In this latest instalment of the series A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers delve into the fascinating world of Africana Philosophy.
Africana Philosophy from Ancient Egypt to the Nineteenth Century is the first of two volumes in the History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps series to bring readers the story of Africana philosophy. This diverse topic is defined as philosophy emerging from and distinctively related to Africa or the African diaspora. The story starts at the very beginning by asking what it would mean to engage philosophically with evidence left by prehistoric peoples of Africa, and proceeds to discuss the philosophical traditions of ancient Egypt, late ancient and early modern Ethopia, and Islamic philosophy in West Africa. A number of chapters then explore the idea of philosophy in African oral traditions, considering the methodological debates that have raged between African philosophers like John Mbiti, Paulin Hountondji, and Henry Odera Oruka.
Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers also consider philosophical responses to the situation brought about by the transatlantic slave trade and the early colonization of Africa. Starting from early figures like Anton Wilhelm Amo and Phillis Wheatley, and the ideas that drove the Haitian Revolution, extensive discussion is then given to Africana philosophy of the nineteenth century. The incendiary ideas of David Walker, the nuanced rhetoric of Frederick Douglass, and the clashing approaches of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois are among the highlights here. Significant attention is given to female thinkers like Maria W. Stewart, Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, and Ida B. Wells. The coverage is also geographically diverse, with chapters on figures who worked not only in Africa and the United States, but also Brazil, Canada, Britain, France, and the Caribbean.
Preface Locating and Debating Precolonial African Philosophy 1: Something Old, Something New: Introducing Africana Philosophy 2: It's Only Human: Philosophy in Prehistoric Africa 3: Fertile Ground: Philosophy in Ancient Mesopotamia 4: Pyramid Schemes: Philosophy in Ancient Egypt 5: Father Knows Best: Moral and Political Philosophy in the Instructions 6: Heated Exchanges: Philosophy in Egyptian Narratives and Dialogues 7: Solomon, Socrates, and Other Sages: Early Ethiopian Philosophy 8: One Truth: Zera Yacob 9: Think for Yourself: Walda Heywat 10: From Here to Timbuktu: Sub-Saharan Islamic Philosophy 11: Renewing the Faith: The Sokoto Caliphate 12: Heard it Through the Grapevine: Oral Philosophy in Africa 13: Event Horizon: African Philosophy of Time 14: One to Rule Them All: God in African Philosophy 15: Behind the Mask: African Philosophy of the Person 16: I Am Because We Are: Communalism in African Ethics and Politics 17: The Doctor Will See You Now: Divination, Witchcraft, and Knowledge 18: Women Have No Tribe: Gender in African Tradition 19: Professionally Speaking: The Reaction Against Ethnophilosophy 20: Wise Guys: Sage Philosophy 21: Beyond the Reaction: The Continuing Relevance of Precolonial Traditions Slavery and the Creation of Diasporic Africana Philosophy 22: Out of Africa: Slavery and the Diaspora 23: Dualist Personality: Anton Wilhelm Amo 24: Talking Book: Early Africana Writing in English 25: Young, Gifted, and Black: Phillis Wheatley 26: New England Patriot: Lemuel Haynes 27: Letters from the Heart: Ignatius Sancho and Benjamin Banneker 28: Sons of Africa: Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano 29: Liberty, Equality, Humanity: The Haitian Revolution 30: My Haitian Pen: Baron de Vastey 31: American Africans: Early Black Institutions in the US 32: Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Colonization Controversy 33: Kill or Be Killed: David Walker's Appeal 34: Religion and Pure Principles: Maria W. Stewart 35: Unnatural Causes: Hosea Easton's Treatise 36: Written by Himself: The Life of Frederick Douglass 37: Happy Holidays: Two Speeches by Frederick Douglass 38: Let Your Motto Be Resistance: Henry Highland Garnet 39: Nation Within a Nation: Martin Delany 40: I Read Men and Nations: Sojourner Truth and Frances Harper 41: Great White North: Emigration to Canada 42: Pilgrim's Progress: Alexander Crummell 43: Planting the Seeds: James Africanus Beale Horton 44: African Personality: Edward Blyden 45: Race First, Then Party: T. Thomas Fortune 46: A Common Circle: Anténor Firmin 47: Frowning at Froudacious Fabrications: J.J. Thomas and F.A. Durham 48: Though Late, It Is Liberty: Abolitionism in Brazil 49: When and Where I Enter: Anna Julia Cooper 50: American Barbarism: Ida B. Wells 51: God is a Negro: Henry McNeal Turner 52: Separate Fingers, One Hand: Booker T. Washington 53: Lifting the Veil: Introducing W.E.B. Du Bois
Peter Adamson received his BA from Williams College and PhD in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He worked at King's College London from 2000-2012 and retains an affiliation there, but his main position is at the LMU in Munich. He has published widely in ancient and medieval philosophy and is the host of the History of Philosophy podcast. Chike Jeffers is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Dalhousie University. He specializes in Africana philosophy and philosophy of race, with broad interests in social and political philosophy. Jeffers is co-author of What is Race? Four Philosophical Views (2019), along with Joshua Glasgow, Sally Haslanger, and Quayshawn Spencer.
