African Philosophy & the Enlightenment | Philosophy Tube

Ethiopian philosopher Zera Yacob came up with philosophy that prefigured Enlightenment thinkers Hume, Descartes, Locke, Kant, and the US Founding Fathers! Once lost to history, now his ideas about God and ethics can be celebrated and learned!
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Recommended Reading:
Zera Yacob, The Hatata
Photo of Axum by A. Davey from Where I Live Now: Pacific Northwest - Stelae Field in Axum, EthiopiaUploaded by Elitre, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Music by Epidemic Sound (Epidemicsound.com)
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[@ContraPoints]

I was in academic philosophy for four years and this is the first I've heard of this person.

[@PhilosophyTube]

He's cool, right?

[@dan8085]

Now kith.

[@chriswalker7632]

I can't find my copy of Carl Sagan's "Cosmos". That book contained references to many thinkers throughout history from around the world. It'd be funny if he was in there :P

[@brandonwright1984]

I'll have to ask my undergrad research advisor if he has heard of Yacob. By his own estimation, he (my advisor) was one of

[@brainxtc2171]

Very. Thank You!

[@mintcarouselchannelabandon5109]

you: "What do you think? Leave your answers in the comments below!" Yacob, an Intellectual: "I entreat any wise and inquisitive man who may come after I am dead to add his thoughts to mine."

[@Alex-he5pj]

@Tristan Wintle A yacouber even

[@that_one_momo_guy]

@@Alex-he5pj This is the comment that made me accept I need to go sleep now.

[@Alex-he5pj]

@@that_one_momo_guy Thats high praise

[@SimonCadel]

It's really a shame how little we are taught about Africa, not just in philosophy, but history and culture. I wonder if the growing popularity of afro-futurism like in Black Panther will cause more people to become interested

[@LuyahDunnit]

Simon Cadel African culture is in the midst of its own renaissance and its only a matter of time before it assimilates globally

[@Lupostehgreat]

Black Panther will have its greatest effect on Hollywood. There may be another fad of making commodities from bastardized African Culture, just as bastardized Scandinavian Culture is still a thing, now (it will wane very soon). As for interest in philosophical ideas from Africa, we could see more but written sources need to be found, first. Perhaps in some library in Ethiopea, Ghana, etc there may be more documentation.

[@eartianwerewolf]

'inferior culture' EL OH EL. Okay just ignore African influence in art.

[@HollowGolem]

I teach Latin in a rather large public school district in the US. For Black History Month this February, I was literally the only one who discussed the Severan Dynasty (that is, the dynasty of Roman emperors of mixed Syrian/African heritage). There are so many ways in which African history and culture nicely dovetail with so much that even secondary-aged kids learn. Mansa Musa's hajj would, for instance, be worth discussing in an economics class.

[@slyanna3688]

@@littlereuby there's a netflix series called sense8 that has laughable aspects. The character lives in a kibanda in kibera slums but can somehow afford a plasma tv...hahaahaaa. did i mention he struggles to buy his ill mother's drugs??

[@abeldegefu9566]

by the way Zera Yakob is so famous here in Ethiopia,the pictures you use in the video are from ethiopian churches,that is very nice!!

[@lolcatjunior]

Look up Anton Wilhelm Amo.

[@elsimeon.5865]

​@Daniel Raya According to history he himself believed in the most high creator (GOD). A lot of wisdom has been preserved by the religions of the land though the complete religious conceptualisation might be distorted, to generalise the whole collective is ignorant. To give credit to europeans for the work of an axumite because they apparently rediscovered him is absurd. Open your mind, bless up.

[@teddyissak2720]

Stop Lies !!! He is not famous here at all. Most people don't even know his existence. Our Socio-Cultural environment doesn't allow this type of thoughts to burst out of bubble. Don't be ignorant...look at the mentality of people around you.

[@Reel___]

@@elsimeon.5865 cope lol

[@abeldegefu9566]

its a surprise for me because i am a university student from Ethiopia...u inspire me to do more on zera yacob,and i have no words to thank u,i will arrange a program for the students to see this video in a Hall.

[@mikeRoweSoftLee]

thats awesome

[@dagherbjrnsrud5289]

Great, here is my essay on Yacob and Amo: aeon.co/essays/yacob-and-amo-africas-precursors-to-locke-hume-and-kant

[@abeldegefu9566]

danke vielmas

[@PotatoGawds]

AMAZING

[@sinan.1946]

ah I was looking for somebody like you. have you read the original? can you approve of the accuracy of the english translation?

[@Zefal77]

Very nice video, but there is one thing that is bothering me in the title. Why would you name the video "African philosophy" while only talking about one philosopher? It feels like this title is reducing African philosophy to Zera Yacob, who, however brilliant he may have been, does not represent all the traditions found in an entire continent. But this is a small detail, the video itself is still a very nice insight into this thinker!

[@AvgJane19]

Zefal77 well put!

[@Zefal77]

I'm studying Comparative Philosophy right now, and avoiding this kind of generalizations is one of the first thing we are taught. Thanks for your feedback!

[@TheSoftaco]

Zefal77 Maybe he's making this into a series and using African philosophy as the name. I hope he does It would be great to learn more about African philosophy.

[@Arrakiz666]

There's absolutely nothing odd about it. In academia philosophers talk about specific examples of wider philosophical movements.

[@nykcarnsew2238]

Arrakiz666 but he never talks about any wider movement

[@Kangaru14]

Zera Yacob was not born in the Kingdom of Aksum! He was born in Abyssinia (the Ethiopian Empire), but near the city of Aksum. The kingdom of Aksum collapsed in the 10th century.

[@BR34DSQUAD]

You know if you want to continue on this then I read a bit about Nana Asma’u, who was kind of like a 18th century suffragette. Advocating for women's rights to be educated. It was kinda cool and it shows once more how Europe isn't the only place with good philosophy.

[@foster1748]

BR34DSQUAD HOLY CRAP! I've never heard anybody mention Nana Asma'u! Sokoto in general is an extremely interesting historical moment and Nana Asma'u lends much to that interest!

[@BR34DSQUAD]

Oh yeah absolutely. Like I was reading up on pre-colonial Nigeria, and how they had these huge metropolitan societies with complex political institutions and things like the Ogboni which sounded similar to a Roman senate and such and I just thought to myself ''Well this isn't the Africa they taught us about in schools, their societies look a lot like ours did at the time. I bet they must have all kinds of philosophers.'' And from there I've learnt a lot.

[@FreeTunes498]

I'm Nigerian (Igbo) also. She was the daughter of Usman Dan Fodio, the famous mujaddid and mujahid.

[@ericvilas]

I hope Yacob gets the Tesla treatment and in upcoming years gets his work recognized by society at large.

[@oaxacachaka]

The left(who run academic institutions) rejected enlightenment philosophies so it's unlikely unless they want to recant the entire basis of their politics.

[@ericvilas]

we're still taught about enlightenment authors in school, about Locke, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Rousseau, etc, even if some of their ideas are rejected. Why not add Yacob to that list? Tesla had some crazy bizarre ideas about electricity that are completely wrong but people still recognize him as a great mind because of the stuff he got right, and now he's remembered alongside Faraday and Ampere and Maxwell.

[@oaxacachaka]

I reluctantly agree....I hate the SJW tone of this video but I have to admit that I am curious. Too bad they only book on Amazon is $700+. will have to check around

[@ericvilas]

Damn, yeah it sounds like it's a book that's hard to obtain. Good luck finding it!

[@timeaesnyx]

Eric Vilas agreed

[@borggus3009]

A slight error in history. Yacob was not from the kingdom of Axum he was from the city of axum. The kingdom had been gone centuries before Yacob was born. Saying Yacob is from the kingdom of axum is like saying Michelangelo lived in the roman empire.

[@bgiv2010]

I've been looking for series about African philosophy, in the same capacity that European, Asian, and even Aboriginal American philosophies are explored, for years. Thank you for bringing this to the larger stage. Hopefully others will follow suit.

[@altertopias]

I have a video on latin american philosphy! though it needs its continuation hahah

[@SeanTheDon17]

Amazing video Ollie. In the top 5 for me, being an African American creates the feeling of Double Consciousness in many situations including philosophical. I’ve faced many criticism on focusing only on European enlightenment thinkers. You’ve opened my eyes to someone new and refreshing.

[@Wiggyam]

conan263 wtf are you talking about?

[@michael-israeljarvis5604]

Oh look, everyone. Conan263 - A barbarian with an opinion.

[@CoryMck]

You've made the fatal decision of reminding people on the internet that black people exist. I hope the rest of you realize that this is another example of privilege.

[@phil23_8]

Aaah! It's amazing to finally see Zera Yacob getting the recognition he deserves. Amazing thinker. Still trying to find a copy of the Hatata though...

[@wordsofdv]

"Morally speaking, they were impoverished." That was the most savage thing someone has said about European Philosophers. Love!

[@Xidnaf]

I would very much like to know if or to what extent Zera Yacob is currently read and studied in Ethiopia and Africa in general. I always thought that what was important about Descartes and Hume and Locke wasn't the ideas they had or when they had them, but the quantity of people who came to share their ideas and their impact on their cultures. Hence, of course the most widely studied philosophers would be white and European. Colonialism's tendency to spread European ideas would inevitably make it the case that the many of the most important philosophers would be European. But like I said, I honestly don't know how much of people's thought in Ethiopia is derived from European philosophers and how much comes from philosophers from the region. It turned out not to be an easy thing to google just now.

[@timeaesnyx]

Xidnaf there's a comment on here from an Ethiopian student who hadn't heard of him, so it sadly doesn't sound like he's popular.

[@minch333]

Hey Xidnaf! Any new videos coming soon?

[@TheLiberalPanda]

I'm Ethiopian and have taken a few philosophy courses in college (one of which was political philosophy). Obviously he wasn't mentioned at all in those courses. I learned about him completely by chance when I decided to read some random article about philosophy that happened to have the word 'Ethiopia' in it haha. I asked my parents, both of whom went through primary/secondary/postsecondary schooling in Ethiopia, about him and they said they'd never heard of him.

[@NicholasMoskov1]

But there are low-key a lot of famous African philosophers, especially in the 20th century. Considering written text wasn't much a thing in most of Africa until colonialism ( and then colonialism), not bad!

[@dagherbjrnsrud5289]

There

[@Anele1097]

As an African and casual lover of philosophy, that last line brought tears to my eyes. I feel challenged.

[@Mary-rw7rd]

hello , how about now? i am interested to have a list of africain philosoph to read?

[@ane6856]

I’d just like to thank you for making this video. I’m Zimbabwean and black and went to a predominantly white university in South Africa for two years. I loved philosophy as a module but it mainly focused on Western philosophers. It was alright but it does make you feel like “so my people weren’t THIS smart? So I’m not THIS smart?” That sort of thing. And now I’m at a university in Zimbabwe and being forced to also look at African philosophers. I feel so empowered and... smart😂. But yes- thank you. You’re needed in the world:)

[@malebitsatimbuktu3352]

South African universities remain Eurocentric after democracy. White people are still resisting decolonization So Rhodes has fallen only in his statue form but then the system is still intact.

[@sarahe4734]

thomas anderson & you’re disgusting.

[@raginbakin1430]

thomas anderson You ARE disgusting.

[@mardasman428]

So what kinds of African philosophers do you talk about there? What kinds of ideas do they espouse?

[@lobstered_blue-lobster]

Not to accuse you of that entirely but sounds like you are juding Philosophers with their skin colour over their ideas, that is a biased view and not good as it can potentially lead people to be blindsided with sensationalistic claims from their own race.

[@lizucavictoria]

This is a welcome department from euro-centric philosophy. I hope we'll see more international philosophers.

[@oof-rr5nf]

*departure best spelling error ever lol

[@mikemanners118]

Late ass reply but still the enlightenment is primary european, it would be like say rap isn't african. Just because not all enlightenment philosophers were white does not mean it isn't mostly european.

[@dominicberry5577]

"I hope we see more international philosophers" Why?

[@Magnulus76]

Like I said elsewhere, even though Yacob is obviously African., his thought is really just derivative of Christian philosophers in general. So is much of European philosophy. Not surprising they sound very similar.

[@salb5610]

@@dominicberry5577 Why not? wouldn't you want a broader spectrum of thought and philosophy to be studied and shared?

[@stefanlamb1179]

This is why PhilosophyTube is so important. I'd have never encountered Yacob without this video.

[@vynne3888]

My boy Zara Yacob, I only knew him because he was the leader of Ethiopia in Sid Meier’s Civilization 4

[@ElHazSensor]

great vid, theres a lacking in non european philosophy in YT so its great that Olly is always open to these kinds of videos exploring other perspectives

[@daddyleon]

not just on youtube, also in universities for example.

[@andrebasden]

I am biased but I find it interesting that Yacob was early to "enlightened" thinking but still came around to it around the same time coffee was getting popular in Ethiopia, and then western philosophers had similar thoughts as soon as they got their hands on coffee later. I always have this joke when I'm talking about coffee. "What did they call the time period where the west got their hands on coffee? -- The Enlightenment" and this just takes that a step further.

[@ratoh1710]

I mean it's not really that wrong. So much of the enlightenment occurred in coffeehouses.

[@andrebasden]

@@ratoh1710 for sure, I think my point those years ago was that the enlightening may have happened on coffee farms, first, and later in coffee houses.

[@scahsaint6249]

I love this episode. Please, produce more non-european philosophy. There is a rich world of knowledge and perspective that we are missing out on. Thank you for this!

[@ratoh1710]

Indeed, there is so much out there. Chinese and Indian philosophy is slowly coming to the west, even if a lot of it is butchered beyond recognition but hey its a start.

[@Q-BOT]

Thanks for shining some light on Zera Yacob. Like so many others, I've never heard of him before.

[@xzonia1]

I loved learning about Yacob! I'll be thinking about this today. Thanks, Olly! :)

[@NiflJonne]

"I entreat any wise and inquisitive man who may come after I am dead to add his thoughts to mine." This is fantastic. I got really happy at the end when this came, since it frames the rest in such a way as to make it completely different than just "this is what I have come up with, this is how things are".

[@hashersmasher]

This was great! Please do more videos about non-western philosophies and philosophers. I feel as if societally we still have ideological relics from imperialism and Orientalism that keep us from really appreciating thoughts and ideas from different cultures. Work like the kind you did here is really important for bridging cultural divides and gaps, so super duper good job please make more

[@oaxacachaka]

actually, the deeper you go into eastern and western philosophy, the more you realize they are the same.

[@hashersmasher]

oaxacachaka there are lots of similarities! I should clarify: I wasn’t talking about the qualities of western philosophies compared to those of other regions, but rather how western philosophy is societally held in comparison to eastern philosophy.

[@oaxacachaka]

It depends on the society. Indians think Indian philosophy is the best, the Chinese Chinese philosophy, etc... If Westerners were actually less Euro-centric they would be able to see this. It's pretty ironic.

[@samward1038]

This guy is bad ass, I'm so glad you're sharing him It reminds me of Montesquieu's Persian Letters except if the outsider critical perspective was an actual outside perspective...

[@satanicsatan666]

Nice video, Olly. I'd love to see some more non-European philosophers explored more on the channel. As the western world seems to in the long term be losing a lot of its racial prejudice (I say long term because of the rise of the far right in recent times), do you think academia will move towards using more of the works of non-Europeans as standard philosophy texts for students?

[@afroguard]

With time, a lot of non western philosophers' work will gain foothold in main stream philosophy

[@nerveagent1905]

@32ndSystem you're disgusting

[@mardasman428]

The issue is that historically speaking western philosophy just had more power and influence because of economic and political factors, regardless of whether it was particularly good or useful, it was read way way more than most other traditions. The question is whether we should view philosophers on their merits and ideas only or on their real-time influence. If it's the former, we can throw out Heidegger, Schmitt and lots of racist and unoriginal thinkers with a lot of influence, if it's the latter, we have to continue to ignore historically isolated philosophers like Yacob because their philosophical reach never seems to have passed the Eastern African cultural sphere (mostly only because of the lack of a printing press there). In some sense, most philosophers before the 19th century, when the first printing presses were introduced in many non-western countries, are interesting, but with barely any historical influence on a global scale as a result of the economicy of writing down stuff without printing presses. Talking about them is like talking about a person who could have been a famous writer if he had been able to find a publisher. But as he didn't really have one, we can only talk about his or her ideas in hindsight, as a post mortem, like Abigail does.

[@rebekavi8672]

It’s so hard to find anything of African philosophers. This is the only video that’s updated and structured so thank you !

[@joetheeskimo8885]

Not to be confused with Zara Yaqob , 15th-century emperor of Ethiopia, and leader in Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

[@jacobdriscoll8276]

I wonder why it matters so much who was "first to the punch," so to speak. It seems to pay unnecessarily great homage to Great Thinkers (tm) who just happened to be...historically lucky, to be educated, elite, (generally) white, and maybe most importantly were speaking to a society that was, at least in their corner, receptive to their ideas. How many pre-literate societies, unlearned laborers or farmers, or people speaking forgotten tongues independently came up with the idea that all people are equal and just couldn't get the idea treated as seriously as John Locke got his ideas treated, because of who they were?

[@TheRachaelLefler]

Yeah I would say it was a case of, women and people of color were saying they were equal to men and whites respectively, for centuries before the rich white men started to listen.

[@johannsebastianbach3411]

As an example, the ideas of liberty fraternity equality and democracy came into the feudal minds of european thinkers through the interaction with native american political systems. In fact even rousseau montaigne montesque and the sort say shit like “ooo look at the indians, we could do the same” but as soon as indians started fighting back, rightfully, all of a sudden they became barbaric and primitive within the european mind

[@patrikpersson8348]

@@johannsebastianbach3411 Where did you get that from? As far as I can tell none of them ever interacted with native americans.

[@jamesoleary2476]

Johann Sebastian Bach can you source that?

[@joshuajames6481]

@@patrikpersson8348 then how did they colonize their land Einstein

[@ethanrummel7638]

I absolutely love this channel, Oli, you do a truly amazing job here. I've even heard of Yacob before this, and it's incredibly refreshing to hear about such a great thinker outside of european tradition I tend to get trapped in.

[@third_state]

This is a great step by you Olly, exploring Philosophers who are not Europeans and Americans only, awesome man ! Keep it up!

[@leo-graceouskalunduka182]

Fantastic! Thank you and Dag Herbjørnsrud for shedding this much needed light to the world. We are all one and our common Humanity is what we need to embrace and elevate.

[@orangepekoe8292]

This is why I'm subscribed to PhilosophyTube! Great stuff!

[@iDigsGiantRobots]

This is a much needed video, but one point I'd like to make about part 2 is that slavery doesn't necessarily mean racism in Yacob's view. Slaves of all races were traded in Africa and Asia at the time.

[@gracebrown3733]

Yes! Been looking forward to this episode since you talked about it last night in the livestream.

[@drankclaw2095]

I think this is one of your best videos ever. I'm almost finished with it and just exited fullscreen and I'm shocked that it has so little views compared to some other videos. Not that your other videos are bad, they're just not as concise and so seem to lose a lot of structure whereas this video has a fantastic topic that sparked my interest in 300 different things and it was both concise and well-organized. I hope you can release more videos like this in the future, while I really like the very long video essays, a nice quick breath of fresh Olly air is great

[@FreeTunes498]

Good video. I read about Zera Jacob some time ago. Ethiopia is one of the African societies to have a written language as well. I'm Nigerian and most philosophy stems from oral traditions and proverbs.

[@Homeworlder]

Amazing video - very enlightening! Thanks for taking the time to reveal this corner of philosophical history and share it with us :)

[@davidhillary5738]

Really interesting and exciting to hear about Zera Yacob, I hadn't heard of him before and I can see I really need to read "The Hatata"; thank you for this intro.

[@malebitsatimbuktu3352]

I very interesting text - it's a must read

[@nottrotsky3309]

I'm so glad I subscribed. This was a truly phenomenal source, and videos like yours give me hope for digital education. Thank you for sharing.

[@dinglebeey]

I am a history and philosophy teacher who just taught the Enlightenment and having been struggling to 'get out of Europe'. I found some evidence of an Asian enlightenment too, but this is a very useful addition. Thank you!!

[@chuasmare22]

I know about him in school when I was in Ethiopia however he isn’t as famous as Yared who is a Composer of Ethiopian church music. The church of Ethiopia don’t like people who question about religion so zere yacob’s work mostly won’t be shown unlike yared but yared was born 505 AD tho.

[@danielamartinez8939]

I am studying Philosophy now, but I decided to study Global and Comparative Perspectives philosophy precisely because I wanted to learn about other systems of thinking. I'm glad my professor from Africana Philosophy showed us this, it is very interesting and inspires me to search for more similar content.

[@collinhenry9996]

I did not know the Ethiopian Zera Yacob is head of his time especially he is against slavery

[@moemeneldukany4191]

he should have told that to the african slavers that were selling slaves to the ottomans and westerners.

[@frag-ment]

@@moemeneldukany4191 That took place in west africa. Ethiopia is in east africa. He was talking about local slavery you dumb fuck.

[@brookt7200]

That ending was so cool! Thanks for this.

[@TheHydraccana]

that quote at the end gave me goosebumps

[@djkb125]

His arguments about why God must exist really resonated with me. Thank you for bringing this man to my attention, I'm eager to read his work now. From what I understand you are an atheist but i love how you still showcase people like this in the way that you do. Believer or not, this philosopher was ahead his time and never got the proper credit because of the color of his skin and you told that story. Great video. I love your channel.

[@JLeavittPearl]

Great work! it is really exciting to see Yacob getting increased attention

[@stonetop]

An excellent video! As time has gone on I've become more and more interested in the philosophical ideas of people outside what I'm normally exposed to (Western and Chinese philosophy).

[@AreebaImam]

This is such an amazing video! So much of the POC work in humanities is almost erased from mainstream academia, this video really stands out!

[@mnko011206]

I appreciate Philosophy Tube picking up on the philosophy/ thinking of Zarra-Yakobb. By any measure,he was an astoundingly brilliantly thoughtful philosopher. (See for instance the related writings of the late Claude Sumner, Jesuit Canadian philisopher.Or those of Bryan Van Norden. I would like to suggest that we talk about philosophy as a discipline irrespective source .Understandably,I am happy by your highlighting the works of Zarra-Yakobb ;as a person who shares the heritage of ancient civilization of Axum Kingdom. While you are dealing with contributions to philosophy by persons who happen to be African;there are so many dead and living Africans and other global philosophers/thinkers who have written and or inscribed or orally transmitted their philosophical thinking .We need to respect that it does not have to be written necessarily to be deemed philosophical.Examples from history.Socrates never wrote down anything.The Buddha,The Christ,The Mohammad never wrote down anything. Finally; We do not say African Mathematics or European Mathematics.Mathematics or any such discipline is taught as a discipline irrespective of the nationalities that contribute or historically contributed to the enrichment of Mathematics.

[@anonymouse7773]

Thank you so much for making this video. Because my parents are immigrants, I see a lot of world history taught in Western schools is very one-sided, and it can be difficult to explain and convince people of another perspective of non-western history than the one they’re used to hearing. I hope they find this video🙏🏽 Also the last quote Yakob put at the end is so inspiring, the man really was ahead of his time!

[@shimelistesemma9286]

This is simply brilliant and a very truthful portrayal of Zara Yokob. Well done sir.

[@ConnecttoSoul]

Thank you for all of your steady wisdom, encouragement moreover teaching to aid my trip to becoming increasingly consciously cognizant and in addition spiritually connected.

[@ikeekieeki]

amazing introduction to this lost philosopher! thank you

[@jemal99]

Brilliant. Thank you, from Ethiopia

[@flambr]

the fact that this channel had an intro video only 3 years ago

[@Esmoxe]

Some of what was said on this video reminded of bits I read of St Augustine, Averroes and St Thomas... there is probably more medieval influences to be found, if we were not so ignorant about medieval philosophy, Christian but also Islamic and Jewish... I'm not going to deny that what the video said was a impressive work, although giving this guy the position of being the first to say so many things seems to be willing to jump in the easy path because it is ideologically convenient... instead of looking more seriously at what philosophy did prior to (Francis) Bacon and Descartes...

[@houseofcrazyman865]

4:35 I wish I'd been exposed to philosophy that early, I'm 22 and only just now considering getting an education in the field, mostly thanks to your videos

[@MFTQ]

I was looking for this video, finally

[@mr.classified6167]

I love learning more about African philosophy and history. It's a continent rich in history and several countries most of which have their own post colonial, regaining of their independence stories behind them.

[@griotolu7040]

I just found out about this guy recently myself and was taken aback that he's virtually unknown. Also I recommend for a book read pankaj mishra age of anger or from the ruins of empire

[@celinak5062]

Griot122 +

[@rj-jx9og]

thank you for your channel! i’d love to see more african philosophy. this is so cool

[@pratikgore6536]

I didn't know about this guy. Thank you for sharing this.

[@XxKitsuneKagexX]

Loved this, definitely want to see more videos on non-european philosophers.

[@MarianaCreme]

Great video, I think you should do more videos like this.

[@ryanm8650]

+

[@ivanandreou2762]

super refreshing to hear about African philosophy. thank you very much!

[@PedanticGaming]

I would recommend anyone watching this video to give 'veritas et caritas' a look. He did a 4 part video on this, goes into much greater detail, and provides a more informed and less fanciful explanation of Zera Yacob, whilst still praising him.

[@1MinutoFatos]

You are awesome olly loves from Brazil !

[@niallsulcer600]

I'm curious: what philosophic tradition was Yacob born out of? Would he have been familiar with the texts of Socrates and Plato? What about other theologians like Augustine (who was north African himself)?

[@dagherbjrnsrud5289]

Good question, Ethiopia had already at that time had a long tradition, Platonic dialogues were known. More info here: aeon.co/essays/yacob-and-amo-africas-precursors-to-locke-hume-and-kant

[@0MVR_0]

Yes, he would have likely been exposed to the works of Antiquity. Keep in mind that Axum was a Kingdom which existed for slightly less time than the establishment of the Roman Republic to Western Rome's fall. Axum was constantly in contact with the Arabic and Muslim world through both the Blue Nile and Red Sea. The Islamic Golden Age was a few hundred years before Yacob, but I have no doubt that copies of literary works existed in the Kingdom procured from Muslim libraries and scholars or perhaps were possessed through direct contact with Rome herself by her Egyptian province or through a predecessor, yet the Library of Alexandria was burned by the time of its establishment. Concerning access to theological figures, Axum was not in shortage of supply. Until 7th Century Islamic expansion into the Maghreb, the kingdom had constant contact with the Christian world as a multitude of priests were settled into the populace. Actually in the 14th Century 4 Ethiopian monks attended the Council of Florence. According to a contemporary observer: "They were black men and dry and very awkward in their bearing (...) really, to see them they appeared to be very weak".

[@tewodrosdebebe9062]

Omar Omokhodion where did you get your facts ??? There is no backing whatsoever for your claims. Disagree !

[@0MVR_0]

Your disagreement is noted yet it seems to serve you no purpose other than to stand antithetical to me.

[@TaylorjAdams]

It's refreshing to see a video that has little to do (directly) with politics or controversial issues and is mainly focused at giving someone their due. Though with any luck we watchers readers and listeners will take that last statement to heart

[@MonkeyWhoWouldBeKing]

Coming back years later... there is now an (excellent) new scholarly translation of the Hatatas (Yacob's and Heywat's), by: Ralph Lee , Mehari Worku and Wendy Laura Belcher. Full of historical and contextual information, and with a very detailed chapter on the authorship debate that is worth reading!

[@JohnWayneBrady]

This was really cool to learn about.

[@singingstar8090]

Thank you so much for making a video on this. Especially with movies like Black Panther coming out, a lot of people complain about how diversity is just a tool to get black people roles they don't deserve? When really they're not acknowledging all the white people who get metaphorical awards for not being black. So diversity in philosophy is so important and deserved, especially with this gem. His ideas were so revolutionary and he was even better than his white counterparts 150 years later.

[@oaxacachaka]

lol, you are a moron.

[@YodasPapa]

What the yad has it got to do with him being black or other people being white? How do we even know he was black, are there pictures? Anyway, I'm interested in his ideas, not his melanin content. The interesting thing is that similar ideas emerged independently and in different cultures and geographies, but at a similar time. Which raises a bunch of questions about how ideas (and these ideas in particular) emerge and move through cultures.

[@oaxacachaka]

I've been studying Eastern philosophy in depth(maybe mid level depth, not in original languages) but they seem to grapple with the same issues as the West and ask the same questions and come to similar conclusions. I would imagine that other cultures come to the same conclusions as well. This throws much of "post modernism" into doubt as it suggest universal truths. Anyway, this seems like a patronizing fluff piece since the main focus appears to be to show how these ideas originated in Ethiopia first because of the whole being in a cave thing and not explaining even the rudiments of his reasoning. I do find it funny that a guy in a cave is thinking he should be having sex. yeah, no shit...

[@YodasPapa]

' Anyway, this seems like a patronizing fluff piece since the main focus appears to be to show how these ideas originated in Ethiopia first because of the whole being in a cave thing and not explaining even the rudiments of his reasoning.' Olly is a good, intelligent and honest YTer in my estimation. Unfortunately, I think his thinking is a little infected with the less useful aspects of post-modern/SJW style thinking, probably due to his social circle and uni professors. If you can get past this, he does make good points and is very informative.

[@oaxacachaka]

I think they project their own racism onto others and then go out of their way to prove how open minded they are because they feel guilty. I've always been interested in other cultures. I don't need to show how they rank with respect to Western culture.

[@bravetraveler768]

Thanks so much for letting us know about Yacob. I've never heard of him so its awesome I can hear about him now.

[@benjaminr8961]

You have not heard about him because there is 0 evidence that he ever existed. His writing is a forgery made by d'urbino.

[@Skadi609]

@@benjaminr8961 Sources for this claim? The works of many philosophers can be rediscovered centuries after their death.

[@benjaminr8961]

@@Skadi609 No you fucking rube. What source could I have for there not being any sources?

[@boondocksaintt9931]

You a real one for posting this.

[@STIR-FRIED-SUBWAY-RAT]

I only had to wait a few weeks to find a video on Yacob... Gave up looking on YT two weeks before you uploaded this I think

[@lloydnanayawjosephsmith4546]

Thank you, thought provoking video. This appeared on my recommendations and I’m glad. Timbuktu was also world famous for scholarship and learning between 1400 - 1600 “There are three quarters of a million books surviving in the libraries of Timbuktu including an astronomical manuscript showing the phases of the lunar cycle. Problem is, these phases of the lunar cycle were around 200 years before Galileo and Copernicus were born.“ - Akala Ahmed Baba was one of the most prominent scholars of the time.

[@JjJj-sd4bx]

Yh but they were too focused in religon :/

[@HeyJudie]

I like the new Philosophy Tube, and I like the old Philosophy Tube, Too.

[@compier12]

Great that he gets attention. Never knew about this philosophy.

[@danc6167]

Moving this to the near top of my post-dissertation reading list. Thanks for the suggestion

[@brunofernandes1463]

Thanks for this awesome video!

[@YB-bw1oi]

I am up for more videos of less known (non-white) philisophers 🙋‍♂️ PS: Could you tell us where we can find/read his work translated into English?

[@oaxacachaka]

Check out India. India has more philosophy than anywhere else on the planet.

[@dagherbjrnsrud5289]

Here is an essay: aeon.co/essays/yacob-and-amo-africas-precursors-to-locke-hume-and-kant

[@dagherbjrnsrud5289]

And here you can read the texts of Yacob in English: zelalemkibret.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/a-brief-guide-on-the-hatetas/

[@nokki25]

Thank you for the sources, but nothing about them seems real. A lost-and-found philosopher from an exotic country? With an unbelievable biography, you say? Well, of course I'll buy it.))

[@whimsy3408]

Zera Yacob was Tigrayan; Caucasoid people who trace their ancestry to king Menelik I, the child born of the queen of Sheba and King Solomon (historical king of Israel). Do you not consider Semites white?

[@eliltazellalem9843]

This man is actually well known among priests and Orthodox Religious scholars. He is best known for being a Prince/Emporer of Axum. His work, although short, is used as a means to analyze the Holy Bible and the judgements he makes as philosopher. I asked my mom about him and she informed me that she knew about him prior as a student and being a devout follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewando Christian church.

[@eliltazellalem9843]

Feteha Negest is the translation of Zera Yacob's work in Amharigna (Amharic).

[@e.moonbound2420]

Based Yakob

[@missmizzebral8924]

Hey Ollie, could you post a pdf of your version of the Hakata because I wanted to read the book in its entirety but couldn't find it on the web.

[@badwrongfun5541]

I really wish to find it as well.

[@Theo_Caro]

Furtive tea Since it's a translation, it might not be in the public domain yet.

[@yusufshakir40]

Video Gave me goosebumps. Genius African person he was.

[@IsaacDavis69]

Um this video is super good, thank you for making it Olly.b

[@silver6tech]

Thank you for this. This is why youTube was and can be intelligent platform

[@Eeveeguru]

If there's an ISBN for the book could you please put it up? I can't find it anywhere in English

[@gerededasein1182]

Enjoyable and informative video! However, the book information you provide in the description leaves out helpful information, such as the translator, publisher, year of publication, and (if available) the ISBN. Also it might help people searching for more information if you would provide alternative spellings of name (I've seen Zara Ya'eqob, Zar'a Jacob, and I believe Zar'a Ya'eqob).

[@ZealousMustardseed]

I love listening to you speak! I hope you keep this up! Your brain is extremely attractive!

[@tylerfraser13]

Should be titled, "Zera Yacob" and the Enlightenment

[@ByzantineCapitalManagement]

This is Just great. Man Finally Non Eurocentricism observed. Philosophy is a common subject, it's meant for all. Isn't it?

[@benjaminr8961]

This guy is made up. There is no evidence that he existed. It is meant for all but it just so happens that the majority of philosophical advancements made in the last century came out of Europe.

[@ByzantineCapitalManagement]

@@benjaminr8961 Obviously since you know colonialism and the obvious military power of the west to enforce their ideas as supreme. The Japanese tried the same in the 1940s in the territories they conquered.

[@benjaminr8961]

@@ByzantineCapitalManagement The ideas enforce themselves as supreme. Thankfully one of the ideas of the west is free speech and so all its ideas are tested relentlessly.

[@davidjohnson8954]

I’m starting to love philosophy but no one speaks on African philosophers as if it don’t exist. Salute to you for tryna get the information out to the people.

[@mirmalchik]

Damn, Olly! This kicks ass!

[@LogicGated]

Definitely a needed video.