Email address: morera@yorku.ca

Virtual office hours: Wednesday 10:00-11:30 am

or by appointment.

This course provides an overview of the development of African philosophy since the publication of Tempels’ book on Bantu Philosophy in 1945. The course will explore two broad themes.  First, it will focus on the question of the distinctive nature of contemporary debates amongst African philosophers. In so doing, it will focus on such questions as: What is philosophy? Are there any universal philosophical principles?  Or, on the contrary, Are philosophical problems and ideas relative to cultural practices and worldviews?  The various answers to these questions form the ground on which the ethno‑philosophical, the universalist, and the hermeneutical schools are rooted.  Secondly, the course explores a number of texts written by Africans on epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics.  These texts represent the latest efforts to define the field of African philosophy and to develop an original philosophical critique of diverse cultural conceptual frameworks.

Technical requirements for taking the course: This course will be delivered primarily by means of videoconferencing, using the video communication app Zoom (available form York).  You will also need access to Moodle (Log in using your Passport York account), and email.  In addition to stable, higher-speed Internet connection, you will need a computer with webcam and microphone, or a smart device with these features.

You will be expected to participate in the course by attending virtual lectures and discussions. Although it is not strictly required, it is desirable that you appear on video in lectures, at least occasionally, and office meetings.

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

Times and locations hoursThis course will be taught synchronously (via Zoom), that is, all lectures will take place at the times posted on the Registrar’s Office’s website.

Zoom meetings will take place on Mondays and Wednesday 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.  Links to Zoom sessions will be posted on the Moodle page for this course.

Zoom lectures may be recorded, provided no one objects (if you do, let me know as soon as possible).

NOTE:  It is important that you understand that all lectures, both their content and recordings of them, are protected by copyright law. See details under Course Policies.

Virtual office

The course instructor will always hold virtual office hours on Wednesday at 10:00-11:30 am
or by appointment.

Email is to be used judiciously. Specific questions about course readings or lectures should be raised in class. For general questions regarding the course, first consult the various documents that have been made available, such a LA&PS and course policies, syllabus etc.

Responses to student emails will be provided from Monday to Friday between 10:00  and 11:00 am.

There will be no email response on the weekends.

1. Gyekye, Kwame. An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: the Akan Conceptual Scheme. Cambridge, New York:  Cambridge University Press, 1987.
2. PHIL 3180 KIT (To be purchased from the York Bookstore)

Test (Feb. 22) ...........30%
Research Paper (April 5) ........35%
Final Exam .......... 35%

The main purpose of our meetings will be to make sure that you achieve your academic goals.  Learning is an activity that is best accomplished by actively participating in discussion, raising questions, and suggesting ways of understanding a text or solving a problem.  Instructors should facilitate this activity.  Current research demonstrates the importance of active learning, but this is indeed a very old idea, one that the great thinkers of the past already understood well.

To that end, each session will be divided into sections:  some of them will be devoted to lectures providing background information that may be needed to understand a text or a problem, and to explicate concepts or analyze arguments; others will be devoted to group discussion, and Q&A. Questions are always a welcome; I encourage you to interrupt lectures with any relevant questions you may have.

The student completing this course will

• acquire understanding of the debates about African philosophy in the second half of the 20^th century.
• appreciate the links and differences between culture and philosophy
• have a greater appreciation of the nature of philosophical questions and how they are answered.

Course policies

1. Academic honesty and integrity

In this course, we strive to maintain academic integrity to the highest extent possible. Please familiarize yourself with the meaning of academic integrity by completing SPARK’s Academic Integrity module at the beginning of the course. Breaches of academic integrity range from cheating to plagiarism (i.e., the improper crediting of another’s work, the representation of another’s ideas as your own, etc.). All instances of academic dishonesty in this course will be reported to the appropriate university authorities, and can be punishable according to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.

2. Turnitin

To promote academic integrity in this course, students will be required to submit their written assignments to Turnitin (via the course Moodle) for a review of textual similarity and the detection of possible plagiarism. In so doing, students will allow their material to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used only for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin service are described on the Turnitin.com website.

3. Copy Rights:

Note that all lectures, both their content and recordings of them, are protected by copyright law:

1) the recordings should be used for educational purposes only and as a means for enhancing accessibility; 2) students do not have permission to duplicate, copy or distribute the recordings outside of the class (these acts can violate not only copyright laws but also FIPPA -Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31); and 3) all recordings will be destroyed after the end of classes.

4. Late policy.

Assignments must be submitted on time.  No extensions will be generally granted for papers, other than in some officially documented exceptional circumstances (illness, bereavement, disability, special needs.)  Late papers will be penalized 5% per day.  There are no exceptions to this rule.

5. Course information

All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information: