7 - Horton Revisited: African Traditional Thought and Western Science
Corresponding Author(s) : Lansana Keita
Africa Development,
Vol. 32 No. 4 (2007): Africa Development
Abstract
Over the years Robin Horton has argued for what he refers to as the ‘continuity thesis’ according to which there are theoretical similarities between African tra- ditional thought and modern Western science. Horton’s thesis stands in contrast to the standard Western anthropological appraisal of traditional African thought. The standard appraisal (Levy-Bruhl, Durkheim, Evans-Pritchard, et al.) stated that the two modes of thought were incommensurate. I argue that while the continuity thesis holds for certain aspects of African thought – empirical, proto- scientific and metaphysical – it does not apply to traditional African religious expression. My thesis here is that belief systems founded on magic, religion and their combinations should be understood as belonging to what might be referred to as general metaphysics. I argue too that if the continuity thesis is to apply to the history of thought in Africa then the more apt comparison should be between the different phases of technological and scientific thought of the West. Thus Horton’s claim that traditional African religious thought is configured accord- ing to the goals of explanation, prediction and control thereby putting it on the same epistemic plane as modern Western science is thereby rendered irrelevant. On the other hand the goal of traditional African religion like that of many other religious traditions – including those of the West – has principally been to seek a conscious communion with ancestors and anthropomorphised godheads and spiritual entities of the metaphysical realm.
Lansana Keita, University of the Gambia, The Gambia and BARA, University of Arizona, USA.
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- Ascher, E., 1991, ‘Modes de pensée: L’universel dans le particulier’, in Yvonne Preiswerk and Jacques Vallet, eds., La Pensée métisse, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
- De Barros, P., 1997, ‘Ironworking in its Cultural Context’, in Joseph Vogel, ed., Encylopedia of Precolonial Africa, Walnut Creek, California: Altamira Press. Diop, C.A., 1991, Civilization or Barbarism, New York: Lawrence Hill Books.
- Evans-Pritchard, E. E., 1937, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Evans-Pritchard, E. E., 1956, Nuer Religion, Oxford: Clarendon Press. Feyerabend, P., 1975, Against Method, London: New Left Books.
- Frazer, J.G., 1967, The Golden Bough, London: Macmillan.
- Horton, R., 1997, ‘A Definition of Religion and its Uses’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Horton, R., 1997, ‘African Traditional Thought and Western Science’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Horton, R., 1997, ‘Back to Frazer’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Horton, R., 1997, ‘Levy Bruhl, Durkheim and the Scientific Revolution’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- Horton, R., 1997, ‘Postscript’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Horton, R., 1997, ‘Tradition and Modernity Revisited’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Kuhn, T., 1962, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- Levy-Bruhl, L., 1910, Les fonctions mentales dans les societés inférieures, Paris: Alcan.
- Levy-Bruhl, L., 1922, La mentalité primitive, Paris: Alcan.
- McBrearty, S. and Brooks, A.S., 2000, ‘The Revolution that Wasn’t: A New Interpretation of the Origin of Modern Human Behavior’, Journal of Human Evolution 39.
- Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
- Rorty, R., 1980, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Sarton, G., 1936, The Study of the History of Mathematics and the Study of the History of Science, New York: Dover Publications.
- Sarton, G., 1952, A History of Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Seligman, K., 1948, History of Magic, New York: Pantheon Books.
References
Ascher, E., 1991, ‘Modes de pensée: L’universel dans le particulier’, in Yvonne Preiswerk and Jacques Vallet, eds., La Pensée métisse, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
De Barros, P., 1997, ‘Ironworking in its Cultural Context’, in Joseph Vogel, ed., Encylopedia of Precolonial Africa, Walnut Creek, California: Altamira Press. Diop, C.A., 1991, Civilization or Barbarism, New York: Lawrence Hill Books.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E., 1937, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E., 1956, Nuer Religion, Oxford: Clarendon Press. Feyerabend, P., 1975, Against Method, London: New Left Books.
Frazer, J.G., 1967, The Golden Bough, London: Macmillan.
Horton, R., 1997, ‘A Definition of Religion and its Uses’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Horton, R., 1997, ‘African Traditional Thought and Western Science’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Horton, R., 1997, ‘Back to Frazer’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Horton, R., 1997, ‘Levy Bruhl, Durkheim and the Scientific Revolution’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Horton, R., 1997, ‘Postscript’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Horton, R., 1997, ‘Tradition and Modernity Revisited’, in Robin Horton, ed., Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, T., 1962, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Levy-Bruhl, L., 1910, Les fonctions mentales dans les societés inférieures, Paris: Alcan.
Levy-Bruhl, L., 1922, La mentalité primitive, Paris: Alcan.
McBrearty, S. and Brooks, A.S., 2000, ‘The Revolution that Wasn’t: A New Interpretation of the Origin of Modern Human Behavior’, Journal of Human Evolution 39.
Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Rorty, R., 1980, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Sarton, G., 1936, The Study of the History of Mathematics and the Study of the History of Science, New York: Dover Publications.
Sarton, G., 1952, A History of Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Seligman, K., 1948, History of Magic, New York: Pantheon Books.