Celebrating 9 of Africa’s legendary philosophers of all time

Henry Odera Oruka

The Kenyan philosopher is best known for “Sage Philosophy”, a project started in the 1970s as part of efforts to preserve the knowledge of the indigenous thinkers in traditional African communities. Having received his education in Kenya, Sweden and the United States, Oruka distinguishes what he calls four trends in African philosophy: ethnophilosophy, philosophic sagacity, nationalistic-ideological philosophy, and professional philosophy.

Oruka who passed away in 1995 held several distinguished positions including being the founder-president of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK); the secretary-general of African Futures Studies Association (AFSA); the secretary-general of the Afro-Asian Philosophical Association (AAPA); and the vice-president of the Inter-African Council of Philosophy (IACP).

Some of his major works include Ochieng’-Odhiambo, F: African Philosophy: An Introduction, Consolata Institute of Philosophy Press (1997), Odera Oruka, Henry: Ethics, Nairobi University Press (1990) OCLC23441714ISBN978-9966-846-04-4, Odera Oruka, Henry: Philosophy, Humanity and Ecology, African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) Press, (1994) ISBN 9966-41-086-4 and Odera Oruka, Henry: The Philosophy of Liberty, Standard Textbooks Graphics and Pub. (1996) ISBN9966-839-01-1