African Philosophy: Past, Present and Future

4 credits · Undergraduate

This interdisciplinary course offers a global exploration of African philosophy through mythospeculation, a blend of mythological imagination and speculative reasoning. This method enables us to analyze how African thought systems address contemporary global issues. Drawing on African cosmologies, oral traditions, and philosophical stories, students will critically examine how African communities understand human nature, identity, and meaning-making in the context of precolonial and colonial legacies, globalization, and cultural revival. The course draws on perspectives from both African and Western thinkers, such as Robert Bella and Eric Voegelin, to build a framework linking mythos (narrative imagination) and logos (rational inquiry). Students will engage with scientific, historical, and evolutionary evidence to assess how African philosophy contributes to discussions of climate justice, digital ethics, migration, and epistemic sovereignty.