User:Olanrewaju Isaac/sandbox

'  'AFRICAN LEGAL PHILOSOPHY' African legal philosophy can be seen as a philosophy which is central to all Africans. The earliest accounts of this philosophy can be traced to oral traditions considering the fact that its written tradition is just of recent.Among the earliest known African philosophers are St Augustine born in Algeria in 354CE and Amo born in Ghana in 1703. It is important to note that the continent of Africa already had in place, standard customary law systems alongside organised traditional courts long before the arrival of the European colonizers. It can therefore be said that colonialism not only replaced African legal system but also put a stop to its development.

The nature of African Legal Philosophy
There have been several debates over the years of what African legal philosophy entails. While some believe in the existence of a distinctive African philosophy of law, others are of the view that there is nothing like African legal philosophy. The proponents of the latter view based their arguments on lack of written tradition. However, this has been debunked by various African philosophers. They argue that the evidence of sophisticated concepts and ideas originating from various societies of Africa point to the existence of an African legal philosophy. It is also believed that African legal philosophy need neither conform to the Western philosophy nor be acknowledged by the Europeans before it can be referred to as a philosophy.

Types of African Legal philosophy
Africa is a large continent and so do we have many philosophers. Many philosophers mean many philosophical ideas and approaches. These approaches can be generally narrowed down. Identifying the major types of the African legal philosophy will then be easy in relation to the general philosophical approaches.

Ethnophilosophy

Ethnophilosophy has to do traditional communal thought and collective wisdom of the African people which is transferred orally from one generation to another. It is a combination of philosophy, mysticism and religion with a bit of critical analysis and reason. Ethnophilosophy unlike the Western philosophical concepts is more of collective rather than individual ideas. In other words, this form of philosophy look more into how the various African cultures are similar rather than their differences. African legal philosophy in this regard refers to sayings and metaphors which are used depict philosophical points.

Sage philosophy

Sage philosophy is concerned with thoughts and wisdom of certain individuals who are known to be versatile in the fundamental ethical and legal affairs of their societies. Every sage or wise person is known to be the custodian of the survival of his society. He also has the ability to proffer tangible solutions to the ethical and legal problems of his society. The implication of this is that sage philosophers are seen in terms of African legal philosophy as the burden bearers of the fundamental issues of their individual societies. It can therefore be said that sage philosophy is the direct opposite of ethenophilosophy.

Nationalistic-ideological philosophy

This form of philosophical approach sets to bring about a political theory which is home to the African tradition. This is not to say that this approach is either related to the capitalist or socialist ideas but based on the basis of African communalism.

Themes found in African Legal Philosophy
It is a known fact that Africa is a vast continent and it is possible in this regard that there are various philosophical ideas. However, it is also not impossible that there certain themes which are common in various African groups and cultures.African legal philosophy like all other philosophies endeavors to answer important questions of philosophy namely; what is the nature of what exists and how do we know this?. It is important to note that the African legal philosophy is more influenced by the question on the nature of that which exists. This implies that the African legal philosophy has a metaphysical foundation. what this means is that the law is attached to the spirit world or the ancestral spirits. In the light of this, African legal philosophy has themes such as communitarianism, reconciliation and Ubuntu among others are common to various African cultures and traditions.

Communitarianism

The idea of communitarianism is based on the value placed on the collective way of doing things as found among various African cultures. African societies give more significance and priority to family and collective affairs. What this means is that community interest supersedes that of individual. The implication of this is that African legal philosophy sees law as the bedrock of social coexistence.

Reconciliation

The aim of African legal system is always to promote social cohesion and the spirit of communalism. The law in this regard plays the role of restoration of orderliness whenever the society experiences any form of social imbalance. Consequently, the African legal philosophy prefers a legal theory and adjudicative system that is reconciliatory.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an all encompassing African philosophy. In its simplest form can be regarded as form of humanism.Its characteristics involve humaneness,hospitality,morality, compassion collectivity and unity among others. Considering the universality of this theory on the African continent, it can therefore be said that Ubuntu is the most important contribution of the African legal philosophy  to philosophy as a whole in Africa.

Conclusion
Considering the vastness of the African continent, there are various African philosophical ideas. However, a distinctive African legal philosophy cannot be denied.This philosophy is African. This means that it is based on African culture and tradition and it does not have to follow the western pattern to be regarded as philosophy. It is also important to note that this philosophy is still evolving and developing like all other philosophies.