The Contribution of Philosophy to Africa’s Quest for Development

Abstract Whether Africa is compared with other continents or it is considered on its own, much of Africa is in a precarious state. Africa is known to be lagging behind in development not only in economy, but also in science, politics, technology, etc. This precarious state has made many scholars to be cynical about the contributions that philosophy has made towards the development of the continent. In this study, however, it is argued that such cynical attitude is due to a myopic conception of “development”, which excludes growth in education, economy, politics, science, mental aspect of culture, and/or the unawareness of the fact that Africans (including the colonial and neo-colonial interferences) lead the continent to a precarious state not because of the inability on the part of the philosophers to proffer solutions but owing to the unwillingness and failure on the part of African leaders in their unrefined political, educational, economic, technological, and scientific policies to adopt the solutions proffered. Key Words: Philosophy, Development, Africa, Historical, Growth, Politics, Unwillingnes