ORALITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
The essay recognized that the place of oral tradition is so indispensable in the development of African philosophy and that such rational placement cannot be ignored in the process of the establishment of a literary tradition of knowledge. The oral tradition of every culture or society often precedes its written consciousness. Thus, every literary tradition is rooted and/or indebted to the oral traditions of the space from which it emanates or attempts to reflect. All fields of learning, be it science and technology, arts and humanities, necessarily evolved from oral tradition. In the same vein, oral tradition itself is a brain child of some contingent historical and socio-cultural facts that unavoidable inuences and informs the former. Premised on this basic understanding, the essay also critically exposes the place of oral tradition in the evolution, growth and development of African philosophical discourse. It argues that African philosophy evolved from ethno philosophy which was the oral stage, through sage philosophy, nationalistic ideological, to the present day contemporary professional philosophy. It concluded by arguing that, in spite of the shortcomings of oral tradition as pointed out by arguments advanced by antitraditionalists; it still remains an inviolable source and foundation of African philosophy, and indeed all philosophies.
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