Two Notions of Justification in African Epistemology

Abstract

This article critically analyzes two emergent notions of justification in the discourse of African epistemology – the neo-positivist and contextualist notions. It begins with a survey of the discussion on whether or not there is an African epistemology, an ongoing debate in the discourse of African philosophy. Contemporary discussions in African epistemology entail a systematic articulation of the African cultural world-view as well as explanation of how Africans apprehend reality and interpret their life-experiences. This is consistent with the broad characterization of epistemology as that aspect of philosophy that concerns itself with the nature of human knowledge, its sources, limits and the problems that emanate from the process of knowing. Thus, this article shows how two notions of justification can be constructed from current discussions about epistemological conceptions in African thought.