section_path: Others/African
section_name: African
paragraph_text: African
  
  In the broadest sense, African philosophy encompasses philosophical ideas that originated across the entire African continent. However, the term is often understood more narrowly to refer primarily to the philosophical traditions of Western and sub-Saharan Africa. The philosophical tradition in Africa draws from both ancient Egypt and scholarly texts from medieval Africa. While early African intellectual history primarily focused on folklore, wise sayings, and religious ideas, it also included philosophical concepts, such as the idea of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is usually translated as "humanity" or "humanness" and emphasizes the deep moral connections between people, advocating for kindness and compassion.
  
  African philosophy before the 20th century was primarily conducted and transmitted orally as ideas by philosophers whose names have been lost to history. This changed in the 1920s with the emergence of systematic African philosophy. A significant movement during this period was excavationism, which sought to reconstruct traditional African worldviews, often with the goal of rediscovering a lost African identity. However, this approach was contested by Afro-deconstructionists, who questioned the existence of a singular African identity. Other influential strands and topics in modern African thought include ethnophilosophy, négritude, pan-Africanism, Marxism, postcolonialism, and critiques of Eurocentrism.