User talk:Brightness38

== African Legal Philosophy ==

African legal philosophy

Most of what we now regard as African Legal Philosophy is deduced from general African Philosophy where there is a longer tradition. The written tradition of African Philosophy is even more recent.

There are 4 possible attitudes which were identified by Idowu towards addressing the question of what African Legal Philosophy is about. Firstly, there are those from the Eurocentric viewpoint, argue that African Legal Philosophy does not exist at all. This is based on the fact that ALP does not have a written tradition and has its origin from communal thinking. In the second place, there are those who argue that there might be something like African Legal Philosophy but that it's impossible to determine its content or substance.The third attitude is that. The third attitude is that there is such a thing as ALP but is not really all that different form Western legal philosophy. On the fourth attitude philosophers like Oruka mentioned that,African Legal Philosophy is different in the way it reflects on human life and nature in a more intuitive ways. Proponents of an authentic African Tradition believe that African tradition has something worthwhile to say. ALP will give expression to the desire for independence authenticity and post colonial African identity.

There are 3 broad types of African Philosophy. the first one is Ethonophilosophy which is the philosophy based on communal thought and collective wisdom that is traditionally orally transferred. It relies on metaphysical assumptions and traditional African wisdom and tends to combine philosophy, mysticism and religion while reason and culture take a back seat. In ALP this king of philosophy is often found where saying or metaphors are used to illustrate a philosophical point. The Sage philosophy is the second type. The sage philosophy is based on the ideas of one person, it is therefore 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 insight solutions to those issues. APL regards sage philosophers as being responsible for addressing the fundamental issues relevant to their society. The third type is the Nationalistic-ideological philosophy. This philosophy attempts to produce a unique political theory based on traditional African socialism. According to this view, African philosophers have a political organisation for Africa's conditions.

Africa is the big continent and it is unlikely that all Africans will share exactly the same philosophy. It is very possible to see more themes running across all the various groups and cultures in Africa. There is very little separating religion from social, political and economic issue. According to this view, African philosophers have a political role to play. They should indicate the best options of social and political organisation for Africa's conditions.

The idea of communitarism is very strong in ALP. In ALP law is regarded as the safe guard of social existence.More importantly law is seen as instrument to ensure social cohesion as a way to achieve social goals and ideals. Many African philosophers argue that you cannot separate law and morality.

Africa is inseparable from her history and culture.

The most important contribution of ALP to general theory is the concept of ubuntu. This is the concept that seems to have come to prominence in South Africa.

Conclusion

It is a truism that no philosophy ever exists in a vacuum. Africa is part of the world and ALP has been influenced by other philosophies and has influenced others in turn.