African Mentality According To european Scholars

Question 1

What is the dominant thinking of Africa by European scholars?

Answer 1

Basically: they think strictly emotionally, are unintelligent and a list of western philosophers have a colonial mentality Africans are incapable of abstract thought and rational thought

Question 2

What are Hegel’s positions and what did he write?

Answer 2

He wrote “The Philosophy of History”
- Africans are unimportant to history and have none except for Egyptians who don’t really count as African
-undeveloped
Culture is the basis of reasoning and since they have no culture, they have no reasoning
-3 parts of Africa: North of the desert/Eu.NA, river region of the Nile & upland
Overall they aren’t smart, canibballs, no morality and an innocence just cuz of a lack of consciousness

Question 3

What are Levy-Bruhl’s positions?

Answer 3

They have a primitive mentality.
Western culture = Academic/Intelligent
African culture = mystical/ not intellectual, primitive
African mind doesn’t reason properly especially with talking to that African group (Bororo) and then saying the other ethnic group (Trumai) sleeps at the bottom of the river

Question 4

What did Carothers say/write?

Answer 4

“The mind of Man in Africa”

-which is highly dependent on physical & emotional stimulation, lack of foresight, tenacity, unreliable and they only live in the present without reflection or regard for the outside world

Question 5

What did Westermann say and write?

Answer 5

“The African Today”
Can’t distinguish b/w material & spiritual
Half conscious/ unconsciousness
Impulses & very emotional way of thinking

Question 6

Is the conventional concept of African mentality correct? And how is it refuted

Answer 6

Not correct & challenged by:
Showing that African philosophy actually existed in traditional Africa
There are African philosophers, although illiterate have 0 or a tad western/foreign influence
Greek philosophy and western philosophy are not solely theirs.