Assessing the Irrelevance of Relativism in African Philosophy in Contemporary Africa
Phemelo Olifile Marumo 
Issue: Vol.10 No. 10 October 2024 Issue Article 5 pp.373-382
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202410105 | Published online 16th October, 2024.
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The paper focuses on current research that has suggested that Africa is experiencing a moral decline, which has been a fact for several years. The cultural sense of African societies has also been called into doubt in the twentieth century, with many others dismissing its existence and relevance. While society is currently disregarding cultural underpinnings and challenging morality as a reality across groups, relativism is the perspective that morality and knowledge are culturally driven. Similarly, African philosophical ideas such as ubuntu, batho-pele, communalism, and so on, which serve as the cornerstone of African worldviews, have been firmly undermined and ignored by society. The article adopts a qualitative research method, using accredited books, journals, and government publications to achieve the purpose of the study. The study’s findings imply that if relativism is abandoned and African philosophy concepts are no longer relevant in society, society will perish. As a result, in the discussion, the study claims that contemporary African society is unrelated to the foundations of relativism and African philosophy, which is not the case. It concludes that to keep relativism relevant in contemporary Africa, there should be a focus on historical relativism as a tool for unity and reconciliation to address potential conflicts and restore harmony among nations.
Keywords: Relativism, African Philosophy, Morality, Culture, Worldview, Communities
Asiegbu, Martin F. “Contemporary African Philosophy: Emergent Issues and Challenges.” Ogirisi: A New Journal of African Studies 12 (2016): 1–24.
Baghramian, Maria. “The Virtues of Relativism.” In Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 93:247–69. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Copan, P. True For You, But Not For Me. Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House, 2009.
Ewelu, Benjamin. “Intercultural Philosophy – A Quest for Unity in Diversity: What Can African Languages Contribute? .” In Universalism, Relativism, and Intercultural Philosophy, Nigerian Philosophical Studies IV, edited by Joseph C. Achike Agbakoba and Anthony C. Ajah. Washington, D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2016.
Flikschuh, K. “The Importance of Contemporary African Philosophy: Western Philosophy Is Far from Universal.” IAI News (Institute of Arts and Ideas) , 2018. https://iai.tv/articles/what- you-should-know-about-contemporary-african-philosophy-auid-1047.
Graness, Anke. “African Philosophy.” In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Relativism, 29–37. Routledge, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052306-4.
Ibhawoh, Bonny. “Cultural Relativism and Human Rights: Reconsidering the Africanist Discourse.” Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 19, no. 1 (2001): 43–62.
Kant, I. Lectures on Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Kasozi, Ferdinand Mutaawe. Introduction to an African Philosophy: The Ntu’ology of the Baganda. Freiburg: Alber Verlag, 2011.
Lakatos, Istvan. “Thoughts on Universalism versus Cultural Relativism, with Special Attention to Women’s Rights.” Pecs J. Int’l & Eur. L., 2018, 6.
Leerssen, Joep. “Culture, Humanities, Evolution: The Complexity of Meaning-Making over Time.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 376, no. 1828 (2021): 20200043.
Leffel, Jim, and Dennis McCallum. “The Postmodern Challenge: Facing the Spirit of the Age.” Christian Research Journal 19 (1996): 34–40.
Marumo, Phemelo Olefile. “A Dialogue between African Philosophy and Missio Dei: Koinonia and Ubuntu,” 2013.
Masolo, D. M. African Philosophy in Search of Identity. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994.
Merwe, W.L. Van Der. African Philosophy; and the Contextualisation of Philosophy in a Multicultural Society. Routledge, 2000.
Msuya, Norah Hashim. “Concept of Culture Relativism and Women’s Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 54, no. 8 (2019): 1145–58.
Nussbaum, Barbara. “African Culture and Ubuntu.” Perspectives 17, no. 1 (2003): 1–12.
Österman, Tove. “Cultural Relativism and Understanding Difference.” Language & Communication 80 (September 2021): 124–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2021.06.004.
Tempels, Placide, A Rubbens, and Colin King. Bantu Philosophy. Présence africaine Paris, 1959.
Tilley, John J. “Cultural Relativism.” Human Rights Quarterly 22, no. 2 (2000): 501–47.
Tylor, E. Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. London: Gordon Press, 1973.
Waghid, Yusef. “Knowledge (s), Culture and African Philosophy: An Introduction.” Knowledge Cultures 4, no. 04 (2016): 11–17.
Wiredu, K. “ Introduction: African Philosophy in Our Time.” In A Companion to African Philosophy., edited by Kwasi Wiredu. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006.
Prof. Phemelo Olifile Marumo is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director in the Faculty of Humanities, School of Philosophy, at Northwest University. He primarily focuses on the philosophical perspectives in teaching and learning. He is an active member of various academic committees and has worked with NWU’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Prof. Marumo’s research area of interest is African Philosophy and its attributes. He has contributed to several book chapters and has published in different accredited local and international journals.
Marumo, Phemelo Olifile. “Assessing the Irrelevance of Relativism in African Philosophy in Contemporary Africa,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 10 no.10 (2024): 373-382. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202410105
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
