Bantu Ontology and the Ontological Turn – a discussion of the (non)-relation between anthropological theory and disciplinary philosophy

Roothaan, A. (Speaker)

Activity: Lecture / Presentation › Academic

Description

World Philosophies Lecture Series

Period	27 Oct 2023
Held at	SOAS University of London, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

In Bantu Philosophy, the 1945/6 book by Placide Tempels, culture and ontology were theoretically connected in the idea of ‘Bantu Ontology’. Tempels critiqued the focus of ethnology on description and its avoidance of a search for the deeper meaning and ontological impact of culturalized knowledge. Only around 2000 we see anthropologists center such a search, which became known as the ‘Ontological Turn’. The ontological turn proposes that cultures’ claims to truth rest on their access to reality as it is. Remarkably their work is rarely discussed by disciplinary philosophers, even though it has serious consequences for philosophy if the anthropologists are right. More remarkable is the non-discussion among anthropologists and philosophers alike of Bantu Philosophy, which dealt with these consequences. I will repair this by analyzing how Tempels connected culture and ontology (1) and by proposing an explanation of the absence of this connection from (most) disciplinary philosophy, retrieving arguments from the works of Valentin Mudimbe and Lewis Gordon (2). I will finally make a plea for a return to Bantu Philosophy as a way for disciplinary philosophy to repair its ominous omission (3).

Related content

Projects
The Bantu Philosophy Project
Project: Research