Abstract
This work is an exercise in the field of Applied Philosophy which seeks to critically examine ethics and political communication within the purview of Africa. The problem statement is twofold: the debate on the existence of an African Political Communication and the problem of incommensurability of intellectual presentation of ethical reasoning with Africa’s vast media presence. Recognizing the existing contradictions in the discussions of African Ethics and African Political Communication, this chapter employs descriptive, comparative, and reconstructive research methods to address the problematique. The chapter finds that it is the nature of African Political Communication that necessitates the attention and contribution of African ethics, and that both concepts are not totally new, but can be carefully situated for Africa’s advancement. The chapter concludes by challenging scholars to gear towards developing African Ethics as a body of knowledge, one that will present salient and basic features which could be applied to all spheres of the Continent for improved global relevance.
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- 1.
The emphasis is mine and is logically inferred from Asante’s assertion on the origin of knowledge.
- 2.
Desatelization is drawn from the psychologist Ausubel, D (1996) Ego: Development and Psychopathology. Transaction Publishers: New Jersey.
- 3.
The term “Eurocentric African Scholar” is used to describe scholars of African origin who hold tight to the supremacy and inevitability of Western theories and thoughts. Most Africanist scholars, who do not necessarily make contributions from or for Africa, but about Africa, fall into this category with a few exceptions of Diasporic Africans who may be referred to as Afrocentric Africanists if their works are about Africa and for Africa.
- 4.
The term “Afrocentric African Scholars” is used to describe scholars of African origin, who believe in the essence, existence, and efficacy of African models and thoughts. Ali Mazrui, Molefi Asante, Toyin Falola among others could fall into this category, although could also be called Afrocentric Africanists following its earlier definition.
- 5.
The idea of “political commitment” is drawn from Lisa Rivera in her work, Ethical Reasons and Political Commitment (see reference for details), while “ethical commitment” is my coinage as a converse to political commitment.
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Omotoso, S.A. (2017). African Ethics and African Political Communication: Some Comments. In: Olukotun, A., Omotoso, S. (eds) Political Communication in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48631-4_4
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