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INTRODUCING AFRICAN SCIENCE

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Contents

Foreword............................................................viiPreface.............................................................xiDedication..........................................................xxiChapter One.........................................................1Introduction........................................................1Justification for African Science...................................6Watering the Ground.................................................8Chapter Two.........................................................13The Logic of African Science........................................13Chapter Three.......................................................35Space and the natural World.........................................35Matter and Anti-matter..............................................40Energy Crisis.......................................................44Chapter Four........................................................48Nature and Scientific Truth.........................................48Space and the Sub-natural World.....................................49Chapter Five........................................................52Methods of African Science..........................................52Chapter Six.........................................................64Criteria of African Science.........................................64Chapter Seven.......................................................70African Scientific Methodology......................................70Chapter Eight.......................................................74Some Theories of African Science....................................74Chapter Nine........................................................82Some Laws of African Science........................................82Chapter Ten.........................................................88African Logic and the Principle of Deniability......................88Chapter Eleven......................................................92Schools of African Science..........................................92The Metaphysics of African Experimental Science.....................94Chapter Twelve......................................................98Explanation in African Science......................................98Ijiomah's Model of Harmony of Contraries (IMHC).....................112Asouzu's Ibuanyidanda Model (AIM)...................................115Model of Causal Explanation (MCE)...................................116Postscript: The Challenge of African Science........................117Appendix............................................................123Some Relevant Literature............................................125Index...............................................................133

Chapter One

With skepticism we notice that empiricism is not clear enough and rationalism is not deep enough, but with both, we discover that skepticism is not strong enough. If one can argue that a piece of knowledge is more empirical then he cannot argue that it is more rational. If he can argue that it is more rational then it is not the case that he can at the same time argue that it is more empirical. Thus with this dilemma, skepticism becomes weakened. Based on this, the attempt of African scientific experience is to increase the horizon of our knowledge and decrease the landscape of our doubt. Western scientists are generally shy of admitting the metaphysical in their explanations because the classical two-valued logic of the western thought system as a tool is incapable of interpreting such extended framework. However, the fact remains that the metaphysical is part of reality as much as the physical. The field forces and quantum mechanics are just good examples on one hand and on the other hand the preference of Einsteinian relativity driven physics to the absolutist Newtonian physics is a shrewd albeit an abashed acceptance that reality transcends the physical. The modest western opinion is that these things are not yet explainable which is a polite way of saying, we have dabbled into the metaphysical and our logic cannot interpret or axiomatize our hypothesis and theories any longer. This makes people like Arthur Clarke to suggest that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". This is however false! The problem is due to the limitation of western classical logic which is absolutistic. J.M. Bochenski commenting on the relativity of logical systems states, "All this might be thought pure speculation on the part of logicians, of no importance for the day-to-day business of science. But that is not the case. In 1944 Reichenbach showed that quantum mechanics cannot be axiomatized without contradiction on the basis of "classical" logic (such as that of Principia Mathematica) but that it can be axiomatized straight-forwardly without contradiction in the framework of Lukasiewicz's three-valued logic (78)".

In African conception, reality consists of the physical, the non-physical as well as the union of the two. While the first two are partial forms of existence, the third is full. The three-valued trait in African thought system derives from this metaphysics and from it we obtain African logic which is three-valued in character. Chris Ijiomah in his theory of African logic tagged "harmonious monism" used it to explain healing in African science. One is healthy if there is equilibrium of his physical and non-physical aspects, and he is ill if there is disequilibrium. He is mentally retarded if the non-physical aspect dominates. If on the other hand the physical aspect dominates, such a person is useless and merely has a vegetative existence. The incantations of an African healer are therefore aimed at restoring the equilibrium of matter and spirit in the person. Andrew Uduigwomen and Chris Akpan on one hand and Kyrian Ojong on another, variously in their different works employed African logic to explain some healing processes of African orthopedics. One of such processes in healing bone dislocation or breakage would be to get a cock or a hen depending on the gender of the patient and cause similar bone injury to the chicken. As the healer massages the chicken and performs incantations, the human patient would be receiving the healing effect. In western science this would be a typical example of a no-contact force. This is however not the case in African science. There is contact! African metaphysics holds that all realities exist in a network of interconnection. What the healer does through incantations is called ontological transfer. In order to ameliorate the pains on the human patient, his non-physical aspect would be transferred to the chicken. This is accounted for in African science using the law of egwu-eji (see chapter nine). A western scientist would administer anesthetics which has some nasty side-effects. Humans have been known to die from such. For this, we say that African science not only thrives on simplicity but is a much safer practice. In massaging the chicken's joint, the physical injury is soothed, while the incantation brings back the exited spirit and attempts to restore the disequilibrium. Anyanwu and Ruch state that what African philosophy is supposed to do is to explain the principles behind our basic assumptions and thoughts. In much the same way, African logic explains the basic assumptions...