Doing African Philosophy with Metaphors

Abstract

This chapter suggests a way of doing philosophy through a reflection on metaphors. It develops three themes in socio-political philosophy. The first theme investigates conceptual metaphors used in conceptualising the notion ‘politics’ in modern African political thought (particularly in Malawi). It is argued that this can help in understanding cognition and behaviour of political actors in Malawi. The second theme focuses on metaphorical conceptualisation of women and men in Chichewa language. It argues that although women are regarded as very important in building the society, there is a tendency of negatively conceptualising men in terms of women. The practice stigmatises women as socially inferior to men. This system of conceptualisation reveals how members of the society think and behave towards women in certain respects. The third theme focuses on metaphorical conceptualisation in the context of different disabilities (misapplied conceptualization). It argues that metaphorical/linguistic conceptualisation of disabilities in Chichewa language reflects and contributes significantly towards the misconception and marginalisation of people with disability.