NOUN Vice-Chancellor Challenges Western Knowledge, Defends African Philosophy

The Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, has questioned the long-standing Cartesian model of knowledge, arguing that African philosophy offers a stronger tradition of relational thinking.

Uduma stated this earlier today, July 9, during the Department of Philosophy’s 3rd Lecture Series in Abuja, themed “Relational Thinking: On the Challenges of Relational Epistemologies.”

Speaking virtually, Uduma said his remarks reflected both his role as a philosopher and the head of an institution dedicated to advancing knowledge.

He posed a series of fundamental questions, asking: “What does it mean to know? Who is the knower? Under what conditions is knowledge possible? What is the relationship between the individual, the community, and truth?”

The Professor of Logic maintained that modern epistemology has, for centuries, been shaped by the ideas of French philosopher René Descartes, where knowledge is viewed as the product of an independent and rational individual.

“Whether through rationalism or empiricism, knowledge was often conceived as the achievement of an individual consciousness seeking certainty through detached reflection or sensory experience,” he said.

Uduma argued that such an approach separates the individual from history, culture, language and community. He insisted that African philosophy has always embraced a different tradition.

“Across the continent, relationality has long constituted a foundational principle of metaphysics, ethics, politics, and epistemology,” he said. “African philosophy does not approach relational thinking as a newly discovered intellectual fashion. It approaches it as one of its enduring philosophical inheritances.”

Earlier, Acting Head of the Department of Philosophy, Dr Helen T. Olujede, presented the citation of the guest lecturer, Prof. Anke Graness of the University of Hildesheim, Germany, whose research focuses on the history of philosophy, African philosophy, intellectual history, global justice and feminist theory.

The two-hour virtual lecture also featured an interactive question-and-answer session moderated by Dr Uduagwu and Dr Afoka, while Dr Umar Bala rounded off the event with a recap of the key arguments presented.