History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

HAP 15 - Heard it Through the Grapevine - Oral Philosophy in Africa

An introduction to the “ethnophilosophy” approach inaugurated by Placide Tempels, its promises and potential pitfalls.

HAP 14 - Souleymane Bachir Diagne on Islam in Africa

Peter speaks to Souleymane Bachir Diagne about Islamic scholars in West Africa.

HAP 13 - Renewing the Faith - the Sokoto Caliphate

Uthman Dan Fodio and his family were scholars, poets, and warriors whose jihad in 19th century Nigeria created the Sokoto Caliphate.

HAP 12 - From Here to Timbuktu - Subsaharan Islamic Philosophy

The spread of Islamic scholarship in subsaharan Africa, focusing on intellectuals of the Songhay empire around the Niger River in the 15th-17th centuries.

HAP 11 - Teodros Kiros on Ethiopian Philosophy

Teodros Kiros discusses the history of Ethiopian thought and how it has influenced his own work in political philosophy.

HAP 10 - Think for Yourself - Walda Heywat

Walda Heywat’s reaction to the thought of his teacher Zera Yacob, and the dispute over the authenticity of these two Ethiopian philosophers.

HAP 09 - In You I Take Shelter - Zera Yacob

The 17th century Ethiopian rationalist Zera Yacob, hailed as the first modern Africana philosopher.

HAP 08 - Solomon, Socrates, and Other Sages - Early Ethiopian Philosophy

Philosophy in Ethiopia, with translations of religious and philosophical texts into Ge’ez and a national epic called the Kebra Nagast.

HAP 07 - Richard Parkinson on Egyptian Poetry

Egyptioogist Richard Parkinson joins us to talk about the context and meaning of the Eloquent Peasant and other literary works of ancient Egypt.

HAP 06 - Heated Exchanges - Philosophy in Egyptian Narratives and Dialogues

Demands for ma’at (justice or truth) and a confrontation with the soul, in the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant and Dispute Between a Man and his Ba.