Philosophy in an African Place - by Bruce B Janz (Paperback)

About the Book

Philosophy in an African Place shifts the central question of African philosophy from "Is there an African philosophy?" to "What is it to do philosophy in this (African) place?" This book both opens up new questions within the field and also establishes "philosophy-in-place", ...

Book Synopsis

Philosophy in an African Place shifts the central question of African philosophy from "Is there an African philosophy?" to "What is it to do philosophy in this (African) place?" This book both opens up new questions within the field and also establishes "philosophy-in-place", a mode of philosophy which begins from the places in which concepts have currency and shows how a truly creative philosophy can emerge from focusing on questioning, listening, and attention to difference.

Review Quotes

Clear and systematic, empathetic and well thought out, this is, without doubt, one of the best introductions to a contemporary African practice of Philosophy.

For at least half a century the question of what constitutes African Philosophy has provoked some of the most profound reflections on the nature of philosophy in general. Bruce B. Janz makes a major contribution to that debate. This book deserves to be widely read by philosophers and non-philosophers alike, and can be profitably studied even by those who to their shame have not yet given the question of African philosophy a second thought.

Janz urges a questioning of traditional philosophical questions about reason, culture, ethics, and language in an effort to reposition philosophy-and African philosophy in particular-without he limits assumed by current philosophical practice....This is an ambitious and potentially significant work....Recommended.

About the Author

Bruce B. Janz is chair of the department of philosophy at the University of Central Florida.