African indigenous knowledge: scientific or unscientific?
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Date
2013-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
The conventional idea is that there is only one superior way of knowing. That is rational and scientific knowledge ...
Yet, across the globe, people perceive reality in different ways, and the resulting worldviews lead to different ways of
learning and different ways of knowing.2
Human knowledge within Western culture is generally adjudged to have reached its apogee in terms of the study of the
natural world and the development of technological equipment directed towards making life worth living. Meanwhile, the
attainment of such a sophisticated status in Western scientific research has been facilitated by its experimental
methodology which has made possible the transfer of knowledge from one generation to another. However, other nonWestern forms of knowledge that lack these characteristics are regarded as “unscientific”. African indigenous knowledge,
a victim of such censure, is seen as an unscientific accumulation of native wisdom, lacking in sophistication, logicality,
coherence, and technicality which disqualifies it from being called “scientific” knowledge as we have it in Western culture.
This paper seeks to argue that the rejection of African indigenous knowledge as “unscientific” knowledge stems from a
false dichotomy.
Description
Peer reviewed article published under Inkanyiso, Volume 5, Issue 1, Jan 2013, p. 12 - 20
Keywords
Indigenous Knowledge, Africa, Scientific, African culture
Citation
Ogungbure, A.A., 2013. African indigenous knowledge: scientific or unscientific?. Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(1), pp.12-20.