African Philosophers of Science and History in the 19th Century
The Struggle for Progress
African Philosophers of Science and History in the 19th Century
The Struggle for Progress
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Description
Can modernity be severed from its historical association with colonialism and racism?
Zeyad El Nabolsy examines the writings of two nineteenth-century African philosophers, Rifa?a al-Tahtawi and James Africanus Beale Horton, to answer this question. El Nabolsy focuses on their reception of modern science as it developed in Europe from the early modern period onwards, as well as their understanding of progress in human history. El Nabolsy argues that, far from being mentally colonized, both Rifa?a al-Tahtawi and James Africanus Beale Horton had good reasons for believing in the universal validity of modern scientific knowledge and in the possibility of a truly universal philosophy of history centred on the belief in progress. The book shows that al-Tahtawi and Horton successfully severed philosophies of history centred on progress from their historical association with justifications of racism and colonialism.
This book rejects exoticizing discourses on African philosophy in favour of a historical contextualist approach to the study of African philosophy. By integrating West and North African philosophy into our histories of modern philosophy, this study illuminates how African philosophy can contribute to discussions of key questions in philosophy of history, philosophy of science, and philosophy of
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Horton and the African Appropriation of Victorian Science
1.1 Horton in Context
1.2 The Counter Revolution in Victorian Anthropology
1.3 Robert Knox's Racialist Philosophy of History
1.4 James Hunt and the Anthropological Society of London
1.5 Horton and the Anthropological Threat to Missionary Education
1.6 Horton's Deployment of Baconianism as an anti-Racist Philosophy of Science
1.7 Horton, Darwinism, and the Explanatory Limits of Race
Chapter 2: Tahtawi's Reception of Modern Science
2.1 The Use and Abuse of the Decline Narrative
2.2 Tahtawi on the 'Rational Sciences' in Egypt
2.3 Tahtawi and the Fate of Aristotle's Categories
2.4 Tahtawi on Copernican Astronomy and the Problem of Instrumentalism
2.5 Tahtawi and the Debate about Modern Science
Chapter 3: Horton's Non-Racialist Philosophy of History
3.1 Horton on Progress in Human History
3.2 The Ancient World and the Historicity of Racism
3.3 Perfectibility and Inter-Societal Contact
3.4 Horton and the Debate about Mental Colonization
3.5 Horton's Critique of Slavery and Proposal for a West African Reconstruction
3.6 The Fante Confederation and the Struggle against Feudalism
3.7 Horton and the Problem of 'Africanity' in Contemporary African Philosophy
Chapter 4: Tahtawi's Neo-Khaldunian Philosophy of History
4.1 Napoleon's Invasion and the Intellectual Crisis in Egypt
4.2 Tahtawi on Work and Education
4.3 Tahtawi on Equality and Citizenship
4.4 Freedom and Inter-Societal Contact
4.5 Tahtawi's Ranking of Human Societies
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Product details
| Published | Jan 21 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 296 |
| ISBN | 9781350636095 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Dimensions | 234 x 156 mm |
| Series | Bloomsbury Studies in World Philosophies |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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