. Wotogbe-Weneka et al., Chadik Printing Press, 2017.

12. Sogolo, G. Foundations of African Philosophy: A Definitive Analysis of Conceptual Issues in African Thought. Ibadan University Press, 1993.

13. Hegel, G.W.F. Philosophy of History. Translated by J.I. Sibree, The Great Books of the Western World, vol. 46, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1952.

14. Hume, D. “Of National character.” Essays: Moral, Political and Literary, edited by Miller, Liberty Classics, 1777.

15. Hume, D. Essays: Moral, Political and Literary. Edited by T.H. Green and T.H. Grose, Longmans Green, 1882.

16. Kant, I. Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime. Translated by J.T. Goldthwait, University of California Press, 1960.

17. Weber, M. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Scribner, 1958.

18. Rostow, W.W. “The five stages of growth.” Development and Underdevelopment: The Political Economy of Global Inequality, 3rd ed., edited by Mitchell Seligson and John Passe-Smith, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003.

19. Kant, I. Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Translated by V.L.D. Victor, Illinois University Press, 1978.

20. Horton, R. Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

21. Okolo, C.B. African Social and Political Philosophy: Selected Essays. Fulladu Publishing Company, 1993.

22. Okolo, C.B. What Is African Philosophy? A Short Introduction. Freeman Press, 1993.

23. Anyanwu, K.C. “The notion of chi (Self) in Igbo philosophy.” Nigerian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 1, no. 2, Department of Philosophy, UNILAG, 1983, pp. 126–233.

24. Kanu, I.A. African Philosophy: An Ontologico-Existential Hermeneutic Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues. Augustinian Publication, 2015.

25. Gyekye, K. African Cultural Values. Sankoto Publishing Company, 1996.

26. Ndubisi, E.J.O. “Nature and function of logic in african epistemology.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), vol. 19, no. 11, 2014, pp. 32–36.

27. Senghor, L.S. On African Socialism. Translated by M. Cook, Paul Mall Press, 1964.

28. Ruch, E.A. and K.C. Anyanwu. African Philosophy: An Introduction to the Main Philosophical Trends in Contemporary Africa. Catholic Book Agency, 1987.

29. Uduigwomen, A.F. How to Think: An Introduction Text on Logic, Argumentation and Evidence. AAU Vitalis Books Co., 2003.

30. Coreth, E. Metaphysics. Harder and Harder, 1968.

31. Ozumba, G.O. “African metaphysics.” Guodlibet, 2004, www.guodlibet.net/ozumba-africa.shtml.

32. Mbiti, J.S. Introduction to African Religion. Heinemann, 1975.

33. Deezia, B.S. “The causes of evil and human suffering in ogoni traditional philosophy: Towards the multi-causal factor analysis.” Modern Research Studies: An International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 5, no. 4, 2018, pp. 239–267.

34. Kunhiyop, S.W. African Christian Ethics. World Alive Publishers, 2008.

35. Wiredu, K. “Morality and religion in Akan thought.” Philosophy and Cultures, edited by H.O. Odera and D.A. Wasola, Bookwise Ltd., 1983.

36. Summer, C. “An ethical study of Ethiopian philosophy.” Philosophy and Culture, edited by H.O. Odera and D.A. Wasola, Bookwise, 1983.

37. Oluwole, S.B. “The rational basis of Yoruba ethical thinking.” The Nigerian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 5, no. 4, 1990, pp. 15–25.