Henry Odera Oruka
Life experience
Henry Odera Oruka was born on 1 June 1944 in Nyanza Province of Kenya. After his advanced level studies in Kenya, he went to Uppsala University in Sweden. There he registered for a BSc programme in the Faculty of Mathematics–Natural Science and studied Meteorology, Geography, and Geodesy. He later added Philosophy to his studies because of his interest in the subject. Upon graduating in Science and Philosophy (a year ahead of his class), he opted to drop science and continue with his studies in Philosophy. He moved to Wayne State University in the United States of America for his master's degree where he completed his studies and eventually obtained a PhD. His dissertation on the theme of "Freedom" (written in 1970) was later refined and published as Punishment and Terrorism in Africa in 1976. From October 1970 until his death on 9 December 1995, he taught Philosophy at the University of Nairobi.
African Sage Philosophy
“African Sage Philosophy” is the name now commonly given to the body of thought produced by persons considered wise in African communities, and more specifically refers to those who seek a rational foundation for ideas and concepts used to describe and view the world by critically examining the justification of those ideas and concepts. The expression acquired its currency from a project conducted by the late Kenyan philosopher Henry Odera Oruka (1944–1995), whose primary aim was to establish, with evidence, that critical reflection upon themes of fundamental importance has always been the concern of a select few in African societies. These themes involve questions regarding the nature of the supreme being, the concept of the person, the meaning of freedom, equality, death and the belief in the afterlife. The evidence that Oruka collected regarding the rational elaboration of such themes by indigenous sages is contained in dialogues, many of which appear in his classic text, Sage Philosophy: Indigenous Thinkers and Modern Debate on African Philosophy (1990).
Quote
Another sage, Okemba Simiyu Chaungo from the Bukusu community, responded to the question, “What is truth?” as follows:
When something is true, it is just as you see it … it is just what it is … just like this bottle … it is true that it is just a bottle… just what it is. Truth is good. Falsehood is bad. It is evil. He who says the truth is accepted by good people. A liar may have many followers … but he is bad. [Obwatieri … bwatoto. Bwatoto nokhulola sindu ne siene sa tu … nga inchpa yino olola ichupa ni yene sa tu.] (Sage Philosophy, p. 111)
Citation
"Henry Odera Oruka". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Odera_Oruka#Personal_life.
Masolo, Dismas, "African Sage Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/african-sage/>.