Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze

Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze 18 January 1963 – 31 December 2007) was a Nigerian philosopher. Eze was a specialist in postcolonial philosophy. He wrote as well as edited influential postcolonial histories of philosophy in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. He brought Immanuel Kant's racism to light among Western thinkers in the 1990s, an area of Kant's life that Western philosophers often gloss over. Influences in his own work include Paulin Hountondji, Richard Rorty, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. At the time of his death, Eze was Associate Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University, where he also founded and edited the journal Philosophia Africana. He died on December 31, 2007, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania after a short illness. Quotes There certainly are distinctive traditions of philosophical reflection in Africa, both written and non-written. Eze was responding to Rick Lewis's question about whether there are philosophical traditions that are distinctively African. He pointed to both written and non-written traditions, including Yoruba and Igbo intellectual traditions. I personally would like the category "African philosophy" to include the works of (our) modern African thinkers. Eze was discussing whether African philosophy should refer only to traditional African thought or should also include the work of modern African philosophers. He expressed a preference for including modern African thinkers. The one abiding interest I can think of ... might be a sense of shared historical moments. Eze was discussing interests shared by contemporary African philosophers and philosophers of African origin. Philosophers become who they are because they are born or educated into, and provoked by, locatable societies and intellectual traditions. Eze was explaining how social and historical environments shape philosophers and their work. He connected philosophical production with particular societies and intellectual traditions. I cannot think of a contemporary philosopher in Africa or, elsewhere, philosopher of African origin whose work has not been marked, for good and ill, by Africa's encounters with European modernity. Eze was discussing the historical experiences that shaped modern African philosophy. He identified the encounters between Africa and European modernity, including slavery, imperialism and colonialism, as significant influences. Slave trade, imperialism, and colonialism were often the vehicles driving most of the encounters. Eze was describing the historical encounters between Africa and European modernity and identifying the major forces through which those encounters took place. I believe that Hountondji, notoriously in ill-tempered rhetoric, and Wiredu were objecting to that sort of Tempelsian ethnographic projects. Eze was discussing debates over ethnophilosophy and the work of Placide Tempels. He explained why thinkers such as Paulin Hountondji and Kwasi Wiredu criticized attempts to identify a supposedly “natural” collective African philosophy. The projects looked misguided, and perhaps offensive, because they seem to have been predicated upon either a misunderstanding of philosophy, or an imposition upon Africa an expectation to be primitive and "natural", and quite often both. Eze was criticizing approaches that attempted to construct a supposedly natural or collective African philosophy. He argued that such approaches could reproduce assumptions about Africa as primitive or “natural.” Philosophical works that relate in one way or another to Africa may be denominated "African" through this relation. Eze was answering the question of what should be understood by “African philosophy.” He proposed a broad conception based on a work's relationship to Africa through its content, method, author's self-identification, or other social and cultural connections. Developed traditions of African philosophy could enrich both Africans and Europeans. Eze was discussing what African philosophy could contribute to global intellectual life. He argued that developed African philosophical traditions could benefit both African and European societies while encouraging greater understanding between cultures. Philosophy and politics, in a mix, in my view, tend to mutually destroy each other. Eze was discussing the historical pressure placed on African philosophers to use philosophy for political purposes, particularly in response to challenges to the humanity and intellectual capacity of Africans. He argued for greater distinction between philosophical and political activity. I believe we may now have some opportunity to make greater contributions to philosophy. Eze was discussing the possibility that African philosophers could increasingly contribute to philosophy without being compelled to subordinate philosophical work to political arguments about African identity or humanity. External links Category:Nigerian emigrants to the United States Category:1963 births Category:2007 deaths Category: Philosophers from Nigeria