ABSTRACT

The question whether or not there is an African epistemology cannot be addressed without due cognizance of the answer to the question whether or not an African philosophy exists. A negative answer to the latter would imply a negative answer to the former. Similarly, to assert the existence of an African philosophy is also to imply the existence of an African epistemology, to the extent that an African epistemology is a subset of African philosophy. The question of whether African philosophy exists has been discussed and debated for several decades in various forums by differing scholars. The general trend of thought has been that there is indeed such a thing as African philosophy. And since African philosophy encompasses all forms and types of philosophizing, it therefore follows that it does make sense to talk of an African epistemology, just as it is sensible to talk of African ethics, aesthetics, and metaphysics for instance.