Making Development Work: Philosophy and the Challenge of Relevance in Africa; the Imperatives of a Sustainable Philosophy

Abstract

African philosophy, having emerged from the shackles of a debilitating debate as to the fact very fact of its existence, needs to make itself relevant to the current predicaments of the continent. There is now an urgent need for African philosophers to distance themselves from the blame game syndrome (blaming the white man for all African problems) and focus on a thoroughgoing philosophy that will contribute concretely to the search for the solution of Africa’s many problems. Blaming the white man deprives Africa of the mental and intellectual energy required for dealing with the task at hand, while making philosophy appear irrelevant on the continent. This paper, using the philosophical tools of analysis and criticism, submits that African philosophers need to do more to remain relevant in the current search for development in Africa, rather than expending energy on fleeting pursuits such as blaming the white man. It is the position of this paper that African philosophy should be transformed to become a sustainable philosophy. A sustainable philosophy is a philosophy that will deal with current problems while keeping an eye on the protection of a possible future generation. It is only when we philosophise in a sustainable way that African philosophy becomes relevant in the development debate on the continent.