About this episode

The episode explores African philosophy's perspective on the meaning of life with Dr. Aribiah David Attoe.

The meaning of life is, as Albert Camus put it, the most urgent question in philosophy – the one on which everything else depends. Yet, when Western philosophy looks to answer this question, it paces up and down the same old libraries – the same shelves filled with the same assumptions about what counts as a self, a good life, and what happens after death. African philosophy of religion has been neglected in this area. Not because it has nothing to say – but because we haven't been listening. Today, we'll be exploring this tradition – that is, African philosophy – on the meaning of life with Dr Aribiah David Attoe, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Dr Attoe has published several books – including The Question of Life's Meaning: An African Perspective, and African Perspectives to the Question of Life's Meaning – as well as numerous articles and special journal issues on today's topic, bringing these globally neglected traditions into dialogue with mainstream philosophy. In this episode, we'll explore what it means to live meaningfully with others – not merely alongside them. We'll ask how harmony differs from conformity, and whether…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jack Symes, Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, Rose de Castellane, Gregory Mill

Guest: Aribiah David Attoe

Topics covered

• African philosophy
• meaning of life
• philosophy of religion
• communal ideals
• life and death
• harmony vs conformity

Keywords

• African philosophy
• meaning of life
• philosophy
• communal ideals
• life and death
• harmony
• conformity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of the Witwatersrand

Books & works: The Question of Life's Meaning: An African Perspective, African Perspectives to the Question of Life's Meaning

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