Bantu Wisdom as Transcendent Development: Establishing African Philosophical Bedrock

Abstract

This opening chapter of this special volume of Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations (REIO) opens the anthology by setting the foundation for an authentic African philosophy. This establishment of an ‘African Philosophical Bedrock’ serves as a fundamental point of departure and primer for Bantu Wisdom as Transcendent Development drawing on the works of transcendent Bantu philosophers concerned with realising the golden mean capable of reconciling the extreme contradictions inherent in the social ills afflicting Africa. These intellectual trailblazers include Stephen Bantu Biko, Frantz Fanon, and Anton Muziwakhe Lembede. The philosophical bedrock herein established consists of four philosophical delineations systematically arranged in the following orderly fashion: (1) Logic, (2) Metaphysics, (3) Axiology, and (4) Epistemology. After presenting and justifying the development of the bedrock, Bantu Wisdom and its associated key terms are conceptualised and defined in order to create a conceptual framework through which the problem of ‘Compound-Indignity’ may be understood and addressed. This chapter then comes to a close by introducing the idea of Transcendent Development and its harmonising essence – the golden mean – that reconciles antagonistic dualisms underpinning the ‘compound-indignity’ problem. As such, this chapter serves as a Transcendent Development paradigmatic primer and philosophical point of departure for the further development of authentic African ethics.

Citation

Thakhathi, A. (2022), "Bantu Wisdom as Transcendent Development: Establishing African Philosophical Bedrock", Thakhathi, A. (Ed.) Transcendent Development: The Ethics of Universal Dignity (Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, Vol. 25), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-209620220000025001