Books Received

BOOKS RECEIVED 63i Of somewhat less significance, though full of interesting critical comments, is the discussion in Chapter 5 of the work of the contemporary African theologian John Mbiti, whose African Religions and Philosophy (1969) did duty for two decades as a textbook of African philosophy. Of particular interest is Masolo's critique of Mbiti's famous (or, if you like, notorious) claim that the African apprehension of time features no conception of the distant future or, consequently, of progress. Masolo's familiarity with the languages upon whose grammar Mbiti based his claims enables him to confront the thesis not only from first principles but also on the basis of empirical facts about the relevant languages. A work in African thought by another European which is gaining increasing attention among African philosophers is Marcel Griaule's Conversations with Ogotemmeli (original French edition, 1948; English translation, 1965) in which a blind old sage of the Dogon group of West Africa weaves an intricate web of sophisticated cosmology. In his ample account (Chapter 3), however, Masolo does not try to unravel the riddle-laden discourse of Ogotemmeli, thus continuing the well-established tradition of obscurity in the exposition of Ogotemmeli's message. Probably the most controversial chapter of the book is the last, in which the author gives his interpretations and evaluations of current work in African philosophy. It is impossible not to come away with the feeling that he gives himself considerable interpretative license. The important point, however, is that he engages serious issues which have tended not to be widely enough discussed in African philosophy, such as the coexistence, in the thought of some individuals of traditional African society, of both a communal outlook and an individual philosophic originality (in connection with Oruka's study of"Sage Philosophy" in Kenya and Hallen and Sodipo's study of Yoruba epistemology with the aid of traditional specialists in the Yoruba language). Other examples, to mention but a few, are the relation between science and philosophy (in connection with Hountondji), the question of the superimposition of the Western "episteme" on African consciousness (in connection with Mudimbe) and the concept of truth and the problem of relativism (in connection with the present reviewer). All in all, Professor Masolo's African Philosophy in Search of Identity is a must for all students and teachers in African philosophy and related disciplines, and for all general readers of a broad curiosity. KWASI WIREDU University of South Florida BOOKS RECEIVED Acikgenc, Alparslan. Being and Existence in Sadra and Heidegger:A Comparative Ontology. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1993. Pp. xvii + 193. Cloth, $33.oo. Alexander, Dey, ed. Philosophyin Cyberspace:A Guide to Philosophy-RelatedResourceson the lnternet. Bowling Green, OH: Philosophy Documentation Center, 1995. Pp. xvi + 175. Paper, $36.oo. 632 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 34:4 OCTOBER 1996 Allen, Michael J. B. Plato's Third Eye: Studies in Marsilio Ficino's Metaphysics and Its Sources. AIdershot , UK: Variorum, 1995.Pp. xiv + 336. Cloth, $89.95. Alliez, Eric. Capital Times: Talesfrom the Conquest of Time. Translated by Georges Van Den Abbeele. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Pp. xxiv + 315- Paper, $24.95. Appelbaum, David. Disrupt/on. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996. Pp. xiv + a86. Paper, $19.95. Baker, Gordon. Descartes'Dualism. New York: Roufledge, 1996. Pp. xiv + 235. Cloth, $49.95. Bar-On, A. Zvie.OntologicalAnalysis: The ClassicModel. Lanham, MD: University Press of Ametica, 1996. Pp. xi + 232. Cloth, $42.5o. Barash, Jeffrey Andrew. Heidegger et son sikcle: Temps de l'Etre, temps de l'historie. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1995. Pp. 188. Paper, FF 148. Beiner, Ronald, and William James Booth, eds. Kant and Political Philosophy: The Contemporary Legacy.New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.Pp. 38o. Cloth, $40.oo. Paper, $18.oo. Birdwhistell, Anne D. Li Youg (z627-i 7o5) and Epistemological Dimensions of Confucian Philosophy. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996.Pp. xi + 285. Cloth, $45.oo. Brown, Stuart, ed. British Philosophy and the Age of Enlightenment. New York: Roudedge, 1996. Pp. xliii + 395-Cloth, $85.oo. Cavarero, Adriana, Serena Anderlini-D'Onoftio, and Aine O'Healy,trans. In spite ofPlato: A FeministRewriting ofAncient Philosophy. New York...