Paulin J. Hountondji

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Paulin Jidenu Hountondji

Paulin Jidenu Hountondji (born April 11, 1942 in Abidjan , Ivory Coast ) is one of the most important contemporary African philosophers with roots in Benin .

Ambitions

Hountondji went to school in what was then Dahomey , where he graduated from high school in 1960. He studied philosophy at the École normal supérieure in Paris . His teachers at the university included Louis Althusser , Jacques Derrida , Paul Ricœur and Georges Canguilhem . In 1970 he defended his dissertation on Edmund Husserl .

From 1967 he taught philosophy at the Faculté des Lettres of the University of Besançon . After two years of teaching as a visiting professor at various French and African universities, such as the Lovanium University Kinshasa and the National University of Zaire in Lubumbashi , he took over the chair of philosophy at the National University of Benin in Cotonou in 1972 , where he is still today Professor of Philosophy is. In 1974 he was elected doyen of the Faculté des Lettres there. In 1976 he published his main work Sur la philosophie africaine . In 1989 he published an extensive bibliography on African philosophy.

From the age of 30, his political ambitions became increasingly apparent. From 1990 to 1991 he was Minister of Education in Benin. As a prominent critic of the military dictatorship in his country, he was involved in the democratization of Benin in 1992. From 1991 to 1993 he held the post of minister for culture and communication before he resumed teaching at the university in 1994. The main focuses in his lectures and publications are

  1. epistemological questions,
  2. the recent history of philosophy as well
  3. current tasks in philosophy and science in sub-Saharan Africa .

Positions

He is currently Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Benin in Cotonou . Hountondji has been its General Secretary since the founding of the Inter-African Philosophy Council in 1972. He is also director of the African Institute for Advanced Studies (Center Africain des hautes études) in Porto-Novo , Benin and a member of Quest's Advisory Editorial Board . Since 1990 he has published many articles on anthropology , sociology and political science . This happened while exercising his functions as Vice President of the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (CIPSH) as well as the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and as a member of the Steering Committee of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP ).

Discussions

His reputation is largely based on his criticism of the nature of African philosophy . His main point of criticism is the ethnophilosophy of Placide Tempels and Alexis Kagame .

Hountondji is of the conviction that African philosophy is the totality of texts by African philosophers that are qualified as philosophical by the authors themselves. He shares this view with Kwasi Wiredu ( Ghana ), Henry Odera Oruka and Peter Bodunrin . He turns against the ethnophilosophical myth, which says that there is an indigenous, collective African philosophy, which must be strictly distinguished from Western philosophical tradition. In order to be able to fulfill the claim of a genuine African philosophy, the theoretical legacy of Western philosophy must rather be assimilated and transcended.

He also criticizes the term “philosophy”, which is supposed to denote an incomprehensible, immutable, collective system of thought of all Africans. Because this leads to a mythological exploitation through the term “African philosophy”. It is therefore necessary to establish scientific and philosophical discourses and texts, a letter for Africa instead of for Europeans. Theoretical problems should be discussed among themselves, Africans should confront themselves and talk to one another instead of about one another.

"African" philosophy

In order for philosophy to arise, an appropriate African science must first be created. The African philosophy for him is still in the making. Indeed, for him, real philosophy is “an open process of reflection aimed at knowledge” (1993, p. 79). The basic requirement for the development of science and philosophy is “the broad, democratic use of writing” (1993, p. 114). In contrast to aphorisms, wisdoms and proverbs, i.e. the results of traditional oral literature, philosophical literature is accessible to free and critical reflection.

In contrast to Kwame Gyekye , Hountondji also regards a work on Plato or Marx as African philosophy, provided that the author is an African who claims that his / her work is philosophical. This means that for him (in contrast to Peter Bodunrin, for example ) it is not the content that is relevant, but rather

  1. the author's intention (to create philosophy),
  2. the medium (writing) and
  3. the origin (nationality).

Characteristics of a genuine African philosophy are:

  1. the irreducible polysemy of discourses,
  2. an indispensable pluralism (this was reduced by colonialism),
  3. the free development and confrontation of ideas.

Its goals can be outlined as follows:

  1. the self-determination of the individual,
  2. Create structures for free, critical dialogue and scientific debate,
  3. Documentation, systematisation and integration of orally transmitted knowledge into modern literary sciences and philosophy.

The methods that lead to these goals are:

  1. Ideological criticism and enlightenment to overcome illusions, mystifications and veils of lies;
  2. thorough study (including Marxism) and, based on this, a clearer policy: develop Marx further, rethink (“think like Marx”) and above all adapt his ideas to the current “needs of the people”;
  3. start from and go beyond philosophy to solve real problems.

In African Philosophy. Myth and Reality (1993, orig. 1976) he turns against the myth of a so-called traditional African philosophy, against a collective, unreflected, implicit system of beliefs. Bantu philosophy, Dogon philosophy, Yoruba philosophy, and other hyphenated philosophies are myths invented by the West. Hountondji vehemently criticizes pseudoscientific ethnophilosophy, because philosophy in the strict sense, in his opinion, is necessarily processual, explicit thinking, the unfinished story of a multifaceted debate. African philosophy as a theoretical discipline inevitably leads to the problem of hermeneutics . Hountondji thinks that African philosophy is inseparable from African science. First there must be a history of the sciences, then it is possible that philosophy will establish itself as a theoretical discourse. This type of philosophy serves not only as the foundation of an endless search that develops and is articulated in a scientific discourse, but also of the struggle against imperialism .

Criticism of ethnophilosophy

Hountondji is of the opinion that the approach of the ethnophilosophers mixes the methods of anthropology with those of philosophy and in this way creates a “hybrid, ideological discipline of ethnophilosophy without recognition and status in the world of theory” (1993, p. 50). The ethnophilosophy is based, according to him, on a fundamental misconception which is designed as unreflective, collective belief of African philosophy. At the same time he warns of the danger of extreme particularism as a supposed antidote to false universalism .

Over time, Hountondji's concerns have changed and expanded. He still rejects ethnophilosophy as a genuine philosophical discipline. However, he has moved towards some kind of synthesis of traditional African thought and rigorous philosophical method.

Quotes

  • "Ideology is politics in disguise." (1993, p. 193)
  • "Universality is only possible when the interlocutor is free of the need to assert oneself over the others." (1993, p. 72)
  • “In contrast to artistic literature, scientific literature is absolutely historical. The only stable element is the constant reference to a sphere of experience, the characterization of which is itself part of evolution. "(1993, p. 92.)

literature

  • 1976: Sur la "philosophie africaine": critique de l'ethnophilosophie (Paris)
  • 1994: Les savoirs endogènes: pistes pour une recherche (Dakar / Codesria) ISBN 2-86978-039-7
  • 1997: Combats pour le sens: un itinéraire africain (Cotonou)
  • 2000: Èconomie et société au Bénin: d'hier à demain (Paris) ISBN 2-7384-9388-2

Articles in magazines and collections (selection)

  • Que peut la philosophy? In: Présence africaine (1981), No. 119, pp. 47-71.
  • Pour une pédagogie du changement. In: Quest (1996), Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 37-64.
  • Violence et langage: Problems of passage à la democratie. In: African Sociological Review (1999), Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 56-74.
  • Occidentalism, elitism. Answer to two critiques. In: Quest (1989), Vol. III, No. 2, pp. 2-30.
  • Scientific dependence in Africa today. In: Research in African Literatures (1990), Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 5-15.
  • Producing knowledge in Africa today. In: African Studies Review (1995), Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 1-10.
  • Africa and the problem of its identity. In: P. J. Hountondji / A. Diemer (Ed.): International Philosophical Symposium on Culture and Identity of Africa. Frankfurt / Bern / New York 1985.
  • African Cultures and Globalization: A Call to Resistance. In: D + C Development and Cooperation (1997), No. 7, pp. 170–173.

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hountondji, Paulin J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hountondji, Paulin Jidenu (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION African philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Abidjan , Ivory Coast