Sophie Bọsẹdé Olúwọlé on Yoruba Philosophy, Knowing, Not-Knowing and the Pain of Letting Go

This contribution will outline some important aspects of Sophie Bọsẹdé Olúwọlés groundbreaking work on Yorùbá oral philosophy. Using the Yorùbá story ‘The Toothless Queen’ as a vehicle, we will outline her understanding of oral philosophy as philosophy proper and investigate her radically inclusive, non-absolutist, anti-nihilist conception of philosophy as well as the fundamental onto-epistemological axioms of Yorùbá thought. We will especially focus on Olúwọlés radical and revolutionary philosophical approach to rationality and rational conjectures. We will finish our paper with Olúwọlés’ reflections on some of the obstacles that must be overcome to make her revolution a reality in the global philosophical community, that is, the pain of letting theories, ideas, and principles dear to us go.