Philosophizing in Portuguese

While philosophy in Africa is increasingly recognized today as a part of the world philosophical discourse, the discourse on and in African philosophy mainly focuses on the Anglophone and Francophone parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The philosophy of the Portuguese-speaking part of Africa, that is, countries like Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé und Príncipe, is still largely excluded from philosophical discourse inside as well as outside of Africa. Therefore, despite its colonial legacy, it was deemed necessary to allocate a designated period of time to the examination of philosophical sources in Portuguese. 

The Portuguese language is classified as a Western Romance language and has over 250 million native speakers. The expansion of the Portuguese Empire into the African continent began during the colonial explorations of the 15th century. In Brazil the Portuguese arrived by 1500. Today, the majority of Portuguese speakers are located in South America. The transatlantic slave trade resulted in the establishment of creole languages, which interweave Portuguese with indigenous languages. A number of these languages, including Guinea-Bissau Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and Forro, have retained their relevance to the present day, while they gained little attention in philosophical reflections.