Examining the nature of African logic

Abstract

The role of culture and custom in philosophy and logic is the centre point of this study. Therefore, the nature of African Logic explains how unique and peculiar it is in connection with the African world view. It establishes that the first step to understanding a people’s modus operandi and modus vivendi is to first of all, study and understand how they think and reason. Hence, people’s systematic way of reasoning explains their cosmological interaction peculiar to them. By doing this, one understands and know the reasons for every action taken and what it represents. This research examines African Logic as an imperative that explains and account for the cosmological experiences of the African people. Using critical analysis method, this work argues that Africans have been misunderstood and misrepresented in their thoughts because of the use of Western Logic to study and understand African people. Thus, it suggests that the best way to know Africans is to understand their worldview and Logic. This does not refute western logic but holds that its use in Africa as a standard to assess Africans is out of place and will not yield good results.