Living African Philosophy of Higher Education

This book draws on more than three decades of scholarly engagement and provides a sustained argument for a transformative philosophy grounded in three interrelated genres of human action, i.e. ubuntu (communal dignity and respect); deliberative iteration (dialogue and critical engagement), and political resistance (oppositional agency against injustice). In advancing these genres, the book offers a fourth, emergent genre that animates the preceding three: the imaginative use of fiction as a pedagogical and philosophical tool. Through this innovative move, the book provides both a rigorous exposition and a practical enactment of what it means to live African philosophy in and through higher education.

The chapters traverse theoretical, narrative, and pedagogical terrains to illuminate how African philosophy can inform curricula, teaching, institutional transformation, and intellectual resistance. The work not only revisits key African philosophers such as Kwasi Wiredu, Paulin Hountondji, and Sophie Oluwole, but also integrates contemporary contributions like those of Blessing Chapfika. It offers a deep engagement with the contested genealogies of African philosophy and emphasizes narrative pedagogy as a mode of critical inquiry, identity formation, and ethical action.

The book contributes to decolonial and humanizing imperatives within African higher education and speaks directly to scholars, educators, and students who seek to reimagine the university as a space of justice, creativity, and collective becoming. Ultimately, it serves as both a theoretical intervention and a call to action - a text that lives through its enactment of the very philosophy it advances.

Yusef Waghid is a distinguished African philosopher of education. He occupies the position of Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Education in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He has also been appointed as Professor Extraordinarius, Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education, UNISA; and visiting professor at Sol Plaatje University.