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== Pre-modern African philosophy ==

== Pre-modern African philosophy ==

We start with yet another distinction: that between philosophers and philosophy.  [[Paulin J. Hountondji]] has argued that, without a written language: “thousands of Socrates could never have given birth to Greek philosophy... so thousands of philosophers without written works could never have given birth to an African philosophy” (Hountondji, p.106; quoted in Kwame, Introduction, p.xx).  Joseph I. Omoregbe's broad definition of a philosopher as, "one who devotes a good deal of his time reflecting on <nowiki>[</nowiki> fundamental questions about human life or the physical universe<nowiki>] </nowiki> and who frequently and habitually does this” (Omoregbe, p.4), and though no clearly articulated and documented philosophy exists, there is still a philosophical tradition.  Put simply, even if there were no known African philosophers, there was African philosophy.

We start with yet another distinction: that between philosophers and philosophy.  [[Paulin J. Hountondji]] has argued that, without a written language: “thousands of Socrates could never have given birth to Greek philosophy... so thousands of philosophers without written works could never have given birth to an African philosophy” (Hountondji, p.106; quoted in Kwame, Introduction, p.xx).  Joseph I. Omoregbe's broad definition of a philosopher as, "one who devotes a good deal of his time reflecting on <nowiki>[</nowiki> fundamental questions about human life or the physical universe<nowiki>] </nowiki> and who frequently and habitually does this” (Omoregbe, p.4), and though no clearly articulated and documented philosophy exists, there is still a philosophical tradition.  Put simply, even if there were no known African philosophers, there was African philosophy.