History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

Hosea Easton’s Treatise provides an overlooked but fascinating theory of race and racism.

Maria W. Stewart’s public addresses bring the concerns of African American women into the struggle against racial prejudice.

David Walker defends violent resistance and encourages self-improvement in his incendiary and influential Appeal.

An interview with James Sidbury about the emergence of a self-conscious African identity in the diaspora.

Questions of political autonomy and group identity in the emigration movement led by Paul Cuffe, Daniel Coker, John Russwurm and others.

Building black institutions in early American history, with Prince Hall and the Masons in Boston, and Richard Allen and the Methodists in Philadelphia.

An interview with Doris Garraway on the background, intellectual basis, and legacy of the Haitian Revolution.

The Baron de Vastey unveils the horror of colonialism as a system and defends the monarchy of King Christophe in the tense early years of Haiti’s independence.

In an age of revolutions and revolutionary ideas, the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 stands out as the most radical of them all.

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano advance the goals of the abolitionist movement through a groundbreaking political treatise and an influential autobiography.

Ignatius Sancho and Benjamin Banneker make their mark on the history of Africana thought through letters that reflect on the power of sentiment.

Preacher and Revolutionary War soldier Lemuel Haynes argues that the principles of the American Revolution demand the abolition of slavery.

Phillis Wheatley astonishes colonial Americans with her exquisite and precocious poetry and reflects on the liberating power of the imagination.

18th century black authors touch on philosophical themes in autobiographical narratives, poetry, and other literary genres.

Justin E.H. Smith joins us to discuss Anton Wilhelm Amo against the background of ideas about race in early modern philosophy, including Leibniz.

Anton Wilhelm Amo, brought to Germany from his native Ghana, defends a rigorous dualism of mind and body. Was this philosophy connected to his African origins?

An introduction to Africana philosophical thought as it emerged from the modern experience of slavery and colonization by Europeans.

Co-host Chike Jeffers and Peter chat about the themes and questions raised by the podcast so far.

As the twentieth century draws to a close, the critique of ethnophilosophy gives way to approaches that continue to privilege the study of precolonial traditions.

An interview with Kai Kresse who discusses his efforts to do "anthropology of philosophy" on the Swahili Coast.

Henry Odera Oruka’s new method for exploring philosophy in Africa, based on interviews with wise individuals.

Paulin Hountondji and other African philosophers criticize ethnophilosophy and advocate a universalist approach.

An interview with Nkiru Nzegwu on matriarchy and gender fluidity in Africa.

What archeology and ethnography tell us about the diverse and often ambiguous roles of men and women in traditional African societies.

Special forms of knowledge and the explanation of misfortunes in African tradition.

Emphasis on the value of community as a major theme in African philosophy.

Traditional African ideas about personhood, which challenge assumptions about the relation between mind and body, self and other.

Is traditional African religion in some sense monotheist, despite the worship of many divinities?

John Mbiti’s influential and controversial claim that traditional Africans experience time as having “a long past, a present, and virtually no future.”

A conversation with Sam Imbo on approaching oral traditions as philosophy and the Ugandan thinker and poet Okot p'Bitek.

An introduction to the “ethnophilosophy” approach inaugurated by Placide Tempels, its promises and potential pitfalls.

Peter speaks to Souleymane Bachir Diagne about Islamic scholars in West Africa.

Uthman Dan Fodio and his family were scholars, poets, and warriors whose jihad in 19th century Nigeria created the Sokoto Caliphate.

The spread of Islamic scholarship in subsaharan Africa, focusing on intellectuals of the Songhay empire around the Niger River in the 15th-17th centuries.

Teodros Kiros discusses the history of Ethiopian thought and how it has influenced his own work in political philosophy.

Walda Heywat’s reaction to the thought of his teacher Zera Yacob, and the dispute over the authenticity of these two Ethiopian philosophers.

The 17th century Ethiopian rationalist Zera Yacob, hailed as the first modern Africana philosopher.

Philosophy in Ethiopia, with translations of religious and philosophical texts into Ge’ez and a national epic called the Kebra Nagast.

Egyptioogist Richard Parkinson joins us to talk about the context and meaning of the Eloquent Peasant and other literary works of ancient Egypt.

Demands for ma’at (justice or truth) and a confrontation with the soul, in the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant and Dispute Between a Man and his Ba.

Ethical reflection in ancient Egyptian grave inscriptions and in works of instruction, such as the Maxims of Ptahhotep and the Instructions named for Amenemope, Ani, and Merikare.

Ancient Egyptian figures and writings including the Pyramid Texts, Imhotep, and the "first monotheist" Akhenaten reflect on the nature of things and questions of morality.

Do the cuneiform writings of Babylonian culture show that it had its own philosophy?

Might philosophy be as old as humankind as we know it? We investigate the implications of findings concerning the origins of humankind in Africa.

Chike Jeffers and Peter Adamson kick off the new series by explaining the scope and meaning of "Africana philosophy".

The host of the History of India podcast joins us for the final episode on India. Coming next: Africana philosophy!

A whirlwind tour of developments in Indian philosophy after Dignāga and a few words about the contemporary relevance of the tradition.

The impact of ancient Indian thought upon the Muslim scholar al-Bīrūnī and upon European thinkers like Hume, Hegel, and Schopenhauer.

Did Indian ideas play a role in shaping ancient Greek philosophy?

An interview with Amber Carpenter about the status of nonhuman animals in ancient Indian philosophy and literature.