Q0610

“In fact, it is an ethnological work with philosophical pretensions, or more…” — Paulin Hountondji (African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (on…)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (on Tempels). Theme: critique.

English

In fact, it is an ethnological work with philosophical pretensions, or more simply, if I may coin the word, a work of 'ethnophilosophy'.
Thinker Paulin Hountondji
School Africana Philosophy
Source African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (on Tempels)
Theme Critique
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (on Tempels) and files it under Africana Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Paulin Hountondji

Paulin J. Hountondji (1942–2024) was a Beninese philosopher educated in Paris (including under Althusser) and long associated with the National University of Benin.

How to read this passage

Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Paulin Hountondji and Aimé Césaire), critique is framed through Africana Philosophy and Critical Rationalism. Some passages define critique; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through critique, method.

Concepts in this quote

Critique
Critique appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat critique as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
Method
Method appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat method as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Paulin Hountondji. (n.d.). In fact, it is an ethnological work with philosophical pretensions, or more simply, if I may coin the word, a work of 'ethnophilosophy'. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0610

MLA: Paulin Hountondji. “In fact, it is an ethnological work with….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0610.

Chicago: Paulin Hountondji. “In fact, it is an ethnological work with….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0610.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “In fact, it is an ethnological work with…”?

The passage is attributed to Paulin Hountondji, African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (on Tempels). The archive attributes this English wording to African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (on Tempels) and files it under Africana Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Paulin Hountondji mean by critique?

Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Paulin Hountondji and Aimé Césaire), critique is framed through Africana Philosophy and Critical Rationalism. Some passages define critique; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through critique, method.

Explore Paulin Hountondji on critique

Same thinker

More from Paulin Hountondji

  1. By 'African philosophy' I mean a set of texts, specifically, the set of texts written by Africans and described as philosophical by their authors themselves.
  2. So for us African philosophy is a body of literature whose existence is undeniable, a bibliography which has grown constantly.
  3. I observe that it does exist, by the same right and in the same mode as all the philosophies of the world: in the form of a literature.
  4. Contemporary African philosophy, inasmuch as it remains an ethnophilosophy, has been built up essentially for a European public. The African ethnophilosopher's discourse is not intended for Africans.
  5. The thought of an African sage, even if he purports to be the spokesman for a group, is not necessarily that of all the individuals in that group, and still less that of all Africans in general.

All quotations by Paulin Hountondji

Same theme

More on critique

  1. We may become the makers of our fate when we have ceased to pose as its prophets.
  2. It is easy to obtain confirmations…for nearly every theory—if we look for confirmations.
  3. Seek simplicity and distrust it.
  4. Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
  5. I am looking for a human being.

Browse the critique theme