African Epistemology

African epistemology is the African theory of knowledge, which includes the African conception of the nature of knowledge, the means used to gain knowledge, the criteria for the assessment of the validity of knowledge, the purpose of the pursuit of knowledge, and the role that knowledge plays in human existence. The adjective African applied to a people implies that that people, given the specificity of their location in the world and their experience in human history, have as African people a specific way of understanding and explaining the world and the complexity of the human condition. At the same time, given that Africans are members of the unique human family of Homo sapiens, African epistemology naturally exhibits similarities with and differences from epistemologies developed by people living in other parts of the world. In Africa, as elsewhere, the philosophizing process begins with an epistemological quest, that is, the quest for a solid foundation of human knowledge. This epistemology or theory of knowledge deals with ways of knowing and criteria for the evaluation of the validity of knowledge. In so doing, it raises the fundamental questions of how and why knowledge is created.

Confronted with the thorniest questions about human destiny in the midst of a mysterious universe, Africans [Page 40]have developed since time immemorial a complex epistemology that enabled them to find satisfactory answers to the numerous questions pertaining to the human condition. Their creation myths articulated an answer to the enigma of the origin of humankind and the meaning of life in this world and the hereafter.

Thus the first questions to be addressed are how Africans articulate and evaluate knowledge and what constitute the specific characteristics of Africans' cognitive modes and their general conception of the nature and role of knowledge in human existence. The African approach to knowledge can be grasped from the wisdom of oral tradition, especially the various creation myths, folktales, and proverbs; the way of seeking truth in social, political, and religious institutions; the work of healers; the avenues for finding guilty parties in traditional justice systems; and the ways of solving family disputes and other social conflicts. However, the earliest written documents that give us a hint about African epistemology are from Kemet, especially in the definition of the philosopher from the Antef inscription (12th Dynasty, 2000–1768 B.C.E.), the Instruction of Ptahhotep (25th century B.C.E.), the Instruction of Nebmare-Nakt (Papyrus Lansing, 12th century B.C.E.), the anonymous Instruction recorded on papyrus by Chester Beatty IV (12th century B.C.E.), and the ethical teaching of Amenemope. These texts articulate the fundamental African path to knowledge that is also expressed in Zera Yacob's Hatata, the current Bwino epistemology of Bantu philosophy, and the Ofamfa-Matemasie epistemology of the Akan, to name but a few examples.

But what exactly is this African theory of knowledge? How do Africans access and process knowledge? Why do Africans conduct this quest for knowledge? By which means do people gain knowledge, and how are people expected to use knowledge? As these questions indicate, African epistemology deals with the faculties by which people gain knowledge, and the debate over the credibility of such means. Hence, it addresses the critical issue of truth. How can people be sure that they know the truth and that they can adequately express it in their languages?

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