Abstract:
In this article, I venture into a fairly underexplored area of African epistemic normativity. I seek
to consider how the question of responsibility might be approached differently if values
salient in African communitarian thinking are critically explored. I argue that while one may
find almost a uniform framework for the determination of epistemic responsibility in
different philosophical traditions based on the rational scheme, in the dominant African
communitarian tradition, there is more to responsibility than just individualistic traits like
rationality. My argument is based on the premise that, responsibility in African
epistemological thinking is viewed from a communitarian perspective. According to this
view, despite most of African communitarian knowledge conforming to the consciousness
and control tests of the rational scheme, communitarian philosophy still remains cardinal in
defining the aspect of responsibility on the part of both the individual and the community.
I, therefore, partly make critical comparisons between a Western and African concept of
responsibility as I seek to justify the plausibility of an African model of responsibility based
on communitarian habits and culture.
