{"product_id":"african-philosophies-paperback-softback-9781509558452","title":"African Philosophies (Paperback \/ softback) 9781509558452","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eAfrican Philosophies\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eSéverine Kodjo-Grandvaux (Author), Matthew B. Smith (Translated by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509558452, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 27 June 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e270 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.431 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Séverine Kodjo-Grandvaux makes a brilliant attempt to expand the horizons of Western modernity by introducing the African Human gaze to humanize us all. This is a major and original contribution.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTeodros Kiros, Professor of Philosophy at Harvard Summer School and host of \u003ci\u003eThe Kiros Report\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Severine Kodjo-Grandvaux has written a wonderful and insightful text that rejects Western conceptualizations of philosophy that are used to devalue and exclude African philosophies as legitimate. \u003ci\u003eAfrican Philosophies\u003c\/i\u003e favors clarity and precision in its discussion of African philosophers' ideas and insights into the human condition over the political or ethical pleas for inclusion often found in many works of comparative philosophy. Kodjo-Grandvaux insists that philosophies should wander beyond the artificial borders of Western thought towards the diverse cultural possibilities of the human. Diop, Oruka, Wiredu, and Appiah become world thinkers reflecting upon the differences and plurality found among peoples in Africa and the world. Instead of continuing the colonial heritage of Western (white) philosophy that believes it must teach lesser peoples the white ways of thinking, Kodjo-Grandvaux insists that African philosophies have much to teach the West about human potentiality and \u003ci\u003ebeing\u003c\/i\u003e.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTommy J. Curry, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"an admirable overview of key meta-philosophical debates in African philosophy, which will be of interest to anyone who is concerned with intellectual responses to colonialism and its aftermath on the African continent.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePostcolonial Studies\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eFor many students of philosophy in the West, philosophy is understood as a discipline stemming from Ancient Greece, embracing the great thinkers of medieval and early modern Europe and continuing through to the present day.  To the extent that other philosophical traditions are taken into account, these tend to be selected philosophical traditions of Asia.  Rarely is African philosophy considered in this context, even though Africa and the West are deeply interconnected through long histories of colonialism and slavery.   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this important book Séverine Kodjo-Grandvaux argues that a serious engagement with African philosophy is long overdue.  She shows that there is a rich tradition of philosophical thought in Africa that addresses issues ranging from the legacies of colonialism to the nature of time, the state, responsibility, identity, dignity and personhood.  An engagement with African philosophy also offers a fresh perspective on Western philosophy, prompting us to interrogate ourselves and our own history.  Conceptualizing African philosophy becomes a way of conceptualizing the world and of understanding how to know ourselves through the gaze of another. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAfrican Philosophies\u003c\/i\u003e is not so much a survey of philosophy in Africa but rather an account of how the question of African philosophy emerged in the second half of the 20th century and of what we can learn from a serious engagement with African philosophy today.  It will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy, in colonial and postcolonial studies and throughout the humanities.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eForeword by Souleymane Bachir Diagne\u003cbr\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMirror Effect\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI. African Philosophy and Identity\u003cbr\u003eThe Invention of Ethnophilosophy\u003cbr\u003eConstructing an African Identity\u003cbr\u003eElasticity of Philosophy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eII. On The Racial and Ethnic Understanding of African Philosophy\u003cbr\u003eOn the Use of “Race” and Ethnicity in Philosophy\u003cbr\u003eAfrican Philosophy as the Will to Deconstruction\u003cbr\u003eOn the Universality of Philosophy and in Philosophy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIII. Displacing the Notion of African Philosophy\u003cbr\u003eRethinking the Notions of Philosophical Heritage and Tradition\u003cbr\u003eOn Conceptualizing African Philosophy as a Site of Encounter and a Form of Evolution\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIV. African Philosophy as Praxis: Conceptualizing Social Harmony\u003cbr\u003eAfrican Reading of Politics\u003cbr\u003eRe-inserting the Individual in Society and the Human in the World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Case for Nomadic Philosophy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBiographical Notes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Philosophy [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Philosophy\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Philosophy%20%5BHP%5D%22\"\u003eHP\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52453452087576,"sku":"9781509558452","price":17.65,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509558452.jpg?v=1785284635","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/african-philosophies-paperback-softback-9781509558452","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}