1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Aristotle many years ago asserted that it is the nature of man to
know: in other words, every man seeks to know. In fact, philosophical
activity started out of the spirit of wonder when men were no longer
satisfied with the mythological explanation of reality. It was their
curiosity that sparked off this enormous discipline man is awed by the
stand back of mystery of the universe. Man stand back and ask himself
question in order to understand the universe. Man has ever been in
search of the knowledge of the world. What is knowledge, what is its
nature and scope, are questions that have attracted philosophers from
various orientation or schools of thought.
The western philosophical tradition has been divided sharply on what
constitutes the source of knowledge namely: Rationalism and Empiricism.
Unfortunately, this controversy has led to dualism in knowledge and
consequence a bi-fraction of man should be considered as a metaphysical
unit. Against this extremism in knowledge, African proposes another
criterion of acquiring knowledge. Anyanwu has correctly observed that:
……any appeal to empirical and rational methods has no meaning and
relevance unless we know the basic assumption about the African
cultural reality we want to know1
The Africans as human being following the metaphysical imperative of
human nature equally want to know, what is the nature of this knowledge?
How do we come to know the things we claim to know? Does consciousness
constitute a philosophical data, without which his life cannot begin in
the first place?
It is in light of the above question that we have decided to carry
out a research titled “knowledge in Traditional African Perspective”.
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
From time immemorial, knowledge and what ever constitutes its nature
have been a topical issue and a problematic one in philosophical circle.
The problem of knowledge arose in the past, more often than not, as a
result of philosophers. Inability to seek for the unity of experience.
This in no doubt led to the unfortunate controversy between Empiricism
and Rationalism.
Since the advent of African professional mode of philosophizing. The
African philosopher must get ready to examine the old controversy of
epistemology. Rationalism and Empirical; one of the most recent
problems that seem to be militating against progress in African
philosophy today is the ontological status of African Epistemology. K.C.
Anyanwu has argued that “the basic problem of any philosophy is
epistemology or the theory of knowledge, that is the method which the
mind must follow in order to arrive at the trust worthy knowledge of
reality. Epistemology provides the basic premises with which other
problems, namely metaphysics, religion, moral political and aesthetic
doctrines can be approached”.2 Anyanwu therefore places knowledge as
prior to being.
This is however a centesian way of philosophizing which has randomly
been condemned by Ukagba in his unpublished doctoral dissertation
(1993)3. For Ukagba, being is always prior to knowledge or else we
fall into Reductio Absandum, knowledge is the knowledge of somebody, a
being. The being who must cognize must exist first before the act of
cognition and this is why Ukagba asserts that ontology or metaphysics
comes before Epistemology. We shall examine the premises of these
different positions in this research in order to find where the truth
lies.
1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
In the scope of this study, we shall seek to limit ourselves to those
areas, which will enable ‘en bloc’ give the research a justifiable
treatment. Since the research concerns Africans, it should be limited to
how the African conceives the nature of his knowledge, his community
knowledge and in the last analysis the ultimate knowledge. However, when
necessary reference can also be made to western knowledge as ways of
comparing and contrasting
1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The first purpose here is to bring stability in the various
conceptions and notion about how the African knows the things he clams
to know.
Secondly, it is also our intention to show that any attempt to
approach African theory of knowledge from the ambit of western
Rationalism and Emperialism, will be a fruitless exercise.
Finally, it is also our intention to emphasis once again the
relevance of metaphysics albeit African ontology as the only condition
sine quo non for African Epistemology. With these three purposes in
mind, it will become easier to focus properly on the nature of African
theory of knowledge.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The importance of this research centers on the present need to put
the perception of the African man in proper perspective. Having been
beaten out of ontological psychological and economic shapes, due to
centuries of colonialism, exploitation and humiliation. It becomes
necessary to recover the authentic African, the basis of his knowledge.4
The inter-relatedness and limit of this knowledge will go a long way
towards understanding the ‘being’ of the African.
1.6 METHODOLOGY
Our methodology shall follow a gradually unfolding of ‘being’
through exposing, analyzing classifying, synthesizing and evaluating
its part in its entire ramification since the nature of African
epistemology is not yet clear to all and sundry. It therefore becomes
imperative that it should be exposed first before analyzing. The
analytical method will enable us to clarify the various concepts like
truth. We shall be making us of such concepts truth, wisdom, e.t.c in
this research essay.
Equally through the synthetic method, we shall seek together the
various views expressed so far with regards to the nature of African
Epistemology. In the last analysis, we shall evaluate the nature of
African Epistemology and other theories. These various methodologies
will help in presenting our research in scientific light.
1.7. LIMITATION OF STUDY
The researchers’ scope is going to be African conception of
knowledge. We will however, limit ourselves to the conception of truth,
wisdom, what is knowable and that which is not knowable, amongst others
in the African context. One major limitation of this essay is the
non-viability of recent literature on the issue under discourse.
REFERENCES AND NOTES
- E.A. Ruch and K.C. Anyanwu, African Philosophy; An Introduction
to the Main Philosophical Trends in Contemporary Africa,(Rome: catholic
Book Agency 1981) p.82.
- G.U .Ukagba, “A philosophical Examination of African concept of man with Reference to the Igbo of south-East of Nigeria” (unpublished doctoral thesis Department of Philosophy, Catholic University of Louvain, 1993), P. 98