Thoughts on Marimba Ani's criticism of European Philosophy

Ani's 1994 work, Yurugu: An Afrikan-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior, examined the influence of European culture on the formation of modern institutional frameworks, through colonialism and imperialism, from an African perspective.[6][7][8] Described by the author as an "intentionally aggressive polemic", the book derives its title from a Dogon legend of an incomplete and destructive being rejected by its creator.[9][10]

External audio
"Marimba Ani speaks" – Yurugu and the European asili
Examining the causes of global white supremacy, Ani argued that European thought implicitly believes in its own superiority, stating: "European culture is unique in the assertion of political interest".[6]

In Yurugu, Ani proposed a tripartite conceptualization of culture, based on the concepts of

Asili, the central seed or "germinating matrix" of a culture,
Utamawazo, "culturally structured thought" or worldview, "the way in which the thought of members of a culture must be patterned if the asili is to be fulfilled", and
Utamaroho, a culture's "vital force" or "energy source", which "gives it its emotional tone and motivates the collective behavior of its members".

The terms Ani uses in this framework are based on Swahili. Asili is a common Swahili word meaning "origin" or "essence"; utamawazo and utamaroho are neologisms created by Ani, based on the Swahili words utamaduni ("civilisation"), wazo ("thought") and roho ("spirit life").[9][12][13] The utamawazo and utamaroho are not viewed as separate from the asili, but as its manifestations, which are "born out of the asili and, in turn, affirm it."[11]

Ani characterised the asili of European culture as dominated by the concepts of separation and control, with separation establishing dichotomies like "man" and "nature", "the European" and "the other", "thought" and "emotion" – separations that in effect end up negating the existence of "the other", who or which becomes subservient to the needs of (European) man.[8] Control is disguised in universalism as in reality "the use of abstract 'universal' formulations in the European experience has been to control people, to impress them, and to intimidate them."[14]

According to Ani's model, the utamawazo of European culture "is structured by ideology and bio-cultural experience", and its utamaroho or vital force is domination, reflected in all European-based structures and the imposition of Western values and civilisation on peoples around the world, destroying cultures and languages in the name of progress.[8][15]

The book also addresses the use of the term Maafa, based on a Swahili word meaning "great disaster", to describe slavery. African-centered thinkers have subsequently popularized and expanded on Ani's conceptualization.[16] Citing both the centuries-long history of slavery and more recent examples like the Tuskegee study, Ani argued that Europeans and white Americans have an "enormous capacity for the perpetration of physical violence against other cultures" that had resulted in "antihuman, genocidal" treatment of blacks.[16][17]

essentially her argument is european philosophy is about control and seperation instead of unity like in African/Eastern systems

Philip Higgs, in African Voices in Education, describes Yurugu as an "excellent delineation of the ethics of harmonious coexistence between human beings", but cites the book's "overlooking of structures of social inequality and conflict that one finds in all societies, including indigenous ones," as a weakness.[15]:175 Molefi Kete Asante describes Yurugu as an "elegant work".[18] Stephen Howe accuses Ani of having little interest in actual Africa (beyond romance) and challenges her critique of "Eurocentric" logic, since she invests heavily in its usage in the book.[9]

Why is america so fucked when it comes to Race?

she generalizes "European" philosophy as if it was one monolithic thing

>>3012677
Ironic that she is 'otherizing' western philosophy in that sense.

Im so done with centrism, so fucking done

>>3012666
What the hell is "African philosophy"? It's such a huge place with different sorts of people.

her other ciritique is that european thinkers are obsessed with over rationalizing

>>3012705
"how dare those white men think logically, racist heterocis scumbags"

>>3012666
>>3012705

Seems to me that makes western philosophy more practical, successful in creating systems, and convincing outsiders of its validity.

>>3012734
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ui1TswpJ_4

listen to this video for more of her insights on it

>>3012739
Her argument boils down to saying that Europeans think too much, and because Europeans think too much they were able to get ahead of everyone. All in all, she just seems jealous that her culture's philosophy was outmaneuvered.

>>3012793
plus she totally misinterprets Descartes

>>3012656
>European culture is unique in the assertion of political interest
Top fucking kek. What next, Europe invented violence? Only europeans make use of force?

>>3012666
>eastern philosophy
>not about control
Nigger what? Confucianism is basically a lot of fancy mumbo jumbo that boils down to "authority is law, listen to authority and live life according to the 2500 year old values". It's all about control.

>>3012793
That's what all criticms of Eurocentrism boils down to. There's a reason that Europe has been the main driver of history and thought since the time of the Greeks and Africa hasn't.

Binary opposition is fundamental to all language and conceptual thinking. To claim Europeans are the only ones to do it or that they did it more than anyone else is demonstrably false.

All myths (including african and egyptian myths) are structured around struggles between opposites (light/dark, man/nature, male/female, chaos/order, etc).

For any word to have meaning it needs to be set up against an other which it is not.

The first recorded piece of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh (which is Mesopotamian) is all about the struggle between man and nature. Nature is seen as something "other" to be dominated and exploited.

There's hundreds of other examples why her theory is empirically incorrect.

>>3012659
>Ani argued that Europeans and white Americans have an "enormous capacity for the perpetration of physical violence against other cultures" that had resulted in "antihuman, genocidal" treatment of blacks.
How does she explain on the other hand that we're giving them billions in monetary aid since decades and run programs, hospitals, schools for them to be able to have a chance of living live with dignity?
Also:
There have been lots of tragedies on that scale and if you look at them it's not whites vs blacks or asians

>>3013060
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
The real problem of her argument is that it's absolutely laughable to pretend that only whites have an enormous capacity for violence. Conflict and struggle are utterly inherent to human behaviour. Hell, inherent to life itself.

would you guys say her system of thought is deeper than say Einstein?

>>3012653

Why do people care what some nigger """thinks"""?

>>3012687
>the use of abstract 'universal' formulations in the European experience has been to control people, to impress them, and to intimidate them.

But I think she has a point with the above quote.

>>3013078
That's what I'm talking about, she looks at THAT tragedy, then says it's because whites from europe have THIS school of thought when there's been violence on bigger and smaller scales going on throughout classes, countries and cultures

>>3013078
When your audience is primarily afro centrists or white liberals it just becomes diatribe on the part of a dichotomy she criticizes but also engenders and uses for her own advantage.

I think the ultimate test for people is recognizing their inherent hypocrisies. But that requires humility, unfortunately a lot of Europeans and Africans lack this most graceful of qualities because it is equated with humiliation.

>>3013145
>But that requires humility, unfortunately a lot of Europeans and Africans lack this most graceful of qualities because it is equated with humiliation.

Are you saying Europeans and Africans lack this because the conversation is centered around Europeans and Africans or because you feel they lack this quality more than some other group(s) of people?

>>3013132
These universal statements are used to make sense and to categorize in the first place, same as she does

>>3013132
so is Einstein's formulation of General Relativity should not be seen as a "universal" idea but only a European idea

>>3013132
how?

her whole argument is making some generalizations that are "universal" to Europeans

she is a hypocite

>>3013151
>conversation is centered around Europeans and Africans
This is what I mean, the quality exists in both peoples, but it is more or less suppressed or to an extent seen as undesirable inwardly but outwardly expressed as a virtue. That is why Jesus is such a grand figure its humility that was lacking in post imperial rome europe that drew worshippers.

isn't she considered the greatest philosopher of the 20th century

Marimba Ani?

Why is /his/ so racist?

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>>3013205

Sounds like the same thesis that the New Left has about the West tbqh. E.g imperialistic, logocentrist, and supremacist.

Unfortunately, these people actually believe that power is relativistic. Which it is not.

Does she point to any particular philosophers or traditions stemming from the West as exemplars of dictomizing and controlling?

In any case. I'd have to read her work first. It is easy to beat down a thesis without knowing the details.

>>3013232
>power is relativistic
it is tho

>>3013259
Not really. Imperialism doesn't have a skin color.

>>3013282
No it doesnt, it just happens to be white now, doesnt that allow some sort of association?

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>>3013282

>>3012653
>Thoughts on Marimba Ani
>woman
She's shit.

she is bullshitting

>>3013529
>assuming xir's gender
>2017

Ugh. I can't even right now

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>>3012657

>The terms Ani uses in this framework are based on Swahili.

>Asili is a common Swahili word meaning "origin" or "essence"; utamawazo and utamaroho are neologisms created by Ani, based on the Swahili words utamaduni ("civilisation"), wazo ("thought") and roho ("spirit life").[9][12][13] The utamawazo and utamaroho are not viewed as separate from the asili, but as its manifestations, which are "born out of the asili and, in turn, affirm it."[11]

>Ani characterised the asili of European culture as dominated by the concepts of separation and control, with separation establishing dichotomies like "man" and "nature", "the European" and "the other", "thought" and "emotion" – separations that in effect end up negating the existence of "the other", who or which becomes subservient to the needs of (European) man.[8] Control is disguised in universalism as in reality "the use of abstract 'universal' formulations in the European experience has been to control people, to impress them, and to intimidate them."[14]

literally pic related

>>3014922
can you go into more detail why she is wrong?

>>3014931

>The terms Ani uses in this framework are based on Swahili.

>Asili is a common Swahili word meaning "origin" or "essence"; utamawazo and utamaroho are neologisms created by Ani, based on the Swahili words utamaduni ("civilisation"), wazo ("thought") and roho ("spirit life").[9][12][13]

What detail do you need exactly? It's not a critique of anything, it's lietaral "Le Noble Savage" New Age gobbledygook.

>>3014962
to be fair

Didn't Heidegger do the same exact thing Ani is doing here

creating neologisms/terms with Dasein?

>>3013232
The West is objectively logocentrist though, primarily because of Christianity's emphasis on Logos.

>>3015308
>Christianity
>Logical

>>3015313
>sub-saharan africa
>logical
ftfy

is she smarter than Einstein?

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Mbembe is the most patrician contemporary African philosopher.
If /his/ could get past the 'lol nigger' thing, Necro-politics is some good shit

>>3016466
never heard of him

is he good?

>>3016484
He's the new Foucault senpai. Get into him now before the rush

>>3016601
>Implying there was ever a rush for Foucault
He's that guy that every pseud knows but nobody has actually read. Might as well be a meme.

>>3012653
Would love to see her "intentionally aggressive polemic" on the influence of African culture on the formation of modern institutional frameworks. It would have to be a helluva lot shorter, we know that.

>>3013523
No nigger, barbarism is when the one on the left is wearing a loincloth and then destroys everything the civilized race built.

>>3014922
>Ani characterised the asili of European culture as dominated by the concepts of separation and control, with separation establishing dichotomies like "man" and "nature", "the European" and "the other", "thought" and "emotion" – separations that in effect end up negating the existence of "the other", who or which becomes subservient to the needs of (European) man.[8] Control is disguised in universalism as in reality "the use of abstract 'universal' formulations in the European experience has been to control people, to impress them, and to intimidate them."[14]

This is the most garbage shit I have ever heard. Of course this thing would want to blur the line between thought and emotion.

>>3012653
>Marimba Ani (BORN Dona Richards)
>completed her BA degree at the University of Chicago
Basically, just a wewuzian black American woman who is trying to treat her inferiority complex by making up nonsense.