On a contextual South African philosophy curriculum: Towards an option for the excluded

Abstract

Going beyond the contention that a radical methodological overhaul of doing and presenting philosophy in postcolonial Africa is required, we turn attention to the methodological complications and a possible ethical imperative this, in the South African national geo-cultural context, entails. Our argument is that before we demand a transformed Afrocentric education in line with the imperative for contextualisation, we need to address the implications of the existential reality of the heterogeneous nature of the South African cultural milieu and the consequent hermeneutic universe(s) this generates. The interrelated questions we are probing are: Given the culture-dependent nature of philosophy, and the extent of the clash of racially formed worldviews that make up South African society, post-contextualisation, is a decolonial South African national philosophical tradition or curriculum feasible? If feasible, what would be the most authentic form and expressions of such a philosophical tradition? If not, is our proposition of an ethical imperative for a pedagogic solidarity with the excluded epistemic communities and marginalised social classes a position our multiracial and multi-class academy are ready for?