THE TASK OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE SEARCH FOR AFRICAN IDENTITY

Abstract

The crisis of identity looms around the African today because the contemporary Africans have lost their roots; they have almost lost the qualities that once made them who or what they were. This paper argues that the African identity is in danger of being totally lost by the present day Africans who are becoming more Europeans and less Africans due to the net-effects of the socalled ‘modern civilisation’ with its invasion of alien cultures and values. In the sequel, core values and cultural patterns that are unique to Africa have been on retreat hence the paper focuses on the search for African identity. But since the search will centre on self-discovery and recovery, the paper emphasises the task of African philosophy being a critical reflection on the African experience of reality with its goal of searching for the truth of the African. The interest of the paper therefore, is to determine the distinctive trait that characterises a person as African and build on it as a compass to regain the lost identity of the African. Keywords: African, African Identity, African Philosophy, ‘Being-with’.