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Faculty of Humanities and Education

Department of History and Philosophy

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Professor Frederick Ochieng'-Odhiambo

Professor Frederick Ochieng'-Odhiambo

Professor of African Philosophic Sagacity and Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Education

Department: History

Bio

A native of Kenya, Ochieng’-Odhiambo is Professor of African Philosophic Sagacity. He received his PhD from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He previously taught at the University of Nairobi, Consolata Institute of Philosophy, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (all in Kenya) and at the National University of Lesotho in southern Africa. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Cave Hill, The UWI.
 

Research Areas

Prof. Ochieng’-Odhiambo’s research interest is in the area of African Philosophy with a focus on Philosophic Sagacity. As an approach to African Philosophy, Philosophic Sagacity was introduced into international philosophical circles in the 70s by Kenyan philosopher Professor Odera Oruka. Today, Ochieng’-Odhiambo is one of the best known researchers and leading exponents of the approach. Besides Philosophic Sagacity, Ochieng’-Odhiambio’s other research interests include Moral and Social philosophy as well as Logic.
 
 

Select Publications

Books:
Trends and Issues in African Philosophy, Peter Lang, New York, 2010.
 
A Companion to Philosophy, Consolata Institute of Philosophy Press, Nairobi, 2010.
 
Foundations of Ethics: A Critical Reader in Moral and Social Philosophy, Nairobi University Press, Nairobi, 2009.
 
Introductory Symbolic Logic, Consolata Institute of Philosophy Press, Nairobi, 1997. (Revised edition, 2003).
 
Logic and Induction, Stantex Publishers, Nairobi, 1996.
 
African Philosophy: An Introduction, Consolata Institute of Philosophy Press, Nairobi, 1995. (Revised editions, 1997, 2002)
 
 
Book Chapters:
“Climate Change Ethics: The End of Development or a New Paradigm Through African Sagacity?”, co-authored with Sirkku Hellsten and Martin Schönfeld, in Global Ethics on Climate Change, Martin Schönfeld (ed.), Routledge, New York, 2013, pp.89-105.
 
“Ang’o Man e Nying’?”, in Listening to Ourselves: A Multilingual Anthology of African Philosophy, Chike Jeffers, (ed.), State University of New York (SUNY) Press, Albany NY, 2013, pp.52-89. (NB: A translation of the essay in English by Oriare Nyarwath and entitled “What’s in a Name?” is also contained in the same book.
 
“Human Rights and the Quest for Global Harmony: The Role of Philosophy and Culture”, in World Peace: Problems of Global Understanding and Prospects of Harmony, Santi Nath Chattopadhyay (ed.), Punti Pustak Publishers, Kolkata, 2005, pp.711-730.
 
“Some Basic Issues on Philosophic Sagacity: Twenty Years Later”, in Perspectives in African Philosophy: An Anthology on “Problematics of an African Philosophy: Twenty Years Later (1976-1996)”, Claude Sumner and Samuel Wolde Yohannes (eds.), Addis Ababa University Printing Press, Addis Ababa, 2002, pp.97-108.
 
“Philosophic Sagacity Revisited”, in Sagacious Reasoning: Henry Odera Oruka in Memoriam, Anke Graness and Kai Kresse (eds.), Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, 1996, pp.171-179.
 
 
Articles:
“Communalism in African Cultures and the Naming System among the Luo of Kenya”, in Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black Diaspora, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2020, pp.154-175.+
 
 
“African and Africana Philosophers in Conversation: Interview with Professor Frederick Ochieng’-Odhiambo, in Journal on African Philosophy, Issue 16, 2017, pp.7-41.
 
“Reason and Sagacity in Africa: Odera Oruka’s Contribution to Philosophy”, co-authored with Crispinous Iteyo, in Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK), New Series, Vol.4, No.2, December 2012, pp.169-184.
 
“A Lawyer’s Dilemma: Truth Versus the Client’s Interest”, in Philosophy Now, Issue 79, June/July 2010, pp.10-13.
 
“Philosophic Sagacity: Aims and Functions”, in Caribbean Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2009. Online publication http://ojs.mona.uwi.edu/index.php/cjp
 
“On Truth and Interest in Legal Justice: A Philosophical Analysis”, in Horizons Vol. 1, No. 11, January/May 2009, pp.49-61.
 
“Philosophic Sagacity: A Classical Comprehension and Relevance to Post-Colonial Spaces in Africa”, in Quest: An African Journal of Philosophy/Revue Africaine de Philosophie, Vol. XXI, No. 1-2, 2007, pp.91-107.
 
“The Tripartite in Philosophic Sagacity”, in Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black Diaspora, Vol. 9, No. 1, March 2006, pp.17-34.
 
“International Justice and Individual Self-preservation”, in Journal of Global Ethics, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 2005, pp.99-112.
 
“Contemporary Challenges Facing the Institution of ‘Widow’ Guardianship Among the Luo People”, in South-South Journal of Culture and Development, Vol. 4, No. 1, June 2002, pp.155-180.
 
“The Evolution of Sagacity: The Three Stages of Oruka’s Philosophy”, in Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black Diaspora, Vol. 5, No. 1, March 2002, pp19-32.
 
“Identities of African Philosophy: An Overview of its History”, in African Christian Studies, June 2001, pp.75-86.
 
“An African Savant: Henry Odera Oruka”, in Quest: Philosophical Discussions (An International African Journal of Philosophy/Revue Africaine Internationale de Philosophie, Vol. X, Nos. 1 and 2, December 1996, pp.12-21.
 

Additional Info

Member of the Editorial/Advisory Boards of the following:

  • The Journal of Social Encounters
  • Society of African Journal Editors (SAJE).
  • Shibboleths: A Journal of Comparative Theory and Criticism.
  • Journal on African Philosophy (JAP).
  • Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK).
  • Caribbean Journal of Philosophy (CJP).
  • Journal of Global Ethics (JGE).
  • The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP).
  • Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black Diaspora