User:Ellenkhensani/sandbox

 AFRICAN LEGAL PHILOSOPHY 

Legal Philosophy (ALP) as a central philosophy for us as Africans. Like all philosophies it is still developing and evolving, but it is an important part of the decolonisation of Africa to be actively involved in this development. It is a philosophy that is older than you might think.

 The nature of African Legal Philosophy and possible attitudes toward African Legal Philosophy 


 * 1) Eurocentric viewpoint, argue that ALP does not exist at all.181 This is mostly based on the fact that ALP does not have a written tradition and has its origin  in communal thinking. To this argument Kaphagawani has responded by pointing out that some Western philosophies also came from communal thought and were originally  not written down.
 * 2) There are those who argue that there might be something like ALP but that it’s impossible to determine its content or substance. In this view legal rules in Africa are indistinguishable from customs and, therefore, there is no legal system on which to base a philosophy.184 Idowu rejects this argument because, “to be ignorant of a fact or an entity does not mean that fact or entity does not exist.
 * 3) Another attitude towards this is that there is such a thing as ALP but it is not really all that different from Western legal philosophy.
 * 4) Philosophers like Oruka have argued that African philosophy need not follow the Western pattern in order to be regarded as philosophy.

 Types of African Legal Philosophy 


 * 1) Ethnophilosophy is philosophy based on communal thought and collective wisdom that is traditionally orally transferred. Contrary to the typical Western conceptions, it is not based on systematic ideas of individuals. It relies on metaphysical assumptions and traditional African wisdom and tends to combine philosophy, mysticism and religion while reason and critical analysis take a back seat.
 * 2) Sage philosophy is the opposite of ethnophilosophy. While the latter emphasises collective thought, sage philosophy is based on the ideas of one person.It is therefore based on the thoughts of individuals who are concerned with the fundamental ethical and legal issues of their society, and who have the ability to offer insightful solutions to some of those issues. A sage (wise person) is the custodian of the survival of his society.
 * 3) Nationalistic-ideological philosophy attempts to produce a unique political theory based on traditional African socialism.This type of philosophy can be found in the ideas of, for example, Kwame Nkrumah,Julius Nyerere, Yomo Kenyatta and Leopold Senghor.This kind of philosophy is closely related to ideas like Black Consciousness.

 Themes in African Legal Philosophy 

ALP tries to answer the questions all philosophies try to answer, namely (a) what is the nature of what exists (the ontological question) and (b) how do we know this (the epistemological question)

At its most basic ALP is influenced by the ontological assumptions of African society. And that is determined by the integrated view that permeates through that society. That view is based on the fact that religion, ethics, law and customs are closely intertwined and determine one another.


 * 1) communitarianism: The idea of communitarianism is very strong in ALP.
 * 2) Reconcilliation: Given the central importance given to social cohesion and values.
 * 3) Ubuntu: Arguably the most important contribution of ALP.