Hegel\'s Eurocentrism: An African philosophical response

http:// www.definition-of.net/eurocentrism Accessed: 25th September 2011.
G. W. F. HEGEL, The philosophy of History, trans. J. SIBREE, The Colonial Press, New York, 1900, 1- 2.
F. O. ODHIAMBO, African Philosophy: An Introduction, Revised Edition., Consolata Institute of Philosophy Press, Nairobi 1997, 2.
M. M. MAKUMBA, Introduction to African Philosophy, Pauline Publication Africa, Nairobi 2007, 37- 38.
G. W. F. HEGEL, The philosophy of History, 103.
G. W. F. HEGEL, The Philosophy of Right: The Philosophy of History, trans. J. SIBREE, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. United States 1952, 199.
J. INYANG. Hegel's Idea of Absolute and African Philosophy, available at:
http:// www.frasouzu.com/ Accessed: 2 8th September 2011.
G. W. F. HEGEL, The Philosophy of Right: The Philosophy of History, 196.
G. W. F. HEGEL, The philosophy of History, 93.
F. O. ODHIAMBO, African Philosophy, 3- 4.
F.O. ODHIAMBO, African Philosophy, 6.
G. W. F. HEGEL, The Philosophy of Right: The Philosophy of History, 196.
J. B. REICHMANN, Philosophy of the Human Person, Loyola Press, Chicago 1985, 240- 241.
O. WILLIAM, trans. On Parts of Animals, in Introduction to Aristotle, 2nd edn., R. McKEON, The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London 1973, 263.
J. S. MBITI, African Religion and Philosophy, East African Education al Publishers, Nairobi 1969, 1.
F. O. ODHIAMBO, African Philosophy, 26.
F. O. ODHIAMBO, African Philosophy, 30.
M. N. NKEMNKIA, African Vitalogy: A Step forward in African Thinking, Pauline Publications, Nairobi 1999, 95.
M. N. NKEMNKIA, African Vitalogy, 95- 96.
M. N. NKEMNKIA, African Vitalogy, 83- 86.
K. WIREDU, "How not to compare African thought with Western thought" in An Introduction to African Philosophy, P.H. COETZEE– MES VAN DEN BERG, eds., University of South Africa, Pretoria 1995, 172.
Introduction
Attempts have been made by some Western thinkers to show that Africa as a continent is naturally inferior and enormously lacks the means that can contribute to the progress of humanity in any sphere of life. These Western philosophers present views which in context and content, indicate that the European world is highly developed in culture, social, economical, political and philosophical enterprise than Africa. This standpoint of viewing the world from a European perspective and the belief in the preeminence of its culture is referred to as Eurocentrism. One of the prominent proponents of Eurocentrism is G.W.F Hegel. African philosophers on the other hand, have and still endeavor in their own right to respond to the derogatory views leveled against Africa as a continent, against its culture, civilization and intellectual thought.
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to give a response to the Eurocentrism of Georg. W. F Hegel. Firstly, we are going to present the Eurocentric ideas of the said philosopher vis-à-vis his conception of Africa. Secondly, we will attempt to respond to the position taken by Hegel by employing the views of African philosophers concerning the matter and other appropriate standpoints external to the African perspective.
Eurocentrism of Georg W. F. Hegel and his conception of Africa
Hegel in one of his theses, Philosophy of History, discuses a theme entitled 'philosophical history of the world', in which he critically and more explicitly extols Ancient Greece for its purported intellectual advancement and cradle of civilization and denigrates Africans whom he sees as children in the forest, unaffected by the movement of history. He contends that history is not merely a collection of past records or events that occurs coincidentally rather it is the manifestation of Reason which directs all realities towards their full realization or freedom. Reason then intervenes in a more continuous dialectical way in reality which is the platform upon which Reason exhibits its power in nature and in human actions and history. Hence Reason is historical, for through history, it advances from one stage to another toward its ultimate goal of fuller realization enhanced by rational freedom. Hegel further argues that, "the history of the world travels from East to West, for Europe is absolutely the end of history […]".
On account of the immediate preceding observation, Hegel outright detaches Africa from the history of the world, stating that "it is not historical part of the world; it has no movement or development to exhibit." Thus he deduces that Africans have no rationality and neither do they have culture nor religion. In addition, he conceives an African as one who does everything except the ability to reflect philosophically because he or she lacks the thought pattern suitable for this activity.
Consequently, for further analysis and conception of Africa, Hegel divides it in three broad categories.
One is that which lies south of the desert Sahara– Africa proper– the upland almost entirely unknown to us with narrow tracks along the sea; the second is that to the north of the desert – European Africa (if we may so call it), a coastland; the third is the river region of the Nile, the only valley– land of Africa, and which is in connection with Asia.

Hegel contends that Africa proper is different from European Africa and the river region of the Nile. The difference lies in its innocence of reason. Hegel further states that "in Negro life the characteristic point is that consciousness has not yet attained to the realization of any substantial objective existence as for example God […]". Consequently, an African proper is projected towards himself and that he cannot conceptualize things outside his being. In addition, he is tied up to the subjective level of knowledge. Hence he has no knowledge of God, or regard for a higher being, which results in him not having a religion but believes in magic and sorcery. In conclusion Hegel declares that, "what is properly understood by Africa, is the unhistorical, underdeveloped Reason still involved in the conditions of mere nature […]".
Response
It is observed from the outset that Hegel never came to Africa, thus he largely depended for his source of information pertaining Africa on the missionaries who maintained that Africans had no culture, because what they saw in Africa, did not correspond to European culture. This biased assertion, greatly influenced Hegel who in turn erroneously developed unsubstantiated views on Africa that do not reflect the objective picture and reality about Africa and its people and culture. It is against this backdrop that renders Hegel's unwarranted theory on Africa null and void as he himself overtly admits that he has no knowledge about it when he asserts that "proper Africa is unknown and shut up".
Rationality cannot be denied of Africans, because doing so is tantamount to reducing Africans who are fully human beings to animals. As human beings they are endowed with the rational elements that distinguish them from animals such as reflective self-consciousness which enables them to know who they are, realize their essence and study not only themselves but other things as well. Aristotle in his definition of man stated that "man is a rational animal endowed with intellect." The very fact that Africans belong to the species of mankind qualifies them to be rational animals distinct from instinctual animals. Hence Hegel contradicts himself when he negates rationality in Africans while he continues to refer to them as human persons. In a similar vein, it is equally unfounded to postulate that Africans have no religion because as Mbiti observes, "Africans are notoriously religious […]; religion permeates into all the departments of life so fully that it is not easy or possible always to isolate it". Implying that, religious practices and beliefs characterize all the spheres of their lives. It is through these cults, religious symbols, and rituals synonymous with what the Westerners refer to as sacramentals and sacraments that Africans transcend to give reverence to the higher being, God. Hegel due to his ignorance of the nature of African religions reduces them to magic and sorcery which are clearly contrary to pure African religious practices.
Hegel asserts that Greece is the cradle of civilization and philosophical thinking and denies Africa of these aspects of development. His quick reaction to slice off Egypt from the rest of Africa is highly suspicious and implicitly gives evidence to the fact that Africa is originally the cradle of civilization. It is plausible that Hegel was acquainted with the immensity of the Egyptian civilization and intellectual pursuit. Henry Olela in his work, From Ancient Africa to ancient Greece, as quoted by Odhiambo, demonstrates that the Greek and Western philosophy in general, had its root in Africa particularly ancient Egypt. He argues that the African education system in particular Egyptian, which composed of seven stages with equally seven exams inspired Plato on his visit to Egypt, who later formed the same system where he trained philosophers.
Georg James accentuates the above argument in his book, Stolen Legacy, when he states that Greece is not the cradle of civilization rather it is Africa; because the purported Greek period of philosophy was characterized by internal and external wars inappropriate for rational inquiry. He further charges that Aristotle reworked and publicized the works he found in the Egyptian library at Alexandria when Alexander the great conquered it. Thus, he concludes that the Greeks are renowned for the civilization that is originally alien to their culture and traditional worldviews. In the same line, the rejection of African philosophy and culture by Hegel lack critical and objective basis. According to Anyanwu, "every thought of an individual, ethnic group or of a nation regarding African philosophy is truly an African philosophy." He further contends that African philosophy is that which is rooted on foundations and general principles governing and defining the culture and community of the African people; which they consciously know and justify as their basis for survival. Paulin J. Houndtonji shares the same sentiment and insists that African philosophy does exist peculiarly in an African context and its meaning should not be restricted to the arguments or question considered common to all human beings by the Western philosophy because method varies from culture to culture.

Conclusion
Hegel's biased view on the African people, their intellectual make-up, culture and religion as noted above, sways off the professional and disinterested approach one must employ in dealing with other people of different history and perception of reality. The response given to his Eurocentric views on Africa in this discussion, sufficiently illustrates that Africans are a unique race endowed with the necessary abilities and capabilities that they use to exploit their potentialities in all areas of their lives as human beings. Hegel's grave mistake in his assertions is judging Africans on the basis of the development of his European culture. Development in terms of technology as Kwasi Wiredu observes, is just one aspect and not the core of cultural advancement. To say that Africans have no technology hence they are culturally undeveloped is to reduce the essence of culture to its properties. What is paramount is that Africans have a culture that defines who they are as Africans in relation to how they perceive reality and strives to progress in making life meaningful.
Therefore, Hegel's Eurocentrism should be rejected, isolated and taken as an attempt to stereotype Africans and deny them of their full conscious humanity.




Bibliography
HEGEL, G. W. F., The philosophy of History, trans., J. SIBREE, The Colonial Press, New York, 1900.
____________, The Philosophy of Right: The Philosophy History, trans. J. SIBREE, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. United States 1952.
MAKUMBA, M. M., Introduction to African Philosophy, Pauline Publication Africa, Nairobi 2007.
MBITI, J. S., African religion and Philosophy, East African Education al Publishers, Nairobi 1969.
WILLIAM O., trans. On Parts of Animals, in Introduction to Aristotle, 2nd edn., R. McKEON, The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London 1973.
NKEMNKIA, M. N., African Vitalogy: A Step forward in African Thinking, Pauline Publications, Nairobi 1999.
ODHIAMBO, F. O., African Philosophy: An Introduction, Revised Edition, Consolata Institute of Philosophy Press, Nairobi 1997.
REICHMANN, J. B., Philosophy of the Human Person, Loyola Press, Chicago 1985.
WIREDU, K., "How not to compare African thought with Western thought" in An Introduction to African Philosophy, P.H. COETZEE– MES VAN DEN BERG, eds., University of South Africa, Pretoria 1995.


Electronic Sources

http:// www.definition-of.net/eurocentrism Accessed: 25th September 2011.
INYANG, J., Hegel's Idea of Absolute and African Philosophy, available at: http:// www.frasouzu.com/ Accessed: 2 8th September 2011.