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Call for Publications Theme: Handbook of African Philosophy Subtitle: Traditional and Emerging Subject Areas Publication: Edited Volume published by Springer Date: 2019 Deadline: 30.8.2018 __________________________________________________ Summary African philosophy as an area of research and inquiry has no doubt emerged and thrived as a vibrant, active and interesting academic discipline since the 1950s. Volumes of books and journal articles have been written and numerous conferences and other academic activities organised on the nature, methods, themes, issues and problems of African philosophy. In fact, in the last two to three decades, there has been a tremendous increase in scholarship of African philosophy. More recently too, Universities and other tertiary institutions both in African and non-African places such as in Europe, the United States and Canada are seeking more than ever to fill some academic positions with persons specialised in and qualified enough to teach African/Africana philosophy in particular and non-Western philosophy in general. The interest in African philosophy in the global academia is no doubt growing and there are clear evidences that this is a continuous and sustained(able) growth. But African philosophy like Western philosophy is a very broad area of inquiry covering a very broad spectrum of discourses with different subject areas and fields that an injustice is done to it to think and talk about it in a narrow sense as if it is one sub-field of say, (Western) philosophy of culture. This narrow understanding of African philosophy is however the idea that many have about it. In the relatively small period of time I have researched and taught African philosophy in Universities (more than a decade), undergraduate and postgraduate students alike often have this narrow perception of African philosophy as a short course they need to take to understand African thought amidst many other courses on different subject areas of (Western) philosophy. They become amazed and sometimes lost when you introduce them to different subject areas of African philosophy such as African ethics, African metaphysics/ontology, African epistemology, African aesthetic philosophy, African logic and African philosophy of difference that it takes a lot of efforts to bring them to speed when compared to the efforts you expend in doing same when teaching these students Western philosophy. The same attitude is easily experienced when you first introduce a non-African scholar in philosophy to African philosophy. African philosophers therefore still have a lot of work to do in presenting a clear and accurate picture of African philosophy to students and researchers of African philosophy and the global academia. Thankfully, there are now a number of essays and chapters in edited books that can be subsumed into specific subject areas in African philosophy such as metaphysics, epistemology, environmental philosophy, feminism, bioethics, logic, aesthetics, political philosophy, philosophy of race, philosophy of colonialism and philosophy of difference. The essays contained in such very recent volumes as Isaac E. Ukpokolo (Ed.), Themes, Issues and Problems in African Philosophy (2017); Adeshina Afolayan & Toyin Falola (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of African Philosophy (2017); and Edwin E. Etieyibo (Ed.), Method, Substance and the Future of African Philosophy (2018), readily comes to mind. However, the subject areas of the contents of these essays are not explicitly stated but are simply discussed under the heading of African philosophy. This makes their subject areas more likely to be deciphered by relatively advanced researchers in African philosophy than undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as new researchers in African philosophy. The need to shift focus from researching and discussing African philosophy as a general subject area to researching and discussing it within its delimited specific aspects is therefore very essential. It will promote specialisation in these specific subject areas in African philosophy and allow a robust and comprehensive discussion of topics within such specific subject areas such as ethics, metaphysics and epistemology to ensue. As a necessary prerequisite to achieving this, it is important that it is clear to undergraduate and postgraduate students and early researchers in African philosophy what the different subject areas in African philosophy are, how they are conceptualised, what the focal issues within such subject areas are and what future developments within such areas are envisaged. Such clarifications would pave the way for further more robust research. The Handbook of African Philosophy: Traditional and Emerging Subject Areas is designed and structured as an essential reference material to fill the obvious gap. The volume attempts to provide an important reference material for undergraduate and postgraduate students and early researchers in African philosophy on the nature, scope, themes, problems and future developments of specific subject areas or fields of African philosophy. Three key questions for each chapter Each chapter of the book should as a matter of necessity focus on providing answers to three (3) key questions concerning a specific subject area of African philosophy: 1. What has been the central questions(s) driving the specific subject area of African philosophy you are writing on (e.g., African ethics) and what hav been the primary focal points of this field? 2. What are some of the themes and problems discussed under this subject area and which of them would you be discussing in your chapter as points of instantiation and illustration? 3. What future directions of thought and development do you think this specific subject area in African philosophy would experience? Chapter title and structure - The title of each chapter should be simple and straight to the point regarding the specific subject area of African philosophy you are working on such as ‘African Ethics’, ‘African Epistemology’, ‘African Logic’, and ‘African Philosophy of Communalism’ - Each chapter should have a similar structure consisting of a. Title b. Summary c. Introduction d. Body (which would consist of various headings as you deem fit) e. Conclusion f. References Suggested Chapters Suggested chapters for the volume include but are not limited to the following: - African Metaphysics - African Epistemology - African Ethics - African Logic - African Political Philosophy - African Environmental Philosophy - African Aesthetics - African Philosophy of Medicine - African Bioethics - African Philosophy of Religion - African Philosophy of Race - African Philosophy of Colonialism - African Philosophy of Communalism - African Philosophy of Language - African Gender/Feminist Philosophy - African Philosophy of Difference - African Philosophy of Disability - African Philosophy of Culture - African Philosophy of Music - African Philosophy of Film - African Philosophy of Development - African Philosophy of Education - African Philosophy of Literature - African Philosophy of Food - African Philosophy of Law Notes for Contributors Contributions of chapters on any of these areas and similar subject areas in African philosophy are invited. Manuscript should be prepared as Microsoft Word document, double-spaced, Time New Roman font style and font size 12. The first page should contain the title of chapter, author’s names and affiliation, email address, summary of the chapter and biographical details of the author. The main work should be between 7,000 to 10,000 words. The Springer Humanities Style should be used for referencing. Manuscript should be sent to: [email protected] or [email protected]. Important dates Deadline for submission of title and summary only: August 30, 2018 Notification of accepted topics and abstracts: September 30, 2018 Deadline for submission of complete paper: March 15, 2019 Notification of accepted papers/submission to Springer April 30, 2019 About the Editor Dr Elvis Imafidon teaches in the Department of Philosophy, Ambrose Alli University in Nigeria. He is 2017 Writing Fellow of the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Study (JIAS), University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research centres on African ontology, ethics and African philosophy of difference. He is concerned with the extent to which African concepts of reality affect the African idea of the good, and the implications of African ontology for concepts such as corruption, otherness, disability, difference, personhood and gender. He is the author of White Skin, Black Race: a Philosophical Examination of Albinism in Africa (Routledge, Forthcoming 2018), and The Question of the Rationality of African Traditional Thought: An Introduction (CreateSpace 2013) He is the editor of Ontologized Ethics: New Essays in African Meta-ethics (Lexington Books, 2013), The Ethics of Subjectivity: Perspectives since the Dawn of Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), and The Handbook of African Philosophy of Difference (Springer, Forthcoming 2018). He is also the editor of the journal of the Department of Philosophy, Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria, Ewanlen: A Journal of Philosophical Inquiry. Contact: Dr Elvis Imafidon Department of Philosophy Ambrose Alli University Nigeria Email: [email protected] or [email protected] __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ __________________________________________________
