Beyond Irredentism and Jingoism: reflections on the nature of logic and the quest for (an) African logic

Abstract

In this article, I attempt once more to revisit the subject of logic in African philosophy or as some would have it, African logic. I discuss the views of those I call jingoists and irredentists and distance myself from them. I argue that there is logic in every human culture and language. I argue also that even the ancient Africans had logic in their languages. My goal is to show that logic as the tool of thought is universal and not culture-bound. To do this, I will investigate the nature of logic and then examine again the notion of (an) African logic before showing the relevance of logic to life. My method will be descriptive, prescriptive and analytical.

Keywords: Logic, African logic, Irredentism, Afrocentrism, jingoism, African philosophy