Different views, different alternatives: African philosophy unites our world of ideas

Abstract

Philosophy over the years has diverse subject matter and addresses various problems to the extent that it is considered an impossible task to distinguish rigidly and conclusively what counts as a philosophical problem. Even among traditions, there are different schools of thought each claiming to be radically different from the other. Rationalists are opposed to empiricists; idealism to realism. This poses a problem to our world because it can be argued that human knowledge will not be able to make progress when there is disunity of ideas. This paper then examines the notion of truth in an African thought alongside three traditional Western theories of truth, namely, the correspondence, coherence and pragmatic; and argues that the various interpretation of the Yoruba theory of truth helps to unite our world of ideas. The assumed disunity of ideas only indicates the different views of life and not a radical opposition of ideas.