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ix acknowledgments Jean Godefroy bidima The reader will have ample opportunity to decide whether this book is a symphony or a cacophony. however they may choose, readers are no fools and know that the signed personal adventure of any book or article responds like an echo to many individuals who have discreetly and patiently set this symphony or cacophony to music. The responsibility for errors and rough statements in this text should be laid at my own feet as the author; i turn over all the gratitude to those before me, who made this book possible at so many levels. i have to start with the most heartfelt thanks to antoine Garapon, magistrat and secrétaire général of the institut des hautes Études of Justice in Paris, who not only strongly encouraged this publication by welcoming it into the le Bien Commun series with Éditions Michalon, but also drew my attention to the relationship between Paul ricoeur’s work and problems associated with justice. i also give the friendliest recognition to Professor Laura hengehold, who committed herself to translating and making this book available to the american public, and whose questions pushed me to reconsider the relations between mystification and politics in the african public space. Many thanks as well to Publications de la Sorbonne, Éditions Michalon, Les Éditions de l’uNeSco, the journal Diogenes, and other publishers who gave permission for the reproduction of these texts. a particular note of acknowledgement goes to francis abiola irele, who tirelessly convinced me of the importance of orality despite the bad favor into which it has fallen due to the chorus of those opposing ethnophilosophy. a warm thanks to philosophical friends and critics who enabled me to enrich this meditation and whose integrity and works, at once diverse and rich, have been a source of inspiration to me: Souleymane bachir diagne, Nick Nesbitt, Seloua Luste boulbina, Mylène botbol-baum, and emmanuel hirsch. i will be forever indebted to the philosophical styles and the erudition of my professors at the Sorbonne: olivier bloch, olivier revault d’allonnes, and hélène Védrine. i am more than cognizant of the devotion and the enthusiasm shown by my teachers at the primary school St. Pie X in the village of Mfoumassi in cameroon: Madame Kavolo, Messieurs Grégoire Sala Mendzana, Jean (Le Grand) bidoung, Maurice ateba akono, florent bekolo, aloys Mendogo, and Jean bidoung (alias Petit Jean). My residency at university of bayreuth in Germany as Gastdozent (visiting associate professor) enhanced my exposure to debates about the dialogical public sphere animating the German philosophical scene at that time. My gratitude goes to Professor x | Acknowledgments dr. János riesz, who gave me an enormously enriching welcome and above all to the meticulous mind and intellectual vivacity of dr. Katharina Städtler. My time as program director at the collège international de Philosophie in Paris enabled me to appreciate and to be inspired by the work of certain colleagues: on the question of genealogy, françois Noudelmann, former president of the collegial assembly ; robert harvey on the theme of testimony; and eric hamraoui on the imaginaries associated with that corporeal organ, the heart. My short stay as associate with the centre d’études africaines (ceaf) at eheSS in Paris gave me the chance to appreciate the competence and the unfailing friendship of research librarian Patricia bleton. i remain in permanent debt to the intellectual perspicacity of Luca Scarantino, who introduced me to the extremely subtle thought of Giulio Preti, one of the most important philosophers emerging from italy in the twentieth century. Nor should i miss the chance to express my special appreciation to the administrative personnel and colleagues i met at the institut d’études avancées at Nantes during the course of our stay as 2011–12 euriaS (european institutes for advanced Studies) lauréats. i was hugely impressed by their competence, whether their subjects were near or far from my own interests. in particular, let me thank alain Supiot—an erudite mind, respectful of nonwestern cultures, former director of the iea of Nantes and currently professor at the collège de france—for his welcome and for his research findings on the importance of the dogmatic basis for cultures. i owe a great deal to the analyses of the philosopher dany-robert dufour when it comes to the criticism of various kinds of economies that structure our contemporary lived experience, and would like to express that gratitude here...

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