Ethiopian Philosophy

Yes, some philosophy was written in Ethiopia. If we hold to reasonably high standards for what is to count as philosophy, then there are two philosophical treatises in Ethiopian history (well, before the 20th century, say), both of them written (in Ge'ez) in the 17th century, one by Zara Yacob and the other by his pupil Walda Hiwet. These have been collected and translated, along with some other works of a quasi-philosophical nature, by Claude Sumner, in Classical Ethiopian Philosophy. The works collected in that volume can also be found, along with texts and extended commentary, in Sumner's series of volumes of Ethiopian Philosophy. Practically nothing else beyond encyclopedia articles (which are again mostly by Sumner) has been published on these philosophers, at least in English (and not much in other languages either as far as I know - though probably there's a certain amount of stuff kicking around the halls of Addis Ababa University, whether in English or Amharic or some other language.) Unfortunately these books are rarely available on Amazon either new or used, nor are there even limited previews available on Google Books. There is however a selection from Zera Yacob in an anthology.

As for the actual content of these works - well, the idea is to work through them on this blog. I suppose I'll quote from the book along with some comment of my own until I'm confronted with some kind of copyright issue.

Finally, and apropos of nothing, there are some really lovely songs on Vienna Teng's new album, Inland Territory.