Universalism Vs Particularism: Hermeneutics as an Intermediary Approach for African Philosophy
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Date
2020-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The issue of identity, methodology, and relevance has never been uncontroversial in African philosophy. As a result of the intentional attempt of Eurocentric scholarship that nullifies the identity and historical contributions of African peoples, the subject of African identity and methodology becomes the chief area of African philosophy. Eurocentric scholarship characterized itself as the only path of humanity’s progress and its philosophy as universal and modern. Furthermore, it also characterized its alleged ‘other’ like the Africans as backward and particular/ traditional. This characterization caused the chief topic of this thesis, which is the debate between universalism and particularism. One of the main ideas in the criticism of the universalistic schools of thought against particularism is the cultural attachment in philosophy and collective thought. This makes the thought of the philosopher, which is categorized under the umbrella of the school of ethnophilosophy as traditional and irrelevant. In this thesis, by holding the middle road of the hermeneutical approach, I have criticized some essential points of both universal and particular schools. And the finding shows that, since philosophy evolves from culture, every philosophy, whether it is African or not, has particular features. But the fact of the recognition that philosophy originates from a particular culture doesn’t in any way invalidate the universality of its problems.
Key Words: Universalism, Particularism, Hermeneutics, Culture, African, Philosophy.
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Keywords
Universalism, Particularism, Hermeneutics, Culture, African, Philosophy.