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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Afristentialism: African Existential Philosophy

Afristentialism: African Existential Philosophy

Mwape, Emmanuel

Paperback

Philosophy

ISBN13: 9798250421027
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Feb 25 2026
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.90
Height: 0.60 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
Afristentialism is an African philosophical orientation that articulates the inherent meaning, purpose, and structure of existence as understood through the lens of pre-colonial African consciousness and ways of living. It is not a reactive philosophy crafted to counter or contradict Western existentialism, but rather a distinct and prior articulation of being-in-the-world that has always existed, expressed in the lived realities, cosmologies, rituals, and social structures of African societies before their contamination with Western thought. Afristentialism posits that meaning is not an individual construct forged in a void of cosmic indifference, but an inherent quality of a universe that is alive, interconnected, and purposeful. Where Western existentialism emerged from the death of God, the collapse of absolutes, and the resulting terror of freedom in a purposeless universe, Afristentialism stands as an embodiment of African consciousness-a worldview in which existence is defined by participation, community, ancestorhood, and a fundamental harmony with the natural and spiritual worlds. It does not represent the crisis of meaning; it represents meaning as it has always been lived.

Afristentialism is not a philosophy of crisis but a philosophy of continuity. It does not emerge from the death of God but from the living presence of the divine in all things. It does not begin with the terror of freedom but with the gift of participation. It does not confront an absurd and indifferent universe but dwells within a cosmos that is alive, meaningful, and responsive. It does not burden the individual with the impossible task of self-creation but situates the individual within a community, a lineage, and a world that provide meaning as a foundation rather than a project.

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