Category: Interviews
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Generative Contradictions: Logic, Language, and Philosophizing in isiZulu (Lindokuhle Shabane)
In conversation with Monika Rohmer, research fellow Lindokuhle Shabane discusses his doctoral research, his approach to conceptual decolonization, and his current work on philosophizing in isiZulu.Shabane’s dissertation examines the role of logical contradiction in the history of African philosophy. He argues that the law of contradiction – introduced into African thought systems by European logicians…
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Ethiopian Philosophy: Historiography, Modernity, and Global Dialogue (Jonathan Egid & Fasil Merawi)
In this interview, Dr. Jonathan Egid and Prof. Fasil Merawi discuss their intellectual trajectories, the current state of philosophy in Ethiopia, and the broader challenges of African philosophy in a global context.Both reflect on contingent beginnings that developed into sustained philosophical commitments. Prof. Merawi describes how, after initially aspiring to study archaeology, he encountered medieval…
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Ubuntu Beyond the Canon: Listening with Four Ears to African Philosophy (Mogobe Ramose)
In this interview, Prof. Mogobe Ramose reflects on his philosophical formation, the intellectual and political conditions shaping African philosophy, and the contemporary relevance and contested reception of Ubuntu as both a lived ethical framework and a philosophical concept. The conversation foregrounds the entanglement of biography, language, epistemic injustice, and ethical urgency as constitutive dimensions of…
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Ancestralidade e Encantamento: Filosofar desde a Diáspora Africana (Adilbênia Freire Machado)
Na entrevista, Adilbênia Freire Machado desenvolve uma reflexão articulada sobre as filosofias africanas a partir da experiência afro-diaspórica no Brasil, enfatizando especialmente os conceitos de ancestralidade e encantamento como eixos ontológicos, éticos, políticos e estéticos. Falando desde uma diáspora forçada e violenta, a filósofa sublinha que as filosofias africanas no Brasil não são meras sobrevivências culturais, mas processos ativos de recriação,…
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La philosophie africaine à l’ère des technologies émergentes (Ouandé Armand Regnima)
Dans cet entretien, le Professeur Ouandé Armand Regnima propose une analyse structurée des enjeux contemporains de la philosophie africaine, en mettant l’accent sur ses conditions institutionnelles, ses responsabilités sociales et son rapport aux transformations technologiques. Il souligne d’abord le rôle déterminant des sociétés de philosophie en Afrique, qui disposent d’une plus grande liberté que les…
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Teaching Philosophy in Nigeria: Igbo Thought, Philosophical Dialogue, and Academic Mentorship
In this interview, Professor Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob offers a concise reflection on her intellectual journey, the philosophical dimensions of Igbo culture, and the current challenges and opportunities for African philosophy.She recounts that her entry into philosophy was unplanned: originally intending to study law or sociology, she was persuaded to choose philosophy as a pathway into university.…
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Entre nuit et lumière : Littérature et philosophie dans la pensée rwandaise (avec Chantal Gishoma)
Dans cet entretien, Chantal Gishoma réfléchit aux intersections entre littérature, philosophie et production de savoirs culturels au Rwanda, en s’attachant en particulier à sa longue familiarité avec l’œuvre du penseur rwandais Alexis Kagamé.Bien que formée comme spécialiste de littérature plutôt que comme philosophe, Gishoma souligne les profondes affinités entre littérature et philosophie. Les deux disciplines,…
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Philosophizing in isiXhosa and the Re-Africanization of Thought (Simphiwe Sesanti)
In this conversation, Prof. Simphiwe Sesanti explores the philosophical and political implications of thinking in African languages, particularly isiXhosa, within the broader movement of Re-Africanization and the African Renaissance. He introduces the isiXhosa term inkcuba buchopho—derived from ukuchuba, “to peel”—to describe philosophizing as “peeling the brain,” that is, penetrating beneath surface appearances. For Sesanti, this…
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Dialogics: An African Method for Philosophizing in a Globalized World (Ike Odimegwu)
In this interview conducted during the Places of African Philosophies workshop, Prof. Ike Odimegwu, President of the African Philosophy Society, reflects on the significance of philosophical societies, the relation between philosophy and politics, and his development of the dialogic method. He describes contemporary African philosophy as a movement born from the struggle against colonial denigration—an affirmation of the African capacity…
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Philosophizing from Igbo Life-Worlds: Phenomenological Reflections on African Thought (Dominic Ekweariri)
Dr. Dominic Ekweariri approaches “Places of African Philosophies” through phenomenology’s core claim that human existence is being-in-the-world: meaning arises within lived contexts (Lebenswelt). Against Eurocentric universals, he argues that African philosophy must speak from African life-worlds—its environments, languages, and practices—rather than as a derivative of Greek-Latin categories. Philosophy’s task, he stresses, is not to deliver…