THE USE OF PHILOSOPHY IN ETHIOPIA: CULTIVATING IDENTITY FORMATION AND EMANCIPATORY IMPULSE

Abstract

Through a discussion of the historical trajectory within which modern philosophy in Ethiopia developed, the article situates the discussions of the spirit of cultural coexistence, the reflections on modernity, the process of state building, religion and modernity and the validity of indigenous traditions as the objects of analysis upon which social philosophizing in Ethiopia could take place within. Through such a discussion, it will be shown that the social function of philosophy in Ethiopia needs to be situated in the two-fold task of identity formation and the emergence of an emancipatory impulse. Concrete strategies for realizing such a function in terms of the development of curriculums, the cultivation of an interdisciplinary engagement between philosophy and other disciplines, community engagement, knowledge dissemination and the need to engage in an ethical and political reflection are identified.