African Philosophy Post 1994: In Conversation with Alena Rettova

• Published in: Modern Africa : politics, history and society Vol. 10; no. 2
• Main Authors: Isaiah Negedu, SimonMary Asese Aihiokhai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Hradec Králové 01.12.2022
• ISSN: 2336-3274

The present article aims to initiate a conversation with Alena Rettová on her article “Post-Genocide, Post-Apartheid: The Shifting Landscapes of African Philosophy, 1994-2019” that was published in Modern Africa in the Summer of 2021. We identify several issues in her historical account of African philosophical thoughts that need polyphonic engagement in order to ensure that Africa’s pluralistic intellectual heritage is not reduced to a monophonic one. We are intentional at being Rettová’s intellectual dialogical partner on the reading of African philosophy, while bearing in mind that the ideologies of apartheid and genocide are still active. While we explore some key aspects of her work, we also acknowledge that African philosophy is constantly in the making and it would be problematic to use the yardstick of one context, in this case, the Western context, as a benchmark in order to account for the progression of philosophical thoughts in other philosophical contexts (Africa) without taking into account the historical peculiarities of each context.