Philosophical Framework for Doing African Philosophy

Abstract

This chapter investigates the philosophical framework for discussing issues of meaning and truth in African philosophy. It mainly reflects on issues of method, focusing on the conflicting analytic (a modern form of empiricism) and continental (rationalism) frameworks, which are a benchmark of doing philosophy. It is argued that analytic philosophy reflects better the ordinary people’s philosophy because of its focus on ordinary language use. The chapter uses both conceptual/logical analysis and the ordinary language/pragmatic approach in its discussion of meaning and truth. It further considers some philosophical works in African philosophy that build on this method.