The Struggle for Meaning: Reflections on Philosophy, Culture, and Democracy in AfricaThe Struggle for Meaning is a landmark publication by one of African philosophy's leading figures, Paulin J. Hountondji, best known for his critique of ethnophilosophy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In this volume, he responds with autobiographical and philosophical reflection to the dialogue and controversy he has provoked. He discusses the ideas, rooted in the work of such thinkers as Husserl and Hountondji's former teachers Derrida, Althusser, and Ricoeur, that helped shape his critique. Applying his philosophical ideas to the critical issues of democracy, culture, and development in Africa today, he addresses three crucial topics: the nexus between scientific extraversion and economic dependence; the nature of endogenous traditions of thought and their relationship with modern science; and the implications--for political pluralism and democracy--of the emergence of "philosophies of subject" in Africa. While the book's immediate concern is with Africa, the densely theoretical nature of its analyses, and its bearing on current postmodern theories of the "other," will make this timely and elegant translation of great interest to many disciplines, especially ethnic, gender, and multicultural studies. |
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acknowledged Addis Ababa African Philosophy agrégation Althusser analysis Bantu Philosophy Benin CODESRIA collective colonial concept contrary Cotonou critical critique of ethnophilosophy culture Dahomey Dakar debate Descartes Diagne Diop discipline discourse ence Endogenous Knowledge ethnoscience ethnozoology existence experience expression extraversion fact formal French function Hountondji 1996 human Husserl hylè idea ideal ideological intellectual internal Kagame Kinshasa language later Logical Investigations losophy Lubumbashi Marc Augé Marx Marxism meaning method myth necessary Niamkey Nkrumah nonintentional normative object Paris phenomenology philoso philosophie africaine philosophie bantoue Placide Tempels plural political Porto-Novo possible practice Présence Africaine problem production published pure question reality Research Trails Samir Amin scientific seminar sense Smet social societies Tempels texts theoretical theory thesis things thought tion tive Touré traditional Translated truth UNESCO University Western word writing Yaï Zaire