"Ethnophilosophy" and Wiredu's programme of synthesis

This article distinguishes two mutually exclusive conceptions of the term "ethnophilosophy" in the history of African philosophy. Following overviews of these conceptions, I proceed to associate Wiredu's work with the earlier and more obscure version of the two, even though he never explicitly used the term. I argue that this neglected version of ethnophilosophy was germane to Wiredu's philosophical agenda and that current African thinkers should pursue this agenda by fruitfully harnessing the notion to re-invigorate the philosophical thought intrinsic to indigenous sub-Saharan African cultures and aid the effort to properly steer these thought systems into the arena of global discourse on philosophical norms.