Philosophy and the Dignity of Black Life
by Sebabatso Manoeli
Mutinda Nzioki
This week, Director of the Centre for Philosophy in Africa at the Nelson Mandela University, Mutinda Nzioki and I discuss the politics and potential of philosophy in Africa. We begin the conversation by reflecting on the centring of western philosophical thought and the parochialisation of the non-European “other” in the discipline. From its inception, Mutinda notes that African philosophy fought for recognition, having to prove that “African idioms, proverbs and mythologies show rational, speculative and reflective thinking about the self.”
We discuss the racist thought conveyed by the biggest names in academic philosophy – from Hume to Hegel to Hobbs. Mutinda calls out these Western thinkers for their, “self-authorising, self-licensing attitude, that says: I have got all the tools for knowing all reality.”
In addition to opposing the Eurocentricity of academic philosophy, Mutinda challenges the idea that philosophic thought can only be created in the ivory tower. At the Centre for Philosophy in Africa, he broadens access to philosophical methods by “co-creating African thought with communities.” Specifically, this entails: “philosophic dialogue -- that means careful, honest, courageous, systematic dialogue -- with the surrounding communities about the dignity of Black life.” Mutinda’s work demonstrates that philosophy can be an important site for Black liberation.
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Mutinda Sam Nzioki is the Director for the Centre for Philosophy in Africa at the Nelson Mandela University. He is also a Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela University. He was the former head of Department for Media Journalism and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela University. His scholarship and practice include the Study of South African politics and political economy, which have featured in his work as a policy analyst on African politics and media in Africa.