Logic and African philosophy: seminal essays on African systems of thought

Besides this, Maimon’s own preference becomes clear: ‘Even though many philosophers of his time elevated the status of the genius, Maimon prioritized the methodical inventor, whose character had been celebrated in the prior century’ (ibid.). Chikurel’s book provides a clear, comprehensive insight into this important aspect of Maimon’s philosophy and its applicability to other fields of scientific knowledge. At the same time, she hints at the significance of Maimon’s theory of invention for his thinking in general and for philosophy as such by mentioning his ‘contribution to the process of human perfectibility and the advancement of knowledge’ (p. 155). Furthermore, Chikurel also states that Maimon’s theory goes well beyond questions of science and logic, since for him ‘invention is not only a popular topic in philosophy, but also a guiding principle of life’ (p. 5). At this point I would like to suggest that the distinction between philosophy and life may not fully work in this context, since the thought of the never-ending, incompletable process of human perfectibility – in knowledge and beyond, individually and generally – can be understood as the very core of Maimon’s own philosophy of life, or his philosophy of existence as striving for unachievable perfection, which may be seen as the underlying central motif of his ‘Nichtsystem’ (Maimon 1790/2004, 236).