Paulin Hountondji - African Philosophy as Critical Universalism

Paulin J. Hountondji is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary African philosophy. His critique of ethnophilosophy as a colonial, exoticising and racialized undertaking provoked contentious debates among African intellectuals on the proper methods and scope of philosophy and science in an African and global context since the 1970s. His radical pledge for scientific autonomy from the global system of knowledge production made him turn to endogenous forms of practising science in academia. The horizon of his philosophy is the quest for critical universality from a historical, and situated perspective. Finally, his call for a notion of culture that is antithetical to political movements focused on a single identitarian doctrine or exclusionary norms shows how timely his political thought remains to this day. This book gives a comprehensive overview of Hountondji's philosophical arguments and provides detailed information on the historical and political background of his intellectual oeuvre. It situates Hountondji in the dialogue with his African colleagues and explores links to current debates in philosophy, cultural studies, postcolonialism and the social sciences.

List of contents

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Hountondji's Critique of Ethnophilosophy and his Notion of African Philosophy.- Chapter 3: The Debate on Ethnophilosophy between Hountondji and his Contemporary Critics.- Chapter 4: Path-clearing: Philosophy and History, Scientific Dependency, and Hountondji's Turn to Endogenous Knowledge.- Chapter 5: Hountondji as a Public Intellectual and his Political Career.- Chapter 6: New Approaches to Scientific Dependency and Extraversion: Southern Theory, Epistemic Justice and the Quest to Decolonize Academia.- Chapter 7: Hountondji's Notion of Culture and his Critique of Identitarian Politics.- Chapter 8: Debating the Universal as an Unfinished Project and Regulative Ideal.- Chapter 9: A Preliminary Conclusion.

About the author

Franziska Dübgen is a Professor in Political Philosophy at the University of Münster, Germany. She held fellowships at the New School for Social Research, New York, the IASS, Potsdam, and the Lichtenberg-Kolleg for Advanced Study, Göttingen. Her research interests include African philosophy, theories of justice, postcolonialism, gender, punishment/incarceration, and contemporary political philosophy. She is currently co-directing a research project on diversity, power and justice in contemporary African and Arabo-islamic philosophy.
Stefan Skupien is a postdoctoral researcher focusing on the sociology and politics of North-South science cooperation. His research interests include constitutional politics, history of political thought, and solidarity in the European Union. He has been involved in international networks, working towards intercultural conversations and to radically extend the horizon in German debates about African issues. Together with FranziskaDübgen, he edited the first anthology on African political philosophy in German in 2015, Afrikanische Politische Philosophie. Postkoloniale Positionen.

Summary

Paulin J. Hountondji is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary African philosophy. His critique of ethnophilosophy as a colonial, exoticising and racialized undertaking provoked contentious debates among African intellectuals on the proper methods and scope of philosophy and science in an African and global context since the 1970s. His radical pledge for scientific autonomy from the global system of knowledge production made him turn to endogenous forms of practising science in academia. The horizon of his philosophy is the quest for critical universality from a historical, and situated perspective. Finally, his call for a notion of culture that is antithetical to political movements focused on a single identitarian doctrine or exclusionary norms shows how timely his political thought remains to this day. This book gives a comprehensive overview of Hountondji’s philosophical arguments and provides detailed information on the historical and political background of his intellectual oeuvre. It situates Hountondji in the dialogue with his African colleagues and explores links to current debates in philosophy, cultural studies, postcolonialism and the social sciences.

Report

"Franziska Dübgen and Stefan Skupien have written a much needed overview of Paulin Hountondji's work. ... Readers who are interested in African philosophy, the sociology of scientific knowledge, African Marxism and dependency theory will find much of interest in Paulin Hountondji." (Zeyad el Nabolsy, Marx and Philosophy, marxandphilosophy.org.uk, June 14, 2020)
"Through quite remarkable scholarship, Dubgen and Skupien manage to piece together engraved patterns of logic, coherence and conceptual intrigue in Hountondji's eventful life and career, which have been marked by meteoric peaks and bouts of furious activity. The book's other major strength is that it provides a sequential context that is not always evident in the pace and texture of Hountondji's often inspirational and faintly apocalyptic writings." (Sanya Osha, The Johannesburg Review of Books, October 07, 2019)

Product details

• Authors: Franzisk Dübgen, Franziska Dübgen, Stefan Skupien
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2019
• EAN: 9783030019945
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3001994-5
• No. of pages: 192
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 18 mm x 216 mm
• Weight: 394 g
• Illustrations: XI, 192 p. 2 illus., 1 illus. in color.
• Series: Global Political Thinkers; Global Political Thinkers
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science