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Aristotle in Africa: Ethics and the African Philosophical Tradition

How best to bring the genius of African traditional philosophy into dialogue with the European and global traditions of thought?
The philosophy of Aristotle – ‘baptised’ by medieval Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas – has been formative in premodern European thought. Now this frame of thinking, predating the skepticism and relativism that has accompanied the culture of modernity, has been re-expressed in a contemporary vein by Bernard Lonergan and Alasdair MacIntyre.
Patrick Giddy shows how the critical realism of Lonergan (d. 1984) and the communitarian ethic of MacIntyre (d. 2025) – both counter-cultural thinkers – are in tune with the African traditional understanding of the world.
Aristotle, he argues, ‘belongs’ to Africa.
Refereeing Giddy’s PhD thesis, Ethics and Human Nature (1994) MacIntyre commented, “this is the best account I have read of my philosophy”.
In Aristotle in Africa, Giddy brings the Aristotelian tradition to bear on fundamental topics in African thought and applies these ideas to various areas of ethics as well as to rethinking the university curriculum.

Authors:
Patrick Giddy
University of KwaZulu-Natal
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6804-3731

Product details

Chapters

  • Introduction. Towards a Fruitful Dialogue
  • Being a Person in the Context of African Traditional Thought
  • Basic Intuitions in African Ethics
  • African Traditional Philosophy of Mind
    Facilitating a Dialogue
  • ‘Differentiation of Consciousness’
    A Conceptual Tool for Unpacking African Traditional Thought
  • A Communitarian Framing of the Liberal Ideal
  • Virtues in a Post-traditional Society
  • African Environmental Ethics: Beyond the Impasse
  • Tradition, Modernity and the Virtues in Music Professionals
    The Example of Amakwaya
  • Character and Professionalism in the Context of Developing Countries - a Debate about Mercenaries
  • Secular Public Policy and the African Ecclesial Response
  • The African University and the Social Sciences
  • Traditional-Religious Knowledge in Humanising Education
  • Teaching Philosophy and Religion
    Can African Traditional Culture Offer Something of Value?
  • The Idea of African Scholarship
  • ‘Philosophy for Children’ in Africa

References

Publications by Patrick Giddy

Philosophy for Africa: Another View. Social Dynamics, 21:117-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533959508458593

The African University and the Social Sciences: The Contribution of Lonergan’s Epistemological Theory. Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies, 14:133-153. https://doi.org/10.5840/method19961422

A Communitarian Framework for Liberal Social Practices? South African Journal of Philosophy, 16:150-157.

African Traditional Thought and Growth in Personal Unity. International Philosophical Quarterly, 42:315-327. https://doi.org/10.5840/ipq200242324

Does the Growth of Science in a Culture Necessarily Undermine the Tradition? In: A Shutte (ed) The Quest for Humanity in Science and Religion, 168-197. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster.

[With M. Detterbeck] Questions Regarding Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Amakwaya Practice. Transformation, 59: 26-44. https://doi.org/10.1353/trn.2005.0048

Does Character Matter? Guardian Values in an Age of Commerce. Theoria 113, 53-75. https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2007.5411304

Objectivity and Subjectivity: Rethinking the Philosophy Syllabus. South African Journal of Philosophy 28, 359-376. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajpem.v28i4.52981

Special Divine Action and How to do Philosophy of Religion. South African Journal of Philosophy 30, 143-154. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajpem.v30i2.67775

‘Philosophy for Children’ in Africa: Developing a framework. South African Journal of Education, 32: 15-25. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v32n1a554

The ideal of African scholarship and its implications for introductory philosophy: The example of Placide Tempels. South African Journal of Philosophy 31:504-516.https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2012.10751790

Can African Traditional Culture Offer Something of Value to Global Approaches in Teaching Philosophy? Acta Academica, 45:154-172. https://doi.org/10.38140/aa.v45i4.1421

Human Agency and Weakness of Will: A Neo-Thomist Discussion. South African journal of philosophy 35:197-209. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2016.1167346

Is the Essence of Christianity a Disenchanted World? A Critical Discussion of Marcel Gauchet. South African Journal of Philosophy, 38:313-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2019.1655313

Solidarity at Issue: Pandemics and Religious Belief. Phronimon 21 (15 pages). https://doi.org/10.25159/2413-3086/8568

Decolonizing the African Churches in the Context of Secular Public Policy. In: Barreto R and V Latinovic (eds) Decolonial Horizons. Reshaping Synodality, Mission and Social Justice, 241-260. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44843-0_13

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Aristotle in Africa: Ethics and the African Philosophical Tradition. (2025). UJ Press. https://doi.org/10.36615/9780906785799