African Philosophy

- Alex Guerrero, To Be a Department of Philosophy (my reflections on meta-philosophy and expanding the canon)
- Introduction Handout
- excerpt from Barry Hallen, A Short History of African Philosophy‍ ‍(Indiana UP, 2002)
- Overview Handout
- The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant (2055-1650 BCE)
- Teaching/Instruction of Ptahhotep (2375-2350 BCE)
- Chike Jeffers, “Embodying Justice in Ancient Egypt: The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant as a Classic of Political Philosophy”, British Journal for the History of Philosophy (2013)
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, Father Knows Best: Moral and Political Philosophy in the Instructions, podcast episode of History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
- Overview Handout
- Authenticity Controversy Handout
- Zara Yaqob, The Ḥatäta (1667)
- Dag Herbjørnsrud, “The African Enlightenment,” Aeon (2017)
  Selected chapters from In Search of Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob: On the History, Philosophy, and Authorship of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob and the Ḥatäta Wäldä Ḥəywät (edited by Lea Cantor, Jonathan Egid, and Fasil Merawi, 2024):
- Jonathan Egid, “In Search of Zärʾa Yaʿǝqob: Introduction”
- Anaïs Wion, “Questioning Standards in Ethiopic Classical Writings through Two Distinctive Features of the Ḥatätas: Autarchic Logic and First-Person Writing”
- Neelam Srivastava, “Debating the Ḥatäta: Carlo Conti Rossini and Italian Racial Theories”
- Peter Adamson, “The Place of Ethiopian Philosophy in the History of Philosophy”
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, In You I Take Shelter: Zara Yacob, podcast episdoe
- Tempels and Griaule Handout
- Placide Tempels, Bantu Philosophy (1945/59)
- Marcel Griaule, Conversations with Ogotemmêli (1965)
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, Heard it Through the Grapevine: Oral Philosophy in Africa (on Placide Tempels), podcast episode
- Hountondji Handout
- Paulin Hountondji, African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (1983)
- Paulin Hountondji, New York Times obituary (2024)
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, Professionally Speaking: The Reaction Against Ethnophilosophy, podcast episode
- Sage Philosophy Handout
- Henry Odera Oruka, Sage Philosophy: Indigenous Thinkers and Modern Debate on African Philosophy (1990)
- D.A. Masolo, African Sage Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2016)
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, Wise Guys: Sage Philosophy, podcast episode
- Hallen & Sodipo Handout
- Barry Hallen and J. Olubi Sodipo, Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft: Analytic Experiments in African Philosophy (1997), first reading, second reading
- J.L. Austin, A Plea for Excuses (1956)
- Anna Wierzbicka, Experience, Evidence, and Sense: The Hidden Cultural Legacy of English (2010)
- Stephen P. Stich, book note on Hallen and Sodipo, Ethics (1987)
- Handout on Hallen, Good, Bad, Beautiful
- Barry Hallen, The Good, The Bad, & the Beautiful: Discourse about Values in Yoruba Culture (2000)
- Bruce Janz, review of The Good, The Bad, & The Beautiful, Philosophy in Review (2001)
- Harry Garuba, review of The Good, The Bad, & The Beautiful, Philosophia Africana (2003)
- Handout on Akan Conceptions of a Person
- Kwame Gyekye, "The Akan Concept of a Person," International Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, No.3 (September 1978)
- Kwesi Wiredu, ‘‘The Concept of Mind with Particular Reference to the Language and Thought of the Akans,’’ in G. Floistad (ed.), Contemporary Philosophy: A New Survey. Vol. 5 African Philosophy (Dordrecht: Nijhoff, 1987).
- Didier Njirayamanda Kaphagawani, “African Conceptions of a Person: A Critical Survey,” in A Companion to African Philosophy, pp. 332-342
- Ajume Wingo, "Akan Philosophy of the Person," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2024)
- Handout on Nyerere and Nkrumah
- Julius Nyerere, Ujamaa: The Basis of African Socialism (1962)
- Julius Nyerere, The Arusha Declaration (1967)
- Kwame Nkrumah, Consciencism (1964)
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, Teacher Taught Me: Julius Nyerere, podcast episode
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, In Unity Lies Strength: Kwame Nkrumah, podcast episode
- Handout on Fanon and Cabral
- Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961), excerpts: Concerning Violence, Colonial War and Mental Disorders, Conclusion
- Amílcar Cabral, Resistance and Decolonization (1972), excerpts: The Role of Culture in the Struggle for Independence
- Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers, Weapon of Choice: Amilcar Cabral, podcast episode
- Handout on Nzegwu
- Nkiru Uwechia Nzegwu, Family Matters: Feminist Concepts in African Philosophy of Culture (SUNY Press, 2006), excerpts: Introduction, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Five, Notes
- Handout on Táíwò
- Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa (2010), excerpts
- Handout on Mbembe
- Achille Mbembe, Necropolitics (2016/19), excerpts
- Handout on Decolonization
- Kwesi Wiredu, “Conceptual Decolonization as an Imperative in Contemporary African Philosophy: Some Personal Reflections,” Rue Descartes (2002)
- Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, "Rethinking the Decolonization Trope in Philosophy," Southern Journal of Philosophy (2019)
- Mikel Burley, "Conceptual Decolonization, Conceptual Justice, and Religious Concepts," Mind (2025)