Paulin J. Hountondji
Encyclopedia
Paulin Hountondji is a Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
ese philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Hountondji was educated at the Ecole Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, graduating in 1966, and taking his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1970 (his thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
was on Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
). After two years teaching in France and in the Congo Republic, he accepted a post at the National University of Benin
National University of Benin
The National University of Benin is the principal university in the country of Benin. The university was founded in 1970 as the Université du Dahomey. In 1975 the name was changed to Université Nationale du Bénin. Its name is abbreviated UNB....
in Cotonou
Cotonou
-Demographics:*1979: 320,348 *1992: 536,827 *2002: 665,100 *2005: 690,584 The main languages spoken in Cotonou include the Fon language, Aja language, Yoruba language and French.-Transport:...
, where he still teaches as Professor of Philosophy.
His academic career was interrupted, however, by a period spent in politics. Having been a prominent critic of the military dictatorship that had ruled his country, Hountondji became involved in Benin's return to democracy (in 1992), and served in the government as Minister of Education and Minister for Culture and Communications until his resignation and return to the University in 1994.
He is currently director of the African Centre for Advanced Studies in Porto-Novo
Porto-Novo
Porto-Novo is the official capital of the West African nation of Benin, and was the capital of French Dahomey. The commune covers an area of 110 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people.Porto-Novo is a port on an inlet of the Gulf of Guinea, in the southeastern portion...
and is serving as the Bingham Professor of Humanities from 1 August 2008 to 31 December 2008 at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
in Louisville, KY.
Philosophical work
Hountondji's philosophical influences include two of his teachers in Paris, Louis AlthusserLouis Althusser
Louis Pierre Althusser was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy....
and Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
. His reputation rests primarily on his critical work concerning the nature of African philosophy. His main target has been the ethnophilosophy of writers such as Placide Tempels
Placide Tempels
Placide Frans Tempels was a Belgian missionary who became famous for his book Bantu Philosophy.-Life:...
and Alexis Kagame
Alexis Kagame
Alexis Kagame was a Rwandan philosopher, linguist, historian, poet and Catholic priest. His main contributions were in the field of "ethnophilosophy" ....
. He argues that such an approach confuses the methods of anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
with those of philosophy, producing "a hybrid discipline without a recognizable status in the world of theory" ([1997], p.52). Part of the problem stems from that fact that ethnophilosophy is in large part a response to Western views of African thought; this polemical rôle works against its philosophical validity.
His approach has widened somewhat in later work; he still rejects ethnophilosophy as a genuine philosophical discipline, but he has moved towards more of a synthesis of traditional African thought and rigorous philosophical method.
Works by Hountondji
- Sur la "philosophie africaine" (1976: Paris, Maspéro) — featured on the list of Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century
- published in English (transl. H. Evans & J. Rée) as African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (1983: Bloomington, Indiana; Indiana University Press)
- second edition of the English version (with a preface by Hountondji), 1997
- "What can philosophy do?" (1987: Quest 1:2, pp 2–28)
- "Tradition, Hindrance, or Inspiration?"(2000: Quest XIV:1–2)
Hountondji, Paulin J. (éditeur), 1994 : Les Savoirs endogènes : pistes pour une recherche , Dakar, Editions du Codesria.
Hountondji, Paulin J., 1997 : Combat pour le sens ; un itinéraire africain, Cotonou, Editions du Flamboyant.
Hountondji, Paulin J. (éditeur), 1997: Endogenous Knowledge: research trails, Dakar, Editions du Codesria.
Hountondji, Paulin J. (éditeur), 2000 : Economie et société au Bénin, Paris, Editions L'Harmattan.
Hountondji, Paulin J., 2002: The struggle for meaning,: Reflections on Philosophy , Culture and Democracy in Africa, Athens, Ohio University Press.
Secondary literature
- F. Abiola IreleF. Abiola IreleFrancis Abiola Irele is a Nigerian academic who has been called the doyen of Africanist literary scholars worldwide. He is currently Provost at the newly-founded Kwara State University in Ilorin, Nigeria...
"Hountondji" (in Robert L. ArringtonRobert L. ArringtonRobert L. Arrington is an American philosopher, specialising in moral philosophy, the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of psychology....
[ed.] A Companion to the Philosophers (2001: Oxford, Blackwell) ISBN 0-631-22967-1 - Tsenay Serequeberhan The Hermeneutics of African Philosophy (1994: London, Routledge) ISBN 0-415-90802-7
See also
- African philosophyAfrican philosophyAfrican philosophy is used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate...
- List of African writers
- List of Beninese writers