African Philosophy for Tanzanian Youth Pitfalls and Prospects

1. African Philosophy for Tanzanian YouthPitfalls and Prospects Chambi Chachage

2. Introduction: This is Philosophy – Is it? • Loving (Philo) of Wisdom (Sophia) – Of Greek Origin(?) • ‘Thinking about Thinking’ – A Layman/woman Definition(?) • Analytic Philosophy vs Continental Philosophy(?) Argument Rhetoric Science Literature & Art Analysis Speculation Clear Obscure Precise Vague Logic Metaphysics Reason Passion (Source: The Edinburgh Dictionary of Continental Philosophy)

3. African Philosophy – A Myth or Reality? “I am not asking whether [African Philosophy] exists, whether it is a myth or a reality. I observe that it does exist, by the same right and in the same mode as all the philosophies of the world: in the form of literature” – Paulin J. Hountondji on African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (1976: 55) - Which same mode - Analytical or/and Continental? (Or?) - Which form of Literature – Oral and/or Written? (Or?) “[Oral Literature] is still the most widespread and with which the vast majority of Africans, even today, are in constant touch, and it represents that form of expression to which African sensibilities are most readily attuned” – F. Abiola Irele on The African Imagination: Literature in Africa and the Black Diaspora (2001: 31)

4. African Philosophy or African Philosophies? 1. Ethnophilosophy (Bantu Philosophy) – “the re-appropriation of ‘African Cultures’ by colonial agents for colonial use” [and Neo-colonial use?] 2. Africanism (African Civilization, Negritude, Pan Africanism, African Socialism, African Humanism, Authenticity etcetera) – “a protest against Eurocentrism and a celebration of the African Personality” [and against Neo-Liberalism?] 3. Theory of African Revolution (Associated with Fanon, Nkrumah & Cabral) – “a search” for a “radical break with the West and a refoundation of African history” [and herstory?] 4. Professional Philosophy (Associated with Non-Marxists) – a critique of Ethnophilosophy and advocacy “for an intellectual renaissance as a basis of any meaningful development” [and for an African Renaissance?] 5. Critiques of Professional Philosophy – Criticisms of “elitist idealistic thesis of renaissance by intellectuals” [and by vanguards?] (Source: Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage on Discourse on Development among African Philosophers in Ulf Himmelstrand, Kabiru Kinyanjui & Edward Mburugu’s (Eds.) African Perspectives on Development (1994: 51)

5. Who are African Philosophers in Tanzania? “By ‘African Philosophy’ I mean a set of texts, specifically the set of texts written by Africans and described as philosophical by their authors themselves” – Paulin J. Hountondji on An Alienated Literature (Ibid: 33) Shabaan Robert’s Kusadikika and Kufikirika (?) Julius K. Nyerere’s A New Synthesis of Man and Society (?) Aniceti Kitereza’s Bwana Myombekere na Bibi Bugonoka, Ntulanwalo na Bulihwali (Written in 1945, Published in 1981 & Translated in 2002) (?) “[Kitereza’s] story told of the pre-colonial Kerewe society at its most unadulterated stage, showing the modes of production, the gods and modes of worship, aesthetics, commitment to work, ethics, forms of authority, and punishment and the roles of the leaders, priests, medicinemen [sic] and rainmakers, the sense of community, philosophy of life, social organization and the forms of division of labour” – Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage on The ‘Return to the Countryside’ Theme in Tanzanian Literature (1986: 9)

6. Young Philosophers: Trailblazers or Followers? • Pitfall 1:Tanzanian scholars and institutions are latecomers in the grand debate(s) that ‘introduced’ African Philosophy in post-independence Africa by way of ‘affirming’ its existence and preoccupation(s). • Pitfall 2: Young Tanzanian scholars have to first deal with the legacy and baggage of this ‘lack’ of scholarly engagements with African Philosophy among senior scholars before they break new philosophical grounds. “The specificity of African philosophy relies also in the content of the issues philosophized upon” – Ernest Wamba dia Wamba On the State of African Philosophy and Development (2003).

7. Philosophy for ‘Youth’: New Wine in Old Bottles? • Prospect 1:In the absence of a given philosophical school of thought inherited from senior philosophers in the country Tanzanian Youth are in a relative better position to determine the content of the issues to philosophize upon without resorting to discipleship. • Prospects 2: The Global crisis of Neo-liberalism offers a rare opportunity for Tanzanian Youth to boldly revisit, rethink & reclaim the ‘political-philosophical’ strand of/on ‘A Theory of Revolution.’ • “Today, contemporary debate [on African Philosophy] has seen a marked shift both with the kind of questions and the manner in which they are articulated. This shift seems to focus on more essence-oriented and theme related questions concerning methodology, content, types, authorship etc.” – Maurice M. Makumba on An Introduction to African Philosophy: Past and Present (2007: 21).

8. What Philosophical Issues Concern ‘Youth’? 1. Identity: Who am I? Who are We? (Below 24 or 35 Years Old?) 2. Sexuality: Whose Body is it Anyway? (Individual or Collective?) 3. Poverty: Why is Tanzania still Poor 48 Years after Independence? 4. Morality: What can I/We do to Combat Corruption in the Country? 5. Security: Where can I get security of tenure and employment? (Cf. Views of the People 2007: 63% of the Youth concerned about Finding Work) “Our present schools of initiation for keeping one’s head above water have failed to give reasons why one should behave that way. Is man [sic] an attribute of technology or is it technology the attribute of man [sic]? Are the Internet café and the cellphone emancipating public and individual consciousness? The devastating presence of HIV/AIDS has not made the encounter of love impossible. Are African philosophers mere witnesses to those obscure ‘happenings?’” – Ernest Wamba dia Wamba On the State of African Philosophy and Development (2003).

9. If Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom and Thinking about Thinking then surely there must be a Love for Tanzanian Wisdom and Thinking about Tanzanian Thinking, that is, a Tanzanian Philosophy‘Titi La Mama Li Tamu Ingawa La Mbwa’ – Shabaan Robert on the Importance of Kiswahili Language as a Tool of (Philosophical?) Expression“My final prayer: O my body, make of me always a man who questions!” – Frantz Fanon on Black Skin White Mask Conclusion: What about Tanzanian Philosophy?