Mazungumzo: Dialogues between African and Western Philosophies

In political and scientific debates, the current era is often called 'the era of multiculturalism'. Philosophy has so far mostly stayed out of these debates. Wrongly so, because philosophy should also seriously address this issue. Heinz Kimmerle takes on this task by working out the 'foundations of intercultural philosophy'. From this perspective, he conducts dialogues in this book (Mazungumzo means dialogue in Swahili) on key concepts in African and Western philosophies. In two introductory chapters, an overview is given of current African philosophy, its roots and method. This is followed by treatises on the concepts of truth, time, community, development, socialism and democracy, aesthetics and morality, the invisible world of spirits and finally death. The aim is not only to compare these concepts from different spheres of thought, but also to investigate how they complement each other and can increase the possibilities for an adequate treatment of the problems facing philosophy in Africa, in the West and in other parts of the world.