User:Seepekz1/sandbox

The Nature of African Philosophy There are those that reject the existence of African legal philosophy. Most of them are of Eurocentric viewpoint and base their objections to the lack of literature of African society. The point is argued by African viewpoint in that the African society has continued to survive which indicates the survival of ideas and concepts Some argue that there might be existence, but its substance and content is not determinable owing to the fine line of customs and legal rules. such is being rejected by Idowu that ignorance of a fact or an entity does not mean that fact or entity does not exist. The third view agrees that there is some existence but is not distinct from western legal philosophy. The similarities are based on the law and morality debates that is found within African society, but some African society rejects this that there is a different context in how African view that. The last approach is that there is distinctive and unique African legal philosophy of law. Types of Legal Philosophy Ethnophilosophy A philosophy that is based on communal thought and collective wisdom that is traditionally orally transferred. It is not based on systematic ideas of individuals but 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 Sage philosophy This is the opposite of ethnophilosophy. It is based on ideas of one person. It is 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 Nationalistic-ideological philosophy This type of philosophy can be found in the ideas of Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyata and Leopold Senghor. It seems to be neither capitalist nor socialist but based on African communalism

Themes in African legal philosophy Communitarianism The idea of communitarianism is tied to what can be called African socialism and this political view is influenced by Russian socialism. It is based on the importance and significance of the family of African societies. In this philosophy law is regarded as the safeguard of social existence hence you can’t separate law from morality Reconciliation Given the central importance given to social cohesion and values, the African legal Philosophy prefers a theory of law and adjudication which is that of reconciliatory that is very different from western concept of adversarial. This is due to that principle that law is held to be a reconciliatory instrument for the restoration of social equilibrium

Ubuntu Arguably the most important contribution of African Legal Philosophy to general theory is the concept of ubuntu. In general terms ubuntu means humanity, humanness, morality and compassion. It stresses conciliatory, harmony through social relations within the group, self-fulfilment through taking in the collective whole, duties towards each other and caring among others. It seeks cooperation instead of competition