Abstract

Philosophy today is often regionalized unlike science and other disciplines. Thus we talk of Western, Eastern, American and African Philosophy. To speak orwrite philosophy within the ambit of the prefix “African” would elicit two major responses. First is the affirmative response which believes that indeed there existssome form of philosophy in Africa although distinct from Western philosophy in approach, procedure and methods but not in kind. The second is the denialistresponse which rejects vehemently the position of the former; in that they deny the existence of African philosophy independent of Western colouration. In otherwords, they do not believe that there exists any form of philosophy distinct from the Western idea of philosophy be it in approach or method. Within this framecertain problems arise such as the problem of interpretation or definition, the myth of unanimity and the problem of ethnophilosophy. The aim of this workthus is to understand the implications of the prefix “African” for philosophy in Africa. In this attempt, we uncover the subject of African Philosophy, its manypossibilities, nature and interpretations. In understanding the implications of the prefix “African” for philosophy in Africa, the work avers that the affirmativeresponse in modern times is an advocacy for what Chimakonam refers to as systematic African philosophy; and the denialist response to the subject is anoutright rejection of the universal character of philosophy. For the laws of logic, the burden of axiology, the questions of metaphysics, the problems of sociopolitical philosophy and the concerns of epistemology all transcend geographical boundaries.