ADVANCING AFRICAN LOGIC BEYOND IJIOMAH’S HARMONIOUS MONISM

Abstract

This article is a critique of recent propositions about African logic. First, it argues that African logic has its peculiar structure and its unique principles can be applied by anyone who understands them. In this regard, the paper interrogates the views of two experts on African philosophy who conceptualize the structure of African logic as either peculiar to Africa and Africans or derived from the system of Western logic that was systematized by Aristotle. Second, the article explicates a dilemma in Ijiomah’s account of a trivalent system of African logic known as Harmonious monism. Ijiomah’s dilemma is traced to his view that Harmonious Monism is restricted to Africa. If one restricts the scope of African logic to Africa, then the proposition of Ijiomah concerning the universal applicability of logical principles will be jettisoned. Contrary to the view of Ijiomah, the article upholds that Harmonious Monism is not the only system of logic that can be validly developed from the African context, and that its principles can be applied beyond Africa.