ABSTRACT
In African philosophy the rather unusual, collectivized use of the term philosophy as deriving from entire ethnic groups provoked vigorous protests; it was condemned for being based upon a derogatory double standard that denied individual African thinkers an intellectual acumen comparable to that of their Western counterparts. In African art history, comparable debate seems to have come later or was more prolonged, or perhaps both. Supposed peculiarities of African cultures, epitomized by characterizing them as traditional. As African philosophy has struggled to establish some sort of methodological self-identity, it too has been concerned with distinguishing itself from anthropology. One important tactic in this process has been a deliberate disconnection from much of anthropology’s theoretical superstructure.
