African environmental philosophy with(out) eco-phenomenology?

Abstract

There has been relatively little reflection from African environmental philosophers on the specific contributions that eco-phenomenology, insofar as it constitutes a distinctive philosophical approach, might make to their field. In this article, I critically evaluate key approaches in African environmental philosophy and argue that the implicit aim of early African environmental philosophers appears limited to employing analytic and hermeneutic methods to rethink anthropocentric attitudes—those largely responsible for upsetting the balance of the natural environment—without any explicit engagement with eco-phenomenological principles or methods. I discuss possible reasons for this neglect and show how African environmental philosophy could benefit from adopting an eco-phenomenological perspective, particularly in revealing the problematic assumptions embedded in the ontological ideal of the interdependence of all things in nature. I conclude that eco-phenomenology has the potential to advance environmental thinking in Africa, provided its method­ological insights are adequately taken up.