Contemporary African Philosophy of Religion: Emerging Issues and Perspectives

This book introduces fundamental questions and problems driving debates in contemporary African philosophy of religion, which has emerged recently as one of the most vibrant new fields of African philosophy. The chapters in this book respond to African God-talk and approach questions like the nature of God, the problem of evil, death and immortality, transhumanism, moral enhancement, atheism, meaningful existence, and the decolonisation of African religious concepts. This book reflects the diversity of voices and perspectives in the literature with its critical focus on such themes as the extent of the powers of the limited God, schools of thought in contemporary African philosophy of religion, the monotheistic credentials of African Traditional Religion (ATR), and the panpsychist presuppositions of African philosophy and ATR. The book addresses the possibility of immortality, the good life, decolonising the concept of Esu, Igbo notions of the person and the problem of evil, and transhumanist ideals and the limited harmony-God. Finally, the book highlights the significance of theosophical debate between the African perfect God perspective championed by philosophers like John S. Mbiti, Kwame Gyekye, and Ebunoluwa O. Oduwole, and the African limited God view defended by philosophers like Kwasi Wiredu, Okot p’Bitek, John A.I. Bewaji, Ada Agada, and Aribiah David Attoe. The book is of interest to academics, researchers, and postgraduate students active in the fields of African philosophy, African religious studies, African studies, comparative philosophy, global philosophy of religion, theology, and intercultural and comparative religious studies.

Dr. Ada Agada is the leading African philosopher of religion of the early 21st century. Best known as the major proponent of consolationism, Agada is the author of the original work Existence and Consolation: Reinventing Ontology, Gnosis, and Values in African Philosophy (St Paul, MN: Paragon House, 2015), a winner of the prestigious Outstanding Academic Title award from CHOICE, the magazine of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the largest division of the American Library Association (ALA). He is the recipient of fellowships and grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), the John Templeton Foundation (JTF), the Global Philosophy of Religion Project (GPRP) hosted by the University of Birmingham, and the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS), among others. His monograph Consolationism and Comparative African Philosophy: Beyond Universalism and Particularism (London and New York: Routledge, 2022) has been well received as a landmark contribution to African ideas. His latest works include the monograph The African Mood Perspective on God and the Problem of Evil (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024). He specialises in African philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and intercultural philosophy. Dr Agada is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Federal University Otuoke, Nigeria,and a research associate at the Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa, University of Fort Hare, South Africa. He is a major voice of the Conversational School of Philosophy, Calabar, Nigeria, where he is a senior researcher.   

Dr. Aribiah David Attoe is a Y1 NRF-Rated Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand, and was a co-recipient of the Global Philosophy of Religion Project grant from the John Templeton Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, and hosted by the Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa. He was formerly a postdoc at the Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa, University of Fort Hare, and earned his PhD in African Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has (co)authored several articles and books, some of which include: The Question of Life's Meaning: An African Perspective (Palgrave, 2023); and Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics: The Idea of Predeterministic Historicity (Palgrave, 2022). He is also a member of the prestigious Conversational School of Philosophy. His major research areas of interest span across African metaphysics, ethics and African Conceptions of Meaning.  

Prof. Jonathan O. Chimakonam, teaches at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He taught at the University of Calabar, Nigeria, for several years. He was a Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg. He has been a research fellow at various institutions in Europe and Africa, including Tübingen University, Stellenbosch University and the University of South Africa. His teaching and research interests in JB include African Philosophy, Logic, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Race Studies and Decolonial thinking. He is the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of more than one hundred and forty books, articles and chapters. Chimakonam has delivered several invited lectures and keynote talks in universities around the world. He has been interviewed by many academic blogs and media outlets. His theories and concepts have been themes of international conferences and panels. His works have inspired several rejoinders, reviews and theses. His ideas are part of various universities’ curriculum and philosophy modules. He developed the theory of Ezumezu logic and the method of conversational thinking, and he is a major proponent of conversational philosophy. Chimakonam has past and on-going research collaborations with colleagues in other universities. He has received funding from national and international organizations such as the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, The National Research Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation and many others. He is a multiple award-winning philosopher, logician, public intellectual and social thinker.