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African Philosophic
Sagacity in Selected
African Languages and
Proverbs
Wilfred Lajul
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African Philosophic Sagacity in Selected African
Languages and Proverbs
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Wilfred Lajul
African Philosophic
Sagacity in Selected
African Languages and
Proverbs
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Preface
Odera Oruka (1991) defines philosophic sagacity as wisdom philosophy
or philosophy of the wise men of Africa, who are independent, liberal, and
non-conformist thinkers, and who often deviate from the accepted common norms of their societies. Parker English and Kibujjo Kalumba (1996)
wondered if such independent thinkers are insulated from the rapid
Westernization of Africa. I would ask whether these independent thinkers
were also insulated from the influences Africans had on each other. To be
uninfluenced, in my view, is not necessary, since distinctive reflective ideas
can originate in a community regardless of influences. In some instances,
in reaction to influences, different individuals and groups of people may
develop ideas that are contrary to those being imported, especially if they
are contradictory in value to those they cherish.
Talking about philosophic sagacity in Africa, Kathanga (1992) believes
that in traditional African societies, there were individual wise men and
women gifted in offering rational explanations for any challenge directed
to them. Besides, literacy was not a condition for philosophic thinking and
that philosophy existed in traditional African societies. His emphasis, in
line with his Master and supervisor Henry Odera Oruka, is still on wise
men and women. He does not broaden the concept of philosophic sagacity beyond wise men and women to include wise sayings and proverbs.
This is where, I think, this kind of thinking limits philosophic sagacity to
individuals, which was to fulfil his Master’s and other Universalists’ belief
that philosophy is not found in any communal system. Philosophy is the
work of individuals, as contained in the use of rationality alone. This is
v
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vi
PREFACE
again another way of fulfilling his Master’s and other Universalists’ belief
that philosophy is purely a rational activity.
Other thinkers have already gone beyond rationality in identifying
African philosophy in general and African philosophic sagacity in particular. For instance, Thèophile Obenga thinks that philosophy deals with
human knowledge and the elevation of the mind (Obenga, 2004, p. 31).
Obenga believes that philosophy that was practised during the Egyptian
Pharaonic period was a synthesis of practice (learning, living morally) and
reflection (pursuit of wisdom) (Obenga, 2004, p. 33). He was convinced
that no philosophy could be originated except in relation to life, existence,
and the universe. Philosophy in ancient Egypt was more than a reflective
activity, since it included practical living. Meaning, through reflective
thinking we dig deeper into the nature of things and acquire knowledge,
but the practical side of philosophy helps to live morally and uprightly.
Kathanga’s emphasis on reflective thinking alone in distinguishing what
counts as philosophy from what is not is limiting, since philosophy has the
practical part which requires practical living. African philosophy, from
which their version of philosophic sagacity is derived, should then be
understood as a way of life, informed by emotionally engaged reflective
thinking for striving towards upright living. In this understanding of philosophy, we can then go beyond rationality to include emotional involvement (See also Ibuot, 2010). In the process of deriving reflective
knowledge, humans are deeply involved. While intellectually humans can
stand above their engaged experiences, they in general derive knowledge
from both their rational reflection and intuitive feelings. The combination
of the two helps to derive useful knowledge for practical living. John Mbiti
confirms this when he defines African philosophy as “the understanding,
attitude of mind, logic and perception behind the manner in which African
peoples think, act or speak in different situations of life” (1969, p. 2).
As regards communal experiences, Wiredu has already clarified that
individuals are the originators of ideas that are often owned by different
societies. Wiredu insists that “The philosophy of a people is always a tradition of organic relationships among (at least some of) its elements” (1991,
p. 92). “On Defining African Philosophy”, Wiredu (1991, p. 96) clarifies
the following points.
First is the fact that in trying to understand the Orukian sage-­
philosophers, we must take into account the relationship between the
individual, the sage-philosopher, and the communal outlook of the people
concern. Secondly, the communal outlook of a given people, which some
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PREFACE
vii
prefer to term communal philosophy, is a point of departure from which
individuals and sage-philosophers begin to do philosophy. Thirdly, this
communal philosophy provides the philosophical foundation for the sage-­
philosopher and determines his or her theoretical options. Fourthly, communal philosophy is the pooling together of the thought elements of
individual sage-philosophers. Fifthly, due to lack of writing, these individual elements are swamped in the pool of communal memory. Lastly,
communal philosophy for that matter should be considered
philosophical.
Referring to African philosophic sagacity as purely works of individual
men and women alone may be misleading. I think, African philosophic
sagacity should encompass wise men and women of Africa, African traditional wise sayings, and proverbs. It is true, as attested by Wiredu, that
“There are irrational, superstitious elements in our traditional thought;
but there are also rational ones. And there is a wealth of concepts, idioms,
and other verbal turnings in our language that have a definite philosophical import” (Wiredu, 1991, p. 95). In this attestation, Wiredu is saying
that not everything that is found in African traditions is philosophical,
since both rational and irrational elements exist. But the key point here is
to go beyond wise men and wise women as the hallmark of African philosophic sagacity. Even though we go beyond wise men and wise women,
we should not take for granted whatever we consider sources of such philosophical thinking. In this case, even African wise sayings and proverbs
contain elements that are rational and those that are not rational. However,
in this book, we are interested only in those elements that are philosophically rational; well aware that these are emotionally engaged reflective ideas.
On the other hand, though in general I agree with Wiredu that “There
is recognition here that among the traditional folks of Africa uninfluenced
by modern education there are genuine philosophers,” I think that such
sage-philosophers need not be uninfluenced by outside ideas. When we
consider African proverbs for that matter, as one of the sources of African
philosophic sagacity, then we have to guard against two temptations. The
first is to think these proverbs are not influenced by outside ideas. African
peoples had great influences on one another before coming into contact
with the West and their educational system. An example can be seen in the
similarities between different African proverbs. Though the languages in
which these proverbs are coined are often unintelligible to each other, a
number of times, they have almost the same wording and especially ideas
behind some of these proverbs. One wonders how this could be possible.
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viii
PREFACE
My answer is simply one, the influence they had on each other. Some of
these peoples have similar origins or originated from similar geographical
locations, or they have migrated to similar geographical locations. In the
process of migrations, Africans have greatly interacted and influenced one
other, and they have learnt quite widely from each other. These ideas
learnt are generally concretized in their languages, wisdom sayings, and
proverbs.
The second temptation is to think that proverbs are purely communal
thoughts without any links to their individual originators. My view, in line
with what Wiredu has already explained above, is that these proverbs are
originated by individuals, whose words of wisdom were adopted and
transmitted by the societies in which they have originated. I noticed this
in the different versions of the same proverbs coming from the same
African societies like that of the Acholi of northern Uganda. Okot p’Bitek
(1985), for instance, would give a proverb whose version is different from
the rendering of Angelo Banya (1994), who comes from the same Acholi
culture. My take on this is that these proverbs had similar origins, but as
they were used in different chiefdoms, individuals changed them to suit
their unique situations. Such changes cannot be done communally, but
individuals can do that, and the community only propagates such versions
of the proverbs.
Lajul (2014) defends the philosophic sagacity hypothesis on the basis
that, “behind the wisdom embedded in traditional Africa, there are deep
philosophical principles that could be unveiled. Such wisdom could be
derived from elders and other people in Africa, as well as from African
proverbs and wise sayings” (2014, p. 41). Though Oruka had the temptation to rely only on elders, who are unfortunately not insulated from
Western and other influences, besides the fact that most of them are now
dying, we shall maintain that Africa still has a lot of wisdom, though some
of these wisdoms, as Odera rightly observed, are purely moralistic, while
others are philosophic. This book is interested in the latter category of
wisdom and hypothesizes that African philosophy is deeply entrenched in
African wisdom sayings and proverbs. In this sense, this book is investigating African philosophy in some of the African languages and wisdom sayings, like the Acholi and Luganda languages and selected proverbs.
Though culture is dynamic, like elsewhere in the world, African cultures still have deposits of their traditional wisdoms buried in their languages, wisdom sayings, and proverbs. We think that an African elder does
not need to be insulated or uninfluenced by Western or any other cultures,
but an African philosophic sage should be able to distinguish his or her
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PREFACE
ix
own thoughts or the thought of his/her people from the foreign ones he
or she has acquired. We shall then concentrate on the selected African
languages, wise sayings, and proverbs to identify philosophic sagacity.
Some of these wise sayings and wisdoms, a number of which have already
been committed to writing, will create the theoretical basis to understand
African societies and their way of life, modelling different philosophies of
life and patterns of behaviour. Even what Oruka calls moralism should not
dissuade us from identifying ethics, which is the critical reflection on those
moral principles and practices in African way of life and patterns of behaviour. We shall use Acholi and Luganda languages and proverbs as a case,
though we shall equally identify, for comparison reasons, some proverbs
from other parts of Africa.
Gulu, Uganda
Wilfred Lajul
References
Banya, A. A. (1994). Adoko Gwok (I have become a dog) (Uganda Development
Series, No. 2). Foundations for African Development.
Ibuot, J. E. (2010). Traditional African ideology and the challenges of development in Nigeria. The Constitution, 10, 58–59.
Kathanga, N. (1992). Philosophic sagacity in Africa. Dissertation submitted for a
degree of Masters of Arts in Philosophy at the University of Nairobi.
Lajul, W. (2014). African philosophy: Critical dimensions. Fountain Publishers.
Mbiti, S. J. (1969). African religions and philosophy (2nd ed.). Heinemann.
Obenga, T. (2004). Egypt: Ancient history of African philosophy. In K. Wiredu
(Ed.), A companion to African philosophy (pp. 31–49). Blackwell Publishers.
Odera Oruka, O. (1991). Sage philosophy (New ed.). Acts Press.
p’Bitek, O. (1985). Acholi proverbs. Heinemann Kenya Limited.
Parker, E., & Kibujjo, M. K. (1996). African philosophy: A classical approach.
Prentice Hall.
Wiredu, K. (1991). On defining African philosophy. In T. Serequerberhan (Ed.),
African philosophy: The essential reading (pp. 87–110). Paragon House Press.
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Contents
1 Introduction
and Discussion of Oruka’s Philosophic Sagacity 1
1.1Introduction 1
1.2Oruka and His Critics 6
1.2.1Oruka’s Philosophic Sagacity 6
1.2.2Oruka’s Philosophic Sagacity Critics 7
1.3New-Philosophic Sagacity and Ethnophilosophy 8
1.3.1New-Philosophic Sagacity 8
1.3.2Philosophic Sagacity and Ethnophilosophy 9
1.4The Context of African Languages and Proverbs 12
1.4.1The Acholi People 12
1.4.2The Ganda 15
1.4.3The Acholi Language 16
1.4.4The Proverbs 17
1.5Methodology 18
1.6Book Layout 19
1.7Conclusion 23
References 24
2 Logic
in Selected African Languages and Proverbs 27
2.1Introduction 27
2.2Analysis of Chimakonam’s African Logic 33
2.3Logic in Selected African Languages 35
2.4Logic in Selected African Proverbs 36
2.4.1Similarities and Differences 36
xiii
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xiv
Contents
2.4.2Sequence in Events and Time 38
2.5Discussing African Logic 41
2.5.1Similarities and Differences 41
2.5.2Sequence in Events and Time 41
2.6Principles of Logic in Acholi Language 44
2.6.1Principle of Negation (pe, ku, bong, bongo, peke) 44
2.6.2Principle of Conjunction (ki) 45
2.6.3Principle of Logical Contradiction 46
2.6.4Principle of Disjunction: nyo, onyo (or) 47
2.6.5Principle of Excluded Middle or Law of Excluded
Middle 48
2.6.6Principle of Implication: ka, ci (if, then) 50
2.6.7Principle of Logical Equivalence 53
2.6.8Principle of Identity or Law of Identity 54
2.6.9Syllogistic Principle 55
2.7Conclusion 56
References 57
3 Moral
Philosophy in Selected African Languages and
Proverbs 59
3.1Introduction 59
3.2Moral Philosophy in African Proverbs 62
3.2.1Ownership 62
3.2.2Behaviour 65
3.2.3Relations 68
3.2.4Upbringing 71
3.3Discussing African Moral Philosophy 73
3.3.1Ownership 74
3.3.2Behaviour 76
3.3.3Relations 78
3.3.4Upbringing 81
3.4Conclusion 83
References 85
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Contents xv
4 Political
Philosophy in Selected African Languages and
Proverbs 87
4.1Introduction 87
4.2Political Philosophy in Selected African Proverbs 91
4.2.1Nature of Political Authority 91
4.2.2Democracy 96
4.2.3Political Legitimacy101
4.2.4Role of Women in Politics104
4.3Discussing African Political Philosophy106
4.3.1Nature of Political Authority106
4.3.2Democracy110
4.3.3Political Legitimacy114
4.3.4Role of Women in Politics116
4.4Conclusion119
References121
5 Social
Philosophy in Selected African Languages and
Proverbs123
5.1Introduction123
5.2Social Philosophy in Selected African Proverbs and
Languages125
5.2.1Nature of African Societies125
5.2.2Social Bonds127
5.2.3Social Welfare129
5.2.4Social Justice132
5.2.5Social Upbringing134
5.3Discussing African Social Philosophy136
5.3.1Nature of African Societies136
5.3.2Social Bonds139
5.3.3Social Welfare141
5.3.4Social Justice143
5.3.5Social Upbringing145
5.4Conclusion147
References148
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xvi
Contents
6 Theory
of Knowledge in Selected African Languages
and Proverbs151
6.1Introduction151
6.2Epistemology in Selected African Languages and Proverbs155
6.2.1Knowledge in General155
6.2.2Sense Knowledge157
6.2.3Intellective Knowledge160
6.2.4Mystical Knowledge163
6.2.5Existential Knowledge167
6.3Discussing African Epistemology170
6.3.1Knowledge in General170
6.3.2Sense Knowledge172
6.3.3Intellective Knowledge174
6.3.4Mystical Knowledge176
6.3.5Existential Knowledge176
6.4Conclusion177
References178
7 Metaphysics
in Selected African Languages and Proverbs181
7.1Introduction181
7.2Metaphysics in Selected African Proverbs183
7.2.1Personhood183
7.2.2Concept of Freedom186
7.2.3Social Bond190
7.2.4Causes and Effects193
7.3Discussing African Metaphysics195
7.3.1Personhood196
7.3.2Concept of Freedom200
7.3.3Social Bonds202
7.3.4Causes and Effects204
7.4Conclusion206
References207
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Contents xvii
8 Philosophy
of Beauty in Selected African Languages
and Proverbs211
8.1Introduction211
8.2Philosophy of Beauty in Selected African Proverbs213
8.2.1Social Beauty213
8.2.2Moral Beauty216
8.2.3Physical Beauty219
8.3Discussing African Philosophy of Beauty220
8.3.1Social Beauty221
8.3.2Moral Beauty227
8.3.3Physical Beauty230
8.4Conclusion232
References233
9 Conclusions and Recommendations235
9.1Conclusions235
9.2Recommendations238
Appendix: List of Proverbs Compiled by the Author
of This Book241
Bibliography253
Index261
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List of Tables
Table 2.1
Table 2.2
Conditional Proposition Truth Table
Validity Test Truth Table
31
43
xix
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction and Discussion of Oruka’s
Philosophic Sagacity
1.1 Introduction
This book examines African philosophic sagacity in selected African languages and proverbs. Among the selected African languages, we shall zero
down on Acholi language and Luganda, both in Uganda. To authenticate
this examination, we have to properly understand what philosophic sagacity is all about and the context in which it features in African philosophical
discourse.
Henry Odera Oruka, who lived from 1944 to 1995, was the first to
coin the concept philosophic sagacity. Although Odera Oruka discussed
other aspects of African philosophy in his publications, like metaphysics
(1972), epistemology (1975), and ethics (1995, 1996), he is best known
for his philosophic sagacity discourse. He defined philosophic sagacity as
wisdom philosophy. However, by wisdom philosophy, he means second-­
order philosophy and not first-order philosophy. By first-order philosophy,
Oruka means wisdom in the ordinary sense. These are common bodies of
knowledge cherished by a given human society, which are used for the
practical guidance of day-to-day life. Second-order philosophy, on the
other hand, is philosophy in the strict sense, since it is a reflection on the
first-order philosophy. He elaborated this philosophic sagacity concept in
various publications beginning with “The four trends in current African
philosophy” (1991a). This thesis was later substantiated by him in
1
W. Lajul, African Philosophic Sagacity in Selected African Languages
and Proverbs, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54524-5_1
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W. LAJUL
subsequent publications (1983, 1990, 1991a, 1991b, 1998). In a similar
way, Oruka believes that philosophic sagacity as wisdom can only be produced by independent elders and thinkers uninfluenced by outsiders and
who are often opposed to the ordinary wisdom of their peoples.
Though Oruka is entitled to this line of thinking, it is necessary to correct certain misconceptions embedded in this concept and go beyond it.
First, Oruka tends to value the view of thinkers other than moralists. For
him, thinkers are second-order sages other than first-order sages, who are
cultural diehard defenders of commonly accepted views of society. This
book goes beyond the understanding of thinkers as elders of society, who
are uninfluenced by outside ideas. The reason is that a critical elder and
thinker does not need to be uninfluenced by outside ideas. Humans, today
or yesterday, have always had influences from other sources, but a thinker
is one who is critical in picking out and distilling what one has received
and in adopting them for his or her own purpose. Besides, restricting
philosophical sagacity to individual thinkers limits the scope of African
philosophical sagacity as this book will shortly demonstrate.
In this book, we argue that other sources of wisdom, both for first-­
order and second-order individuals, exists. One of these sources is the
society and its culture. From the wisdom of society generated and accumulated over time, true wisdom begins, grows, and expands. From such
bosoms of human societies, individual wisdom is fertilized and articulated
by individual thinkers. Moreover, deposits of some of these wisdoms generated by the individual members of any society are preserved in the ethos,
wise sayings, proverbs, and language of their people. These have been
greatly ignored by Oruka in the articulation of the sagacity thesis. The
amazing similarities among African proverbs, as if they were produced by
a single mind, indicate that many African cultures did have influences on
each other. So, if the cultures are influenced from within or without Africa,
individuals cannot escape to learn from such ideas that have infiltrated
their cultures. It is important to note that a sage may or may not be influenced by outside ideas, but that the sage must be diligent in picking what
is philosophically acceptable for his or her consumption, and this is central
in the view of this book, which Oruka does not take into consideration.
Secondly, the proverbs and wise sayings of Africa have remained and
still remain a big deposit of knowledge and wisdom, both taken as it is and
critically reflected upon. To distinguish a philosophic proverb from a non-­
philosophic proverb or wise saying will not be possible at the level of their
literal meanings, but deeper or philosophical meanings. Some of these
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1 INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
3
meanings can never be apparent to all the members of the same society,
since some may not be able to disinter their deeper meanings, but the wise
men and women of African societies are able to go beyond the literal
meanings of the proverbs or wise sayings. These deeper meanings, apparently, are the basis on which different African societies are built and
organized.
African philosophy has been defined in this book as the critical study of
African rational history, while Western philosophy is the critical study of
the rational history of Western thoughts. Mbiti defines African philosophy
as the understanding, attitude of mind, logic, and perception behind the
manner in which African peoples think, act, or speak in different situations
of life (Mbiti, 1969). Wiredu, on the other hand, thinks African philosophy is not just the world outlook of traditional African societies. In fact,
African philosophy is an attempt to derive a “synthesis of the philosophical
insights of their ancestors with whatever they extract of philosophical
worth from their intellectual resources of the modern world, and philosophical reflections on their languages and cultures in an effort to exploit
their philosophical intimations” (Wiredu, 1991, p. 105).
In this Wiredian understanding, there are three issues about African
philosophy: that African philosophy is not just a traditional African outlook; it is a synthesis of the traditional outlook and modern African outlook; and lastly, it is a philosophical reflection on African languages and
cultures. This differs a bit from the Mbitian definition, which takes African
philosophy to be an understanding, an attitude, and the perceptions
behind African way of thinking, living, and acting. In this book, it is not
enough for African philosophy to identify the African understanding, attitudes, perceptions behind their ways of thinking, living, and acting; it is
equally important that African philosophy tries to create a synthesis
between their past ways of thinking, living, and acting with the way they
do in the modern times. Besides, African philosophy also has to identify
from their languages and cultures these very understandings, attitudes,
and perceptions about life, thought, and actions.
Emphasis here will be to identify African reflective wisdom, understandings, attitudes, and philosophical perceptions behind the African
ways of thinking, language, living, and acting. Since we cannot do this for
all African peoples, in this book, we shall limit ourselves to the selected
African languages and proverbs, the case of Acholi and Luganda. Our
efforts will equally be to identify the linkages between traditional and
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4
W. LAJUL
modern ways of thinking, living, and acting as demonstrated, specifically
in Acholi and Luganda languages and selected proverbs.
This approach has been recommended also by Wiredu, when he
observes that:
this is the time when there is maximum need to study African traditional
philosophy. Because of the historical accident of colonialism, the main part
of the philosophical training of contemporary African scholars has come to
derive from foreign sources. […] Philosophical truth can indeed be disentangled from cultural contingencies. But for this purpose, nothing is more
useful than the ability to compare different languages and cultures in relation to their philosophical presuppositions. (Wiredu, 1991, p. 98)
In the above text, Wiredu is emphasizing the importance of studying
African traditional philosophy. The reasons he gives are, first, historical
accident colonialism has made on Africans to dwell on the philosophical
study of foreign languages and cultures. Secondly, it is possible to disentangle philosophical truth from different African cultural contingencies.
Thirdly, doing this will be beneficial, not only to Africans, but also to
non-Africans.
So, to compare traditional and modern African philosophical principles
and theories, it is important to understand these traditional African philosophical worldviews. No meaningful synthesis can be derived from two
unknown entities. We may be aware, generally, about what is happening in
the world today, though only a few Africans sincerely understand traditional African philosophical worldviews. This will make synthesis between
the traditional African philosophical worldviews and the modern ones very
difficult, if not impossible. Besides, a number of people want to talk about
Africa, but a number of them speak from ignorance other than knowledge.
It is only a study of this kind that can open the windows both for Africans
to understand themselves and for foreigners to understand Africa.
The study of African philosophic sagacity in selected African languages
and proverbs certainly emphasizes and dwells on this approach. It is an
investigation of Acholi and Luganda philosophical worldviews as derived
from their languages and proverbs, so that we can understand the African
traditional philosophy behind these proverbs. It is only then can we discuss and try to compare this traditional understanding, attitudes, and perceptions of the Africans on the basis of the different branches of philosophy
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1 INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
5
that can help us to synthesize between them and the modern patterns of
knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions.
Besides these methodological differences, African contexts and philosophical worldviews are uniquely different. Obenga clarifies that to the
Egyptians, “to philosophize was not just to speculate about life and reflect
on nature, but also to be engaged with love, intense desire, and strong
enthusiasm in the investigation of causes underlying reality in order to
build up a system of values by which society may live” (Obenga, 2004,
p. 33). So, in the West, philosophy is a critical reflection on reality, while
in Africa, it is both a reflection and an engagement in the investigation of
causes underlying reality in order to build a system of values by which different societies live.
Obenga adds another dimension to the difference between Western
and African philosophies in that, in the West the method of deriving philosophy is purely through the use of human reason, but he contends that
in Africa, there is a neat harmonization between reason and emotion,
which Western philosophy tends to keep apart as thesis and anti-thesis. To
support this Obenga writes:
Reason, emotion, spirit, mind, and body were not conceived as separate
antithetical entities. Matter and spirit were not opposites in conflict. Thus,
in their inquiries philosophers can draw on all the resources of their being,
including reason and feeling. In this way they expect to achieve fulfilment.
(Obenga, 2004, p. 35)
This is a very important observation which is contrary to Leopold
S. Senghor’s controversial and mostly discredited stance that African epistemology is emotional and Western epistemology is rational. Obenga’s
view is supported with the later stance of Emmanuel Ibout, who competently argues that man “cannot know without the involvement of his emotions, faith/belief, imagination, etc., that the only place you can find a
knowledge that does not involve human emotions is artificial intelligence
like computers and robots” (2004, pp. 58–59). This means, philosophical
knowledge, in particular, and knowledge of any kind in general, is a result
of the different faculties of the human person, not only of intellectual
activity as the West thinks.
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1.2 Oruka and His Critics
In this section we shall look at the view of Henry Odera Oruka and his
critics. The main critics of Odera Oruka were the proponents of ethnophilosophy philosophers.
1.2.1 Oruka’s Philosophic Sagacity
To understand Oruka’s philosophic sagacity discourse fully, we need to
contextualize that for Oruka, his attempt was to do two things. First to
distinguish and distance an African philosophical position from ethnophilosophy that was at the time vehemently criticized, and secondly to place
African philosophy at the level of professional philosophy, which at that
time was considered to be the hallmark of philosophy.
To achieve the first objective, he had to “formulate a position distinct
from ethnophilosophy yet grounded in traditional wisdom of African
sages” (Lajul, 2018, p. 117). Serequeberhan (1991) sees this as an ambivalent position caught between the claims of traditional African wisdom
(sagacity) and the claim that philosophy is a culture-neutral universal discipline (see also Lajul, 2018). To substantiate, Oruka (1983, 1991b)
believes that ethnophilosophy is only the second historical phase of the
development of true African philosophy. He, therefore, places ethnophilosophy on the second phase preceded by pre-philosophy and climaxed by
professional philosophy.
At the stage of pre-history, Oruka thinks this is a stage in which the
black man’s culture and even mind was extremely alien to reason, logic,
and various habits of scientific inquiry (Lajul, 2018, p. 117). After pre-­
history, we have ethnophilosophy, which he terms customs-dictated philosophy phase (Lajul, 2018, p. 117). Hountondji (1983) calls it philosophy of
communal consensus. Oruka, however, thinks this is not proper philosophy, since it is only philosophy in the debased sense.
Philosophic sagacity falls under the third stage of professional philosophy.
He, therefore, vests philosophical sagacity with all the claims of professional philosophy, like universality, individuality, rationality, and criticality.
The only characteristic attributed to professional philosophy, with which
Oruka disagrees, is writing or literacy. This is because he rightly notes that
writing is not a method of doing philosophy, but only a way of preserving
it. True philosophy is derived from thinking, which is universal to
all humans.
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1.2.2 Oruka’s Philosophic Sagacity Critics
From the interview carried out by Kresse Kai with Oruka in 1995, there
are four points on which Oruka was faulted. First, that sage philosophy,
like ethnophilosophy, seems to be also “a mere temporal stage in the process of philosophising, a transitional stage that can find concrete expression in professional philosophy” (Lajul, 2014, p. 40). Secondly, that sage
philosophy seems to be a mere “reaction to Europeans’ belief that Africans
are incapable of philosophising” (Lajul, 2014, p. 40). Thirdly, that “sage
philosophy” should be “broadened to include the youth, women, and
other educated intellectuals who might not be elders” (Lajul, 2014,
p. 40). Lastly, that philosophizing “must be made relevant to people’s
lives and philosophy must respond to concrete, lived experiences in Africa”
(Lajul, 2014, p. 41).
Lajul (2014) thinks that philosophic sagacity cannot be reduced to
mere temporal stage in the development of African philosophy, because it
remains perennially valid. I would, in fact, add that sage philosophy as
derived from the philosophical wisdom of Africans and embedded in their
languages, wise sayings, and proverbs cannot be easily dismissed, unless we
get rid of all indigenous African languages, wise sayings, and proverbs.
The fact that some of these proverbs are being revised and used in the
modern contexts with more relevant contents makes the fourth objection
about relevance of sage philosophy obsolete. African languages are not
dying easily to the onslaught of modernization and globalization, but they
are evolving and adapting themselves to new needs of modern Africans.
Precisely, because of this, they are still being continually used in local communications. Indeed, most indigenous African languages are still vibrant
in most parts of Africa.
As regards the second criticism that sage philosophy is only reactionary
does not destroy the relevance and content of sage philosophy. Reaction,
as claimed by Oruka’s critics, was proper at the beginning since Europeans
were demeaning to think Africans are illogical and irrational. But what is
problematic is not the reaction, but the content of this reaction. It is true
that in reaction to Western criticisms, Oruka fully bought the views of
professional philosophy without reservations or critical analysis. For
instance, rationality is not the hallmark of philosophy, just as literacy is not
a condition for doing philosophy, because humans are endowed with both
rational and other abilities like emotions.
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Lastly, that sage philosophy should be broadened to include youth,
women, and other educated intellectuals who are not elders. This, in my
view, is diversionary, because what is important is to understand that these
are just some of the sources of sage philosophy. As philosophy, whether
critically or rationally based, as is believed by Oruka, can be demonstrated
by a youth, a woman, or any other educated intellectual and this would
not reduce or increase the validity of sage philosophy. Distinction should
be made between the acts of philosophizing, which are demonstrations of
philosophic wisdom, from the actor, who is the philosopher. The actor
may or may not be literate, may be a man or a woman, a youth or an elder,
but what distinguishes that person’s act of philosophizing is the quality of
his or her thinking, which can generate philosophic knowledge.
1.3 New-Philosophic Sagacity
and Ethnophilosophy
It is important, at this point, to identify what is new from the book’s point
of view, which is different from what Oruka has already articulated. It is
equally important to identify the difference between philosophic sagacity
in this new sense and ethnophilosophy, which this book seems to adopt in
as far as it deals with specific African cultures, the Acholi and the Buganda
of Uganda.
1.3.1 New-Philosophic Sagacity
By new-philosophic sagacity, this book is referring to the broader understanding of philosophic sagacity, different and distinct from that of Odera
Oruka. In the view of this book, philosophic sagacity is understood as the
critical philosophical study of African traditional theories, principles, and
value systems embedded in particular African languages, wise sayings,
proverbs, and wise men and women of Africa. On the basis of these philosophical principles and theories or value systems, African communities are
built. This wisdom philosophy is the basis on which the organizations of
the African societies were made. They are works of individuals whose identities can no longer be traced because of lack of writing, but their views
have been accepted, adopted, and, from time to time, refined within the
ethos of the different societies as they continue to guide the societal value
systems and philosophical worldviews.
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This is markedly different from philosophic sagacity as the uninfluenced
views of those who reflect on the communal ethos of their societies and
who at times disagree with them. Philosophical sagacity in this new sense
considers that within that communal ethos, deeply entrenched philosophical principles adopted and refined over the years by individual thinkers are
already present, though the identities of those individuals can no longer be
traced because of orality. To disagree with some of the communal value’s
systems of the Africans is a normal process that takes place all the time as
demonstrated in the changes and introduction of new ideas and values
systems within African societies.
What is even more central in our view is to realize that the very languages Africans use, their wise sayings, and proverbs already contain those
second-order philosophical thinking within the African societies. In most
cases the philosophical depth and relevance of an African wisdom is seen
in the spread of such an idea or principles within a wider geographical
space that might even be linguistically different, and in the length of time
such philosophical principle seems to sail through the years. The advantage of studying these traditional philosophical principles and theories
rooted in the African past is that such philosophies can be validated against
their recurrent use and reuse in modern African languages and wise
sayings.
1.3.2 Philosophic Sagacity and Ethnophilosophy
In regard to philosophic sagacity and ethnophilosophy, I can say, there are
three meanings of ethnophilosophy as per the literature on this subject.
The first takes ethnophilosophy as ethnology or a set of values, categories,
and assumptions implicit in African cultures. The second takes as metaphysical categories that shape Africa’s views on reality, and the third as cultural philosophy. However, Lajul in 2014 has already observed that
ethnophilosophy combines the three interpretations, because it is a philosophy of values (axiology), metaphysics, and cultural philosophy.
Though for Ochieng ’Odhiambo, these categories are mutually exclusive,
I think they are complementary. Oruka, on the other hand, thinks ethnophilosophy is not philosophy in the proper sense, but it is philosophy in
the debased first-order sense. This makes Oruka’s view on ethnophilosophy different from philosophic sagacity.
In the view of this book, however, ethnophilosophy is understood as
the critical philosophical study of traditional theories, principles, and
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values systems embedded in particular African cultural communities as the
basis for the organization of those societies. They are works of individuals
whose identities can no longer be traced because of lack of writing, but
their views have been accepted, adopted, and, from time to time, improved
within the ethos of the different societies as they continue to guide the
societal values systems and philosophical worldviews.
This is also different from philosophic sagacity as deep philosophical
principles embedded in African languages, wisdom sayings, proverbs, and
the wisdom of African wise men and women. While philosophical principles and theories rooted in ethnophilosophy are proper to those African
cultures, traditional philosophic wisdom cuts across cultural borders and
are contained within the ambience of traditional African and modern
African philosophical worldviews. However, ethnophilosophical philosophical principles and theories, as well as philosophic sagacity principles
and theories, can easily be applicable anywhere in the world.
It is interesting to note that there is a momentous movement, not only
towards recognizing ethnophilosophy, but towards placing it at the centre
of African philosophy. In the abstract of Ada Agada’s book chapter, “A
Wellspring of African Philosophical Concepts? The What and Why
Questions in the Context of Interculturality”, he argues in the following way:
I defend the claim that ethnophilosophy is a major source of African philosophy, among other identifiable sources, and that, more than any other
source, it is the most obvious candidate for the title of “wellspring of African
philosophical concepts”. Ethnophilosophy boasts an advantage in contributing to the essential ingredient of culture-specified uniqueness that can
distinguish African philosophy from non-African philosophies and enhance
African philosophy’s intercultural competitiveness. This cultural defining
essence lies in the primordiality of ethnophilosophy as the form of thought
most deeply rooted in the African lifeworld or age-old tradition. (Agada,
2022, p. 17)
In this chapter, I appreciate this new insight because in 2014, I have
clearly identified and defended that ethnophilosophy thesis is one of the
dimensions of African philosophy. Among the different dimensions of
African philosophy, we have ethnophilosophy, philosophic sagacity, hermeneutic philosophy, and professional philosophy, to mention some of
them (Odera Oruka, 1978). Yet, by no means am I saying now that
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INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
11
ethnophilosophy is the same as philosophic sagacity, since ethnophilosophy, like philosophic sagacity, is only one of the dimensions of African
philosophy.
My view is that African philosophy can be discussed from various angles,
and ethnophilosophy, which Agada now think is the wellspring of African
philosophical concepts, is one of the dimensions from which one can study
African philosophy. This does not nullify other dimensions of African philosophy, which can be studied in their own rights. Where Odera Oruka
goes wrong is to think ethnophilosophy is the only philosophy in the
debased first-order sense. On the other hand, to say ethnophilosophy is
the essential ingredient of African philosophy is right, but this should not
be interpreted as making it more important than all other sources of
African philosophy. This is because, as I have demonstrated in this book,
though language is part and parcel of any ethnic culture, the wisdom philosophy within any African cultural language is still identifiable. This wisdom philosophy can be traced from wise men and women of Africa,
proverbs within that cultural language, and wise sayings. I would say ethnophilosophy concentrates on the content of African philosophy within a
particular culture. This does not mean, because it is unique to a particular
culture, it is not universalizable. African philosophy is better derived if all
these sources are combined together; that is why Lajul in his book African
Philosophy: Critical Dimensions (2014) takes a look at the different dimensions of African philosophy.
It is good to note that authors like Aribiah David Attoe (2022) think
that African philosophy must have a direction, and this direction must not
be solely tied to ethnophilosophy. He maintains that if ethnophilosophy is
neither the foundation/substructure nor the entire superstructure of
African philosophy, then we must think of ways in which African philosophy can progress with and beyond ethnophilosophy (Attoe, 2022). In his
own words, he reiterates:
While scholars like Ada Agada find ethnophilosophy, laced with some critical
reflection, as the foundation of African philosophy, I specifically locate the
foundation of African philosophy in criticality […]. The foundation of
African philosophy, thus, expresses itself fully in the coming together of
okwu with criticality, where the latter interrogates the former. From this
foundation, I lay down the implications for growth that this foundation has
and how it transcends ethnophilosophy. (Attoe, 2022, p. 71)
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The problem I have with Attoe is the old Western thinking that philosophy must be an individual enterprise rooted in criticality or rationality.
There is no problem in flogging this dead horse, but when we are speaking
of ethnophilosophy, we must accept that it is still critically the work of
individuals whose individuality can no longer be traced. Where I agree
with Agada is that, he is bringing to light the long detested concept of
ethnophilosophy, but I think he should equally recognize that this is only
one of the dimensions of African philosophy.
1.4 The Context of African Languages
and Proverbs
To comprehend this book, it is good to contextualize our study by understanding this group of people—the Acholi and the Buganda—their languages, and the contexts in which they use their proverbs. This will help
the reader fully appreciate these selected African languages, wise sayings,
proverbs, and the philosophical wisdom rooted in their societies.
1.4.1 The Acholi People
Whitmire (2013) believes that Acholi ethnic identity is a socio-political
reality that evolved over the years. The social and political organizations of
the Acholi people were responsible for the creation of their ethnic identity.
The social organization informed the political organization and the political organization maintained their social organization.
Whitmire (2013) first believes that the Acholi ethnic identity was created prior to the advent of colonialism. Secondly, colonialists’ claim that
the Acholi ethnic identity was created only in the nineteenth century during colonization by importing chiefdom ideology into Acholiland is an
assertion not well founded. Thirdly, that this claim does not take recognition of the social dimension of the Acholi ethnic identity but emphasizes
only its political dimension. Lastly, that Acholi ethnic identity was created
by their political ideology, chiefdom ideology, traditions, and adoption of
a common language, and this took place during the pre-colonial period
(Whitmire, 2013, p. 12).
Atkinson (1994), on the other hand, believes that Acholi lacked a collective ethnic identity prior to the nineteenth century, a view Whitmire
refutes as seen above. Whitmire believes that Acholi ethnic identity prior
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INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
13
to the nineteenth century subsisted in political identities, traditions, and
common language. I support Whitmire on this issue. The reason is that
the theory that Acholi ethnic identity was created in the nineteenth century by the colonial administration by importing chiefdom ideology into
Acholiland could not have succeeded if the Acholi did not have a solid
basis of ethnic identity. The creation of Acholi chiefdom ideology was possible because of the political, social, and linguistic identities they had
already acquired prior to the nineteenth century. Ethnic identity is a strong
social attitude that can only evolve from within a society and cannot be
imported from outside.
Whitmire continues to argue that, “The chiefdom ideology functioned
as the amalgamation of the social, political, religious, and traditions of the
Acholi. This informed the creation of their collective identity during the
pre-colonial period” (2013, pp. 12–13). Meaning, if the Acholi did not
have the political, religious, and social identities and traditions, the colonialists would not have succeeded in creating the chiefdom identity they
claim to have done. This also means, the Acholi people, prior to the coming of the colonialists, had their own ethnic identity, which is the basis
from which we can derive their philosophies.
I disagree, however, with Whitmire in her claim that in the seventeenth
century, the Acholi learnt the chiefdom ideology from the Luos, who had
migrated and settled in Bunyoro and who later, for different reasons,
returned to Acholiland. I also disagree with Atkinson that the Acholi are
not ethnically Luo people. That the Luo people were solely responsible for
the social organization and adoption of the chiefdom ideology among the
Acholi is not correct. Thirdly, Atkinson claims that it was because the
Acholi adopted the Luo language, then anthropologists thought they
were all descendants of the Luo. Lastly, that the basis of chiefdom building
among the Acholi was the result of other non-Luo peoples’ influence
(Whitmire, 2013, p. 19).
However, deriving from Atkinson, Whitmire brings out the following
very important analysis about the Acholi people. First, that some of the
claims of Atkinson about the Acholi and their relationship to the Luos are
not correct. The reasons she gives are that, firstly, the Luos were a very
small portion of the population. Secondly, the Luo basically settled in the
Luo triangle, the southwest Acholiland. Thirdly, the largest Luo presence
near Acholiland was located in northern Bunyoro-Kitara, and the source
of this information is Atkinson (1994, p. 71) himself.
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In this book, we think, there is a confusion authors make about the
three interrelated terms used in reference to the Acholi people: Luo,
Acholi, and Nilotic. The question is, are these terms referring to three different groups of people, and if so, how are they related? One does not get
any clear explanations from the authors we have surveyed above. From
Whitmire, the Luos are not the same as the Nilotics, since the Nilotics
primarily settled in east and central Acholiland, while the Luos settled in
the southwest and northern Bunyoro-Kitara.
According to Atkinson, linguistically, the Acholi did not acquire their
Luo language from the Luo group as Whitmire claims. On the contrary,
the Acholi spoke a language similar to that of the Shilluk, a group from
among whom they migrated. Secondly, it is wrong to say the name of this
ethnic group, the Acholi, is the one that created their identity. This is
wrong because, while a name is very important in the identity definition of
a people, identity itself does not subsist in the name, because the identity
precedes the name and the name only captures and expresses an identity.
So, if the Acholi are ethnically and linguistically identified with the Shilluk
people in the Sudan, then this must be taken as more basic than the ascription of such an identity to them.
The relationship among the terms Acholi, Luo, and Nilotic has not yet
been fully explained. The text we have seen earlier shows the link between
the terms Acholi and Shilluk. As a people, the language the Acholi and the
Shilluk spoke was basically the same or similar. If the Acholi language is
Luo, then the language the Acholi people use is not derived from the
southwestern Luo or the northern Bunyoro-Kitara Luo as Whitmire
claims above.
Besides, there is confusion among different authors about the term Luo
and the Paluo. While Luo is a language spoken among the Shilluk, the
Acholi, and other Luo-speaking peoples, the Paluo refers to a clan within
this bigger group. The Paluo is wrongly associated with the Luo people as
a group. The Paluo could have been a central group among the Luo people, but they are not identical with the Luo as a group. The term Luo is
another way of describing the same group of people in terms of the language they speak. All the groups that speak that language, with varying
dialects, are still called the Luo people. These include the Alur, the
Jopadhola, and the Kenya Luo, who still speak Luo language up to now.
Referring to the Acholi or the Luo-speaking group as the Nilotics is
another way of describing this same group of people who lived mainly
around River Nile, where they come right from Sudan into Uganda. The
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INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
15
term Nilotic is even much broader than the term Acholi or the Luos.
However, anthropologists have decided to distinguish three groups of
people that dwell in the greater northern Uganda: the Nilotic, composing
of the Acholi and the Alur; and the Nilohamites, composing of the Langi,
the Karamojong, and the Iteso. Among these Nilohamites, it is only the
Langi who adopted the Luo language, while the Iteso and the Karimojong
maintained their Nilohamitic linguistic dialects.
In fact, Ocaya (1988) calls the Acholi the Nilotics (the Nilotes or the
lakeside people) and mentions the following groups of people as belonging to the same anthropological group:
Other Nilotic peoples are found in southern Sudan, western Ethiopia, eastern Zaire, western Kenya and northern Tanzania. In Uganda besides the
Acholi the other members of the Nilotes are the Alur, Jonam, Labwor,
Palwo, […] and Padhola. The Shilluk, Annuak, Bari, Bor and some Lwo are
in Sudan. A still larger number of the Lwo live in western Kenya. All these
peoples regard themselves as the same people with the same origin and they
speak a language similar to each other. (Ocaya, 1988, p. 11)
When speaking about the Acholi of northern Uganda, we shall understand the term to mean the group of people from Shilluk, from the central
Bahr el Ghazal region of southern Sudan, who linguistically are Luo
speaking, geographically live along the Nile River regions of Africa, and so
are Nilotic.
1.4.2 The Ganda
Ganda, also called Baganda, or Waganda, are people inhabiting the area
north and northwest of Lake Victoria in south-central Uganda. They
speak a Bantu language— called Ganda, or Luganda—of the Benue-­
Congo group (Britannica, 2019).
Sometimes described as “The King’s Men” because of the importance
of the king, or Kabaka, in their society (Countries and their Cultures,
2010), the Ganda are the largest ethnic community in Uganda. The
Baganda speak a Bantu language called Luganda. It is a member of the
Niger-Congo family of languages. In the Luganda language, the singular
form of Baganda is Muganda. Like many other African languages, Luganda
is tonal, meaning that some words are differentiated by pitch. Words that
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16
W. LAJUL
are spelled the same may carry different meanings according to their pitch.
Luganda is rich in metaphor and in proverbs and folktales.
1.4.3 The Acholi Language
The National African Language Resource Center (NALRC) describes
Acholi language as a Luo language in the following words: “Acholi is a
tonal Luo language belonging to the Nilotic branch of African languages.
It is spoken in Acholiland in northern Uganda and some parts of Sudan”.
The Acholi Language Manual, published in 2009, describes the Acholi
language in quite similar way by saying, “Acholi belongs to the family of
Luo languages. […] Acholi is a tonal language, though tones are not normally written. Hence two seemingly identical words can actually mean
different things depending on the tone of their vowels. Tone is therefore
important if such fluency is desired to reduce ambiguity to a minimum”.
Victor Ocaya (2004) adds something about Acholi language. First, in
general Acholi language has been preserved in its entirety, but they certainly incorporated in their own elements of the language spoken by the
people found in the new regions where they migrated. This fact accounts
for the different dialects and new terms found in the different dialects of
the Acholi language.
Secondly, the Acholi language developed towards simplicity (Crazzolara,
1938, p. xiv). Most words are made up of one or two syllables (Ocaya,
2004, p. 15). One hardly comes across words with more than three syllables (p. 15). Foreign names with more than three syllables are often
shorted or abbreviated for ease of pronunciation. For instance, Crazzolara
became Olari; Pellegrini became Opel, in the Acholi language.1
Thirdly, the Acholi alphabet consists of all the letters of English alphabet, except for h,q,s,x,z. This means, out of the 26 letters of the English
alphabet, the Acholi language retains only 21 of them. However, they also
have two extra letters, which are combinations of letters for ease of pronunciation. These are letter ny pronounced as nya and ng, pronounced as
nga. This makes Acholi letters of the alphabet to be 23, which are (a, b, c,
d, e, f, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, t, u, v, w, y, ng, ny).
1
Both Crazzolara and Pellegrini were Italian Missionaries belonging to the Congregation
of the Comboni Missionaries, who are Catholic Missionaries that introduced Catholicism
into Northern Uganda.
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INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
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Lastly, the vowels in Acholi language remain five as those in the English
language, and they are pronounced as they are written. For Ocaya, this is
in accordance with the rule called Italian value, where letters are pronounced the way they are written.
What is important is that both Acholi and Luganda are tonal languages.
In both languages there are widespread use of riddles, similes, and proverbs. For instance, in Luganda language, one would say, “I have a wife
who looks where she is coming from and where she is going at the same
time” (a bundle of firewood, since the two ends are similar). This is a
riddle. An example of a simile in Acholi language is “Col calo dyewor” (as
dark as the night). But we are more interested in the proverbs, which we
shall illustrate in different chapters.
1.4.4 The Proverbs
Since we cannot talk of all African languages, we shall narrow our contexts
to the Acholi proverbs, which are typically similar to the Ganda proverbs.
In the context of African philosophy, African proverbs originate from both
the emotional and rational engagements of the philosophers with realities
in their lives and environments. Some of these proverbs have been committed to writing by several authors both in Acholi and other African languages like Luganda and Kiswahili. The two outstanding Acholi elders
who wrote on their proverbs are Okot p’Bitek, who wrote a book Acholi
Proverbs (1985), and Angela Banya, who wrote another book on Acholi
proverbs titled Adoko Gwok (I have become a dog -1994). I have equally
collected over 250 African proverbs from West and East Africa, and particularly from Acholi cultural community (as listed in the Appendix). We
shall also use selectively two other works on proverbs; one is by Ishiabwe
Atemu (2019) titled A Collection of 100 Ganda/Kooki (Uganda) Proverbs
and Wise Saying, and the second one is by Kalugila and Lodhi (1980),
More Swahili Proverbs from East Africa. A number of proverbs from these
sources will be used in this work, though those in the appendix have not
been separately published.
Comparing the different sources of proverbs in selected African languages, one would wonder whether they are related. The observation is
that most of them are exactly the same, though their interpretations in
some cases are different due to different cultural contexts. For instance,
Ganda proverb No. 19 “Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the
head when it is chopped off” (Ishiabwe, 2019, p. 6) is exactly the same as
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a West African proverb recorded in the Appendix No. 170, “A deaf ear
follows the head to the grave”, and No. 172 “A fly that does not listen to
advice, goes to the grave with the corpse”.
One then wonders how such proverbs coming from diverse cultural
contexts can have, actually, almost the same rendering. In my view, this is
one of the ways of showing how related Africans are in their philosophical
thinking. It is also a signal that over the years Africans have significantly
influenced each other, despite differences in languages and cultural contexts. As can be shown from the above, these proverbs have the same
moral lesson; refusal to listen to sound advices is always dangerous, since
it leads to death. The contexts are different, since one speaks of a fly, the
other two talk of an ear, one is deaf and the other does not listen. The
deafness here is not a sickness, but a stubborn refusal to listen, and all leads
to the same result. The philosophical meaning for all these proverbs seems
to be, according to Ishiabwe, “advice from those who have wisdom and
experience” (2019, p. 6), which is to be taken seriously. It does not generalize that all forms of advice are good.
What is interesting is that none of these versions of proverbs are more
correct than the other, since all were actually used in one African language
setting or the other. Since all these proverbs are contextually placed,
depending on the intention of the authors, words are usually coined to
bring out some specific meanings, as intended by the user. In reading and
interpreting these proverbs, a lot of care has been taken to avoid such
misconceptions and confusions.
1.5 Methodology
The methodology used in this book is basically analytical. The proverbs
have been placed within their proper contexts, before exposing their literal, deeper, and philosophical meanings. Care has been taken to distinguish the general philosophical meanings from the specific branch of
philosophy such proverbs fall under. The identification of specific branch
of philosophy within which a particular proverb falls was purely the
author’s own fantasy, since another author may place such proverb in a
completely different branch of philosophy.
Taking from an example from Okot p’Bitek’s proverb No. 118 (Jwi jwi
ci Ongole ce, Chong pe neko?), where Banya renders the same proverb as J2,
Jwi Ni Ongole, Buyu kono, and the Lajul’s version as Jwi jwi ci Ongole
oneko, tin dong Jubi oneko Ongole (2018, p. 39), we can identify three
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INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
19
different branches of philosophy. p’Bitek places it under epistemological
proverb (knowledge is not a monopoly of one person); Banya places it
under social philosophy (ability to persist in any undertaking without easily giving up); and Lajul places it under metaphysical proverb (destiny or
luck is not predetermination, since it can change).
Therefore, while the result of these analyses is philosophical, it should
be understood as African philosophy in the eyes of the author, because it
is the author that tries to interpret and identify the meanings behind these
proverbs. This also means, as much as it is an African philosophy, it is
equally the author’s personal understanding of African philosophy. If
tomorrow somebody will come out with interpretations that will differ
from those in this book, it should not be taken as a mistake, but as an
expression of the richness of philosophical ideas in different African cultural settings, coined in their languages and proverbs.
1.6 Book Layout
The book is divided into eight chapters. These include the general introduction that surveys issues like contexts and methods. The other chapters
have discussed the different branches of Western philosophy like logic,
ethics, political philosophy, social philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics,
and aesthetics. The effort here was to identify these different branches of
philosophy in selected African languages and proverbs. You will notice
here the attempts to identify elders that are uninfluenced by foreign ideas
are dropped, not because it is irrelevant, but because Oruka has already
done his best in that direction. However, since Oruka’s approach did not
yield much fruit, we had to change approach in deriving the content of
philosophic sagacity, by expanding the scope of the sources of this philosophy to include use of African languages, wise sayings, and proverbs.
Chapter 2 discusses logic in selected African languages and proverbs.
Though it is generally accepted that African philosophy exists, this is not
true for certain branches of philosophy like logic. Airoboman and Odia
(2019) and Nweke (2012), among others, deny the existence of African
logic. The reason they give is the universal nature of logic. However, they
also acknowledge that Africans have the capacity for logic because logic is
a given to humans. The problem is to think logic is universal to humans,
yet Africans have the capacity to do logic, but they have no logic. For, to
have the capacity to do logic without actually doing logic is itself illogical.
Ndubisi (2014), with whom I concur, accept that African logic exists and
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is essential, and that it is the criterion or yardstick for presenting knowledge. He emphasizes that logic is the only way in which both written and
oral languages are intelligible. Without logic, no human language would
be understandable. This chapter maintains that African logic, for that matter, does not need to be an anti-thesis of other people’s logic, regardless of
variations with other’s logic. In conclusion, we realize that in Acholi logic,
as a case: similarity is not proof of connectedness; time is linear; exclusive
disjunctions exists but not inclusive disjunctions; the law of the excluded
middle is not always true, since water can be neither hot nor cold; valid
and sound arguments can easily be deduced by intuition and not always by
reasoning.
In Chap. 3, we have looked at moral philosophy in selected African
languages and proverbs. We discovered that African moral philosophy may
not be quite different from any other people’s moral philosophy. However,
the central philosophical worldview of the Africans in general and the
Acholi in particular that distinguishes their moral philosophy from others
is derived from their philosophical worldviews. In this book, the philosophical worldview of the Acholi and many of other Africans has been the
consideration that humans are individuals who are strongly related to one
another and to their environment. In this worldview, the individual is
equally important as the society within which they live. Because of this,
moral judgements are made on the basis of these individual and corporate
demands.
In conclusion, this chapter underpins some of the moral principles in
this philosophy like balance between private and communally owned
properties; that crime affects both individual perpetrators and the community within which it is committed, plus the environment; enmity within
the same human communities are only circumstantial, while enmity with
outside members of one’s human community are considered to be substantial and more dangerous; individual interests are superior to communal interests, contrary to common belief that in Africa communal interests
always supersedes individual interests; moral personalities are products of
both individuals or personal and community’s aspirations and education.
Chapter 4 distillates the political past values embedded in the selected
languages, wisdom sayings, and proverbs of the Africans in general and of
the Acholi people of Northern Uganda in particular. This chapter diverts
from the usual trend of looking for what our first-generation African political leaders did or said. It does not even focus on the present-day African
political problems. On the contrary, it believes that Africans have
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INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF ORUKA’S PHILOSOPHIC SAGACITY
21
well-placed political theories and principles embedded in their past political values, as can be traced from their languages, wisdom sayings, and
proverbs. The Acholi political society, from which we intend to derive
some of these political theories and values, is decentralized. While centralized political system, like the Baganda of central Uganda, could still be of
great value to African societies, but given the nature of present-day African
societies, which is an aggregate of different African nations or ethnicities,
a better leaf could be borrowed from the decentralized traditional African
political systems, like that of the Acholi. This chapter concludes with the
political principles like political authority is hierarchical; basis of political
power is the popular support of the people; political power has limits; chief
duty of political authority is to care of the welfare of the people; the rise
and fall of political authority affects positively or negatively the entire
political community; democracy is the regulation of power by power;
political legitimacy is based on political support of the people; political
duty in the interest of all does not abdicate pursuance of self-interest; and
females are equally important in political dispensations.
In Chap. 5, African social philosophy is discussed as reflections on the
origin of African societies, their ways of life, and the expression of social
relations and interests as manifested in their collective social structures and
worldviews. The chapter identifies the nature of African social philosophy
in general and the nature of social bonds, social welfare, and social justice
in African social worldview. The chapter analyses what constitutes social
upbringing and social responsibilities. Some of the findings are that society
is constituted of predictable and unpredictable natures; the basis of social
bondage is personal security and satisfaction of its members’ needs; society
is a network of bonded relationships; social welfare is not the product of
its leaders, but of the many insignificant members; social benefits should
be distributed according to needs; personal needs should be balanced with
social needs; and in the distribution of social benefits, leaders profit more
than the majority of the members. In this chapter we also discovered that
a good society is where justice, which takes what is truly right and wrong
for what they truly are; unjust action affects all, culprits as well as the other
members of the community; true justice protects current as well as future
interests of society; to translate a temporal benefit into an entitlement is
not just, to mention some of them.
Theory of knowledge is discussed in Chap. 6, where knowledge is taken
to mean the perception of the origin, nature, reliability, or unreliability of
what constitutes a relationship between the knowing subject and the
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known object. A number of African societies had their own ways of understanding this relationship. African ontological existential perception makes
their perspective unique. To explain how Africans understand this relationship in their language and selected proverbs, we found out that they
commonly accept sensitive and intellective knowledge like in Western epistemology, besides mystical knowledge. The African and the Eastern philosophy acknowledge the importance of mystical knowledge, though the
method of deriving them varies. Meditation is the best way of deriving
mystical knowledge in the East, while divination is the best way of deriving
mystical knowledge in Africa. In both cases, mystical knowledge is at times
taken as a gift from divine beings. In distinguishing between sensitive and
intellective knowledge, African perspective takes these theories of knowledge as supplementary to each other. However, hierarchically, these two
forms of knowledge have differences. For more practical actions, the sensitive knowledge is always considered to be more important than intellective
knowledge, but hierarchically, intellective knowledge is always considered
to be higher.
Though arguments for or against the existence of African metaphysics
abounds, the view that it exists is endorsed in Chap. 7. The task is to show
that if African metaphysics exists, then particular African cultural metaphysics also exists. In fact, what constitutes African metaphysics is derived
from the different African cultural heritages on the salient issues that existentially affect different African societies forcing them to look for solutions. In these solutions, there are, the different African cultural
metaphysics. In this chapter, African metaphysics is understood to mean
the African perspectival understanding of the nature and science of essence.
African metaphysics, as has been derived from their selected languages and
proverbs, was identified on the basis of the nature of existence. Taking the
proverbs, though limited in a way, is the most reliable means of doing this,
since most of these proverbs have existed prior to the invective influence
of other worldviews. To be genuinely African does not mean it can only be
found in Africa. The following are some of the metaphysical principles
found in the selected African languages and proverbs: the personal dimension of personhood is ontological, while the social dimension is circumstantial; freedom is the ability to act in spite of constraints; work is an
ontological interaction between individuals or groups with their environment to meet their needs; social relations are ontologically built; and preservation of society is equally important as self-preservation.
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In Chap. 8, African beauty is conceived as works of arts, as natural
qualities, but also as moral uprightness. Gyekye seems to summarize
African conception of beauty as consisting in works of art, natural qualities
expressed as figures, moral behaviour, and humanity itself. This chapter
surveys African concept of beauty in selected African languages and proverbs. For instance, Okot p’Bitek identifies three basic concepts of beauty:
social, moral, and physical beauties. While social beauty refers to the harmonious living and peace in society, moral beauty has to do with human
behaviour, and physical beauty is the symmetrical harmony between different parts of a given entity. The basic principles of moral beauty as discussed in this chapter are: moral beauty is superior to physical beauty;
character is the basis of moral beauty other than behaviour; and inner
beauty is not an outcome of inheritance. Some of the basic principles of
beauty are physical beauty is external, while inner beauty is interior; and
physical beauty combined with moral beauty is the hallmark of true beauty.
1.7 Conclusion
What are distinguishable about these different chapters are their introductions and subsequent contents. In the introductory sections of the different chapters, issues that could not be outlined and discussed in the general
introduction were handled. Specifically, given the fact that the different
chapters are built on the different branches of Western philosophy, there
are issues with each of these philosophical branches. In general, authors
are divided as to whether some of these branches of philosophy could be
attributed to Africa or not. Their main argument is that philosophy is a
universal science based on human rationality, so what is true of Africans
must be true of any other people’s philosophy. So, they contend that the
regionalization of the different branches of philosophy was not correct.
Those who support the existence of the different branches of African
philosophy argue that there is an apparent contradiction in the above line
of thinking. By accepting that African philosophy exists, as is acknowledged by most authors both protagonists and antagonists, denying the
existence of specific branches of philosophy to Africa sounds hilarious.
Actually, the denial of the existence of the different branches of African
philosophy is tantamount to denying the existence of African philosophy
itself (Udefi, 2014). This would take us back to the drawing board in discussing whether African philosophy exists or not. Any serious thinker may
have his or her views, but it would also be reasonable to acknowledge and
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respect the views of the many who have now accepted that African philosophy exists. On the basis of this analysis, I thing this book has gone
ahead to discuss the different branches of African philosophy as they can
be derived from selected African languages and proverbs.
It is also important to understand that not all African proverbs are philosophical. The interest in this book is to make some careful selection of
the proverbs considered to be philosophical. This came mainly on the
basis of the deeper meanings or philosophy behind these proverbs. The
deeper or philosophical meanings were derived on the basis of the author’s
knowledge of philosophy and the selected African languages. One should
not be surprised if some other African author would come out with slightly
different philosophical meanings. This would depend on their level of
knowledge of the selected African languages and philosophy. The advantage of the author is that he has sufficient knowledge of the Acholi language and philosophical trainings. His disadvantage is that because of his
philosophical trainings, he might read too much into these meanings.
Even though this may be the case, the author has tried to minimize what
could be termed an over-reading of the philosophies behind some of these
selected African proverbs.
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