African Philosophy and Enactivist Cognition: The Space of Thought (Bloomsbury Studies in World Philosophies)

Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is. By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and sidelined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy, Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Césaire writings on négritude. This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking. "Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is. By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and side lined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy , Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Césaire writings on négritude. This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking."-- Provided by publisher Using classic texts in African philosophy, Bruce B. Janz applies the strand of cognitive science known as enactivism to realise new connections and intersections between both fields. The idea that cognition is embodied and embedded in a social world neatly maps onto specifically African epistemologies to outline a new direction of study on what philosophy is. By working through a rich range of texts and thinkers, Janz provides a fruitful new interpretation of African philosophy and provides close readings of seminal and sidelined thinkers to provide an invaluable resource for students and scholars. Janz's study takes in the creative humanism of Sylvia Wynter, Placide Tempels's Bantu Philosophy, Mbiti's theory of time, Oruka's last work on sage philosophy, Mogobe Ramose's own version of Ubuntu, Sophie Oluwole's active literature of philosophy, Achille Mbembe's excoriating attack on the effects of colonialism on life in Africa, and Suzanne Cesaire writings on negritude. This book reorients African philosophy towards an active and creative future informed by enactivist thinking Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Foreword 7 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction: Spaces of Thought in African Philosophy 10 1 The Ceremony Found and a New Human Problematic: Sylvia Wynter after Humanism 32 2 Vitalism and Bantu Philosophy: Placide Tempels and Jamaa 54 3 Sasa, Zamani, and Myths of the Future: John Mbiti, Memory, and Time 78 4 Oginga Odinga as Sage Philosopher: H. Odera Oruka and Historicity 102 5 Ubuntu as Enactivism: Mogobe Ramose and Be-ing 124 6 A Literary Tradition of Thought: Sophie Olúw.lé, Euphrase Kezilahabi, and a Literature of Philosophy 144 7 How Do We Speak of Our Place? Achille Mbembe’s World 170 8 “The Poet Becomes a Prophet”: Suzanne Roussi Césaire’s Négritude 204 Conclusion: Future Events? 224 References 240 Further Reading 250 Index 262