Henry Odera Oruka Quotes

1944–1995

Henry Odera Oruka (1 June 1944 – 9 December 1995) was a Kenyan philosopher and professor at the University of Nairobi. He was one of the pioneers of modern African philosophy and is best known for developing the concept of Sage Philosophy, a project that documented the philosophical reflections of indigenous African sages and challenged the view that philosophy exists only in literate traditions.

Random Henry Odera Oruka quote

4 quotes

"The basic minimum is not a luxury or a bonus — it is a right, and its denial is not merely unfortunate but unjust."

Practical Philosophy: In Search of an Ethical Minimum (1997)

"Sage philosophy is the expressed thoughts of wise men and women in any given community, and is a way of thinking and explaining the world that fluctuates between popular wisdom and didactic wisdom."

"A philosophic sage is a person who is wise and also demonstrates the wisdom by critical, second-order thinking about the accepted customs, beliefs and traditions of his people."

Sage Philosophy (1990)

"There are in Africa men and women of great wisdom. The fact that their wisdom is not written down does not make it less philosophical—it makes it harder to recover, and this recovery is the task of sage philosophy."

Sage Philosophy (1990)